OctaneRender 3 for AutoCAD [OBSOLETE]

[face_off]

I hope that it can handle the geometry to extract AEC objects

Hi Guillermo - I just took another look at this, and it /might/ be possible to extract geometry from AEC objects if you have MEP installed, but if not installed, the plugin would not run. But I need to do more research. Can you a) tell me...is MEP the only way to create AEC geometry/objects, and b) can you convert the AEC object to a Solid to render, and c) could you send me a scene just containing a single, simple AEC object.

Thanks

Paul

[face_off]

I have refreshed the installers at the top of this thread with:

2.22.0.8
- Compiled with Octane 2.22, so includes all Octane 2.21 and 2.22 changes (see Octane Standalone release notes for details)
- Added Light Passes (you can now assign a Light Pass to each Emitter, and then view each light pass as a Render Pass).
- Added Out-of-Core Textures to the Devices tab - where texturemaps can now be stored in CPU/Motherboard RAM if graphic card VRAM is full. Enabling this sets the RAM limit to your total RAM amount.
- Added "Cube Map" project type to the Spherical Camera
- You can now adjust the new Focal Length slider in the Thinlens Camera to adjust the Aperture

Paul

[guillerodriguezv]

I hope that it can handle the geometry to extract AEC objects

Hi Guillermo - I just took another look at this, and it /might/ be possible to extract geometry from AEC objects if you have MEP installed, but if not installed, the plugin would not run. But I need to do more research. Can you a) tell me...is MEP the only way to create AEC geometry/objects, and b) can you convert the AEC object to a Solid to render, and c) could you send me a scene just containing a single, simple AEC object.

Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul,
yes I had MEP installed;

A- No, depending of the job; I use MEP to create piping, wires, valves,etc and I use Architecture to create walls, windows, doors,etc and I think another CAD soft (from Autodesk)can do it but I normally used those (MEP & Architecture)

B- Yes those (MEP & Architecture) softwares gave you the option to export to Autocad (any version) and mostly it convert to solids and blocks.

C- I send 2 files;

1-AEC OBJECTS.dwg ; containing AEC objects.

ACAD-1-AEC OBJECTS.dwg ; the exported file from MEP to Autocad (solids and faces).

Hopes you can do it Paul,it would be the final touch for the plugin for a really fluid work.Anyway testing the new version of the plugin.

Best Regards

Guillermo

[face_off]

Hi Guillermo

I have now been able to do (with your help - thank you) a reasonably thorough analysis on the use of AEC geometry in AutoCAD.

AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Architecture both allow the creation of AEC primitives (ie. Walls, etc). These primitives can be saved in a dwg file, and opened in the standard version of AutoCAD (and they will render in the standalone AutoCAD renderer). Some of these primitives appear to be able to be converted to Solids in the standard version of AutoCAD (and rendered in the Octane plugin), but I could not do this for all AEC primitive types.

The standard version of AutoCAD comes with an API for plugins (which the OctaneRender for AutoCAD plugin uses), which is able to access basic information on the AEC primitives (ie. name, primitive type, etc), but does NOT read AEC primitive geometry (so these primitives will not render in OctaneRender for AutoCAD).

The MEP and Architecture versions of AutoCAD are shipped with an additional API which provides access to more of the AEC primitive data, however based on the help files/documentation for these additional API's, there is no way to get the actual vertex positions, normals and UV for AEC geometry from these functions.

So unfortunately, my conclusion is that rendering of AEC primitives in OctaneRender for AutoCAD will not be possible unless Autodesk enhance the AutoCAD API. If you want to pursue this option, I suggest submitting a feature request to Autodesk to provide API access to AEC geometry data from the AutoCAD ObjectARC .NET API.

Hope that answers you question. Thanks for you help on this analysis, and sorry the answer wasn't what you were after. For time being, you will need to convert AEC objects to Solids prior to rendering with the Octane plugin.

Thanks

Paul

[guillerodriguezv]

Hi Paul,

Thank you very much for the support for trying AEC objects work with the plugin, I think at this point is better make a exclusive plugin for MEP or Architecture (just to make a name, it can be whatever *.dwg autodesk soft), maybe in some near future.

Best regards

Guillermo

[face_off]

I have refreshed the installers at the top of this thread with:

2.22.2.9
- Compiled with Octane 2.22.2. Refer to Octane 2.22.2 Standalone release notes for details.
- Pin changes to the Thin Lens and Panoramic camera stereo settings
- Added support for AutoCAD 2016 (uses the same installer as 2015)
- Removed support for AutoCAD 2013

IMPORTANT: In AutoCAD 2016 the plugin Setup window does not open docked to the main UI panel, and does not remember it's size. I believe that this is an AutoCAD bug, and have reported it to Autodesk.

Paul

[face_off]

IMPORTANT: In AutoCAD 2016 the plugin Setup window does not open docked to the main UI panel, and does not remember it's size. I believe that this is an AutoCAD bug, and have reported it to Autodesk.

This issue is now resolved - so if you are using AutoCAD 2016, pls re-download and install the release at the top of this thread (the release number has not been changed).

Paul

[guillerodriguezv]

Hi Paul,

The plugin does not load well with Autocad 2014. Whem autocad start no problem, but when you type the plugin command and start to load it. It only load the camera config in the palette window. Anyway I sent you some pics showing the problem.

Regards

Guillermo

[face_off]

Hi Guillermo - I have refreshed the installers at the top of this thread to resolve the issue you were having.

2.22.2.10
- Fixed exception when reading camera pins from a saved scene.

Thanks

Paul

[guillerodriguezv]

Hi Guillermo - I have refreshed the installers at the top of this thread to resolve the issue you were having.

2.22.2.10
- Fixed exception when reading camera pins from a saved scene.

Thanks

Paul

Thank you Paul

Regards

Guillermo