OcDS 2.1 PRE RELEASE 5th

[thongology]

For what it's worth, nvidia's site says the 980 ti has 6 gb vram:
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop ... ifications

[Squirtle]

That's a very specific situation you are in, which doesn't quite justify your blanket statement of iray needing more expensive hardware. But I understand how annoying it is.
For me, as a hobbyist, it's more the thought of abandoning all the stuff I've learned and developed so far and starting over. So a huge expense in time, which is critical for me in my current situation.

But if I was new to this, and had to choose in the current situation? After looking at these boards for 10 seconds I'd go with Iray. I can understand why Otoy isn't allocating resources to this, it's a REALLY hard sell

Just on the subject of adopting Iray and possibly having to relearn everything, I found that 90% of what I learned from Octane was applicable to Iray. I think anyone with a lot of Octane experience would be fairly comfortable with Iray within a day or so of use, and vice-versa.

I've worked hundreds of hours with both renderers, and they have their own strengths, but looking at the big picture they both offer the same basic thing. I prefer Octane's flexibility of designing materials and ease of working with nodes and getting creative with them. But I chose to shift my workflow over to Iray because it never crashes, basic functionality like saving presets is there, and most importantly - it is being vigorously developed.

The developers take it seriously, and treat it like their job (because it is their job and livelihood). When the Iray beta was first unveiled, t3 said something in the forum that spoke volumes and lodged in my mind. In response to asennov saying: "DS Octane plugin is in big, big trouble. At least on my boxes ", t3 wrote: "apart from that, since i don't need to make a living out of this stunt, at least i'm not going to be in trouble." I don't know what t3 actually does to earn a living, but he wasn't even pretending to have a professional attitude about the development of the plugin. When I thought about what my choices for rendering in DAZ would be a year or two into the future, it seemed obvious that Iray has a ton of momentum and incentive for future development, while the Octane DS plugin has come to its conclusion. Otoy's complete apathy towards this whole situation shows that while t3 may or may not deliver a stable OcDS 2.1, nobody will be putting significant resources into future OcDS plugin development. I'd like to see OcDS 2.1 finished, but I don't expect anyone to be updating it in a year or two for compatibility with DAZ 5.0.

[bblogoss]

I'm used with Octane Render, Iray seems too much confused and more painful to use in my opinion. I'm also not so conviced with the renders I've seen with Iray so far. And to finish I can not imagine to do without the Redspec SSS or the liveDB
So I wish at least one final version of the plugin will be out soon even if I have to admit that OcDs 2.1 pre-release works mostly fine in my use.

[gaazsi]

i will give iray a try also... speed should be ok or better because with iray i am able to use my second rig for network rendering
even if it may be a little slower in direct comparison, i am happy if i wont have to work around and rerender countless hours and get annoyed by those usual octane bugs
i hope i can get in real quick, but you said that should be not a big deal

[Squirtle]

I'm used with Octane Render, Iray seems too much confused and more painful to use in my opinion. I'm also not so conviced with the renders I've seen with Iray so far. And to finish I can not imagine to do without the Redspec SSS or the liveDB
So I wish at least one final version of the plugin will be out soon even if I have to admit that OcDs 2.1 pre-release works mostly fine in my use.

I agree with you that OcDS pre-release works mostly fine. I've gotten a lot of great use out of it, and it can still do things that Iray for DS currently can't do.

Looking ahead to the future though, I see that DAZ will be investing heavily in making Iray work as fully as possible from this point forward, while the fate of the OcDS plugin is in the hands of a single individual who works on it (or doesn't) as a lark and a hobby.

[gaazsi]

something similoar like redspecc out for iray?

[asennov]

something similoar like redspecc out for iray?

Maybe http://www.daz3d.com/ig-iray-essentials ... -michael-6 ?

Didn't use it nor Redspec - I like to manage materials myself to know which one eats render speed

[asennov]

I'm running >4 GB renders on my 980s. All the time now in fact. (Not that quicky render a few posts back... that was peanuts.)
http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 95#p226542

For me to redo my last few renders on iRay, I'd have to sell my video cards, and get one Titan X. It would be slower too.

I see.

From what I've read Iray is based on Optix and Optix does out of core textures since 3.5 AFAIR. But NVidia seemingly decided to go another way with Iray. From the latest announcement of Optix 3.8 they introduce 'progressive uptates' that will work transparently with local cards as well as with VCA's. They promise to solve the memory problem with this feature and also to streamline the load of GPU's. Maybe GPUs will not need to containt exactly the same scene representation anymore

As for me, I'm rendering my current project in HD (1280x720) so theoretically all textures I would need for single frame could fit in 128 Mbytes or VRAM (If I only care enough of optimizing them )

[Squirtle]

something similoar like redspecc out for iray?

Have you tried the free G2F and G2M Iray skin shaders that come included with DAZ 4.8? In my opinion, these already rival the redspec Octane skin shaders. The default settings don't have as much glossiness as redspec, but it's simple tweaking them if that's what you're going for.

I wonder what the guy who makes redspec has been up to. He used to post multiple times a day every day in the OcDS forum, but it looks like he's shifted his attention elsewhere (he's only posted once to an Octane forum since May 8th). Unless he's suddenly retired from the shader marketplace scene, my guess is he's currently trying to get redspec Iray products through the DAZ store approval process.

He's spoken before about an experience where he complained on the Otoy forums about a negative aspect of dealing with DAZ, and DAZ subsequently punished him by rejecting one of his products which was pending approval. This is just a wild speculation, but if he is planning to sell Iray Redspec shaders in the DAZ store, he might be feeling implied pressure from DAZ to cool off his association with Octane. Anyway, though he's refrained from posting for the last month, looking at his user profile shows that he logged in here as recently as yesterday. If he feels like talking about this subject, I bet he has a really interesting perspective on it. I wouldn't blame him for being quiet here though, if he's relying on DAZ to approve his next product.

[Laticis]

I dont usually get caught up in politics but I would like to make few comments ion relation to DAZ Studio and Octane.

A few penny's first.

Firstly I love DAZ Studio as it was and as it is. I invested many many moons ago in the Octane Beta software when it cost around $99.00 US.
I really liked what it offered but could never get past the UI and so it fell to the way side until the Octane / DS Plugin came along, for me it was love at first site, granted small learning curve but so worth it.
During that period I still had to use 3Delight which was cool but the quality materials, lighting and rendering made using 3Delight a little frustrating...until IPR was introduced then it became fun.

Now with Iray nothing has changed for me, I have to use both. ( personally Octane is still my preferred workflow but they both have the strong and weak points, what doesn't ie: Zbrush / 3D Coat )

DAZ / Iray brings something to the market, an opportunity. It opens the world of Unbiased GPU rendering to the hobbyist for free. Granted if you what to make the most of it you need the right equipment
but this way you get to have a play and find out if you really want to invest time and money into this direction. The more you play, the more you understand and the more you become accustom to the workflow.
Then you want to see what else is up for offer. I feel safe to say, as people become accustom to Iray the inclination to at least try Octane will arise.
I don't see DAZ / Iray as a negative impact on Octane but more as a promotional aspect to a new world of rendering and image quality.

Basically choose your weapon/brush/mouse of choice.....and create art. ( severed limb pieces and all )

The topic at hand: Slow development of the Octane plugin for DS / Lack of communication.
I am as anxious as anyone waiting for the next release, checking every couple of days in case I have missed something. Granted I am a little frustrated because I don't know where we stand but I still have faith in T_3.

As well all know, in life its is the not knowing part that is frustrating. I have just been through this with a contractor for some small home renovations.
He got me the quote in a day, I was happy with the price paid the 50% deposit $ 3800.00. Thirteen weeks later after no response to emails I sent, and one answered phone call saying in about two weeks (6 weeks in)
I cancelled the job, requested my money back..three weeks later, same scenario...I then went to Consumer Affairs it then took two weeks, with to failed attempts for him to transfer the money.
Third time lucky I got the money. I remained civil throughout the whole ordeal, however upset I was, but enough was enough, I wanted my money back. We all have that right, sometimes it is easier than other to get that back.

I have spent $ 10,000 + on system built to specifically run DAZ Studio / Octane for animation and rendering.
I have updated Octane/DS on my old PC, brought a brand new licence of Octane and DS Plugin plus updated the Lightwave Plugin for the new PC. ( which I rarely use, it has no LiveDB and is nowhere near us user friendly )
If I was to find tomorrow that the Octane DS plugin was to cease development do you think I would ask for my money back.

HELL NO - however disappointed I would be ( just like the non development of Hexagon - that one makes me cry ) I love what it offers now, even with the errors ( just like Hexagon )

In short, if you are not happy ask for your money back and look for a new contractor.

I personally feel that development is not dead and I reiterate I have faith in T_3, I like what he has done with the plugin to date. The Octane plugin suits me to a tee though.

Yes I would love to know what is happening but for now I will keep doing what I love the most, creating art with the tools I have.

Cheers Adriano Di Pierro - Laticis Imagery

P.S. This is just my experience and perspective of the situation, which when it comes down to it, is all we really have to offer. Who knows, next week I could feel completely different but I doubt it

P.S.S. I think this is the longest post I have ever made.