Octane Volume and (Open)VDB files

[Cazure95]

Hello Everyone,

Really excited with all the new features in Octane 3.0. I've done some tests with TFD and are really impressed by it. Now I wanted to import some OpenVDB files into my project. In this case it are clouds made in Houdini.
So what I did, I made my cloud in Houdini FX 13. Then I exported it as an $F.vdb file. Then in C4D I created the Octane Volume 'object'. Go to the Vdb tab and import my Houdini VBD file. But, I can't get anything in the Octane Live Viewer visible, or even in the C4D workframe.

I don't have a lot of experience with Octane so maybe this is just a really dumb question and I'm missing something obvious. But if someone knows the answer to this problem, that would be great!

[aoktar]

This is samples:
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... scenes.zip

Add some textures to absorption and scatter slots also. RGBSpectrum or floattexture is fine for clouds.
If you read vdb sequences, set Start and End values as sequence ranges.

Additionally Kernel->Volume Step Length is important to tweak quality and visibility of volumes. Use it carrefuly.

[Cazure95]

@Aoktar, that didn't really help unfortunately. I've copied settings from the sample files, but they didn't work with my .vdb file. But on the otherhand, I do get results in OctaneRender 3.0.0 Alpha 1 standalone. So could it be that there is a problem within the C4D plugin?

[aoktar]

@Aoktar, that didn't really help unfortunately. I've copied settings from the sample files, but they didn't work with my .vdb file. But on the otherhand, I do get results in OctaneRender 3.0.0 Alpha 1 standalone. So could it be that there is a problem within the C4D plugin?

It may seems very small to find. I don't suppose that's a plugin problem.

[Cazure95]

@Aoktar, that didn't really help unfortunately. I've copied settings from the sample files, but they didn't work with my .vdb file. But on the otherhand, I do get results in OctaneRender 3.0.0 Alpha 1 standalone. So could it be that there is a problem within the C4D plugin?

It may seems very small to find. I don't suppose that's a plugin problem.

Well, I can get some results when I place a Floattexture and/or RgbSpectrum node in the Absorption and Scatter channel. But when I load in my .vdb file, then it goes bad. I even tried a .vdb that OTOY has as and example in the Octane 3.0 Standalone documentation. It's just really weird.

Here are my settings: http://puu.sh/m9vsU/2a5ef2aa47.jpg

[aoktar]

@Aoktar, that didn't really help unfortunately. I've copied settings from the sample files, but they didn't work with my .vdb file. But on the otherhand, I do get results in OctaneRender 3.0.0 Alpha 1 standalone. So could it be that there is a problem within the C4D plugin?

It may seems very small to find. I don't suppose that's a plugin problem.

Well, I can get some results when I place a Floattexture and/or RgbSpectrum node in the Absorption and Scatter channel. But when I load in my .vdb file, then it goes bad. I even tried a .vdb that OTOY has as and example in the Octane 3.0 Standalone documentation. It's just really weird.

Here are my settings: http://puu.sh/m9vsU/2a5ef2aa47.jpg

try different units. Meters or biggers. Can be a problem. And restart LV after unit change. But It's first alpha and cannot be very solid. We are still trying to find better ways for best workflow.

[KeeWe]

I experienced the same issue. Got a vdb sequence right from houdini, works just fine with arnold but Octane doesn't behave as expected. I have to admit i didn't put much time into solving it, so the mistake pretty sure lies somewhere on my end. But i guess i'll just wait until we entered Beta Phase.

aoktar, some general question: Cann you say something about performance on rendering volumes on a GPU compared to rendering them on CPU? Arnold performances pretty great rendering VDB, even on a singel 4x4ghz i7. Could i expect better rendertimes with same quality standards on a singel 780gtx with 6GB RAM?

[aoktar]

I experienced the same issue. Got a vdb sequence right from houdini, works just fine with arnold but Octane doesn't behave as expected. I have to admit i didn't put much time into solving it, so the mistake pretty sure lies somewhere on my end. But i guess i'll just wait until we entered Beta Phase.

aoktar, some general question: Cann you say something about performance on rendering volumes on a GPU compared to rendering them on CPU? Arnold performances pretty great rendering VDB, even on a singel 4x4ghz i7. Could i expect better rendertimes with same quality standards on a singel 780gtx with 6GB RAM?

why don't try as i said, should be a unit problem? I see similar problem on my imports from houdini. Unit setting may be not working on this release. Try to scale it as 10x, 100x.

I'm on similar system but with 2x780. Arnold looks fast but not fast when you use GI, takes very long times to get clean images on fire effect. Also i didn't made lot of tests to judge enough.

[Cazure95]

Hey Aoktar, I've succeed in getting the cloud visible. If I first set the Import Unit to km, then it loads. But after that I can't change it.

But sorry for my stupidity in asking first and then searching for a solution.