OctaneRender™ Standalone 3.00 alpha 3

[FrankPooleFloating]

Uh, yeah, and there was the ability to manage GPU temps too... so please, keep priority... unless I am missing something, and I can get a similar effect by tweaking new settings somewhere...

[abstrax]

We will have a look at how we can implement render priority in the new system. Don't know yet how it can be done.

[linvanchene]

Thanks to all those who shared some test orbx scenes with VDB files.
I would have a lot of different questions and suggestions but at this point in time I guess I should focus on one point:

@ Volume step lenght

It seems the volume step length in the kernel setting makes a huge impact on how an imported VDB actually looks like.
It seems currently the volume step length can only be set on a scene level.

Is there any chance that the volume step length can be set on an object level in the future?

Example:
For explosion 1 a volume step level of 4 may give the wanted look.
For explosion 2 a volume step level of 90 may give the wanted look.

Basically the same VDB file could be used to create two different explosion effects in the same scene.

Side note:
To spin this thought further:
IF it would be possible to have different volume step lengths on an object level it might actually be possible to use cloud VDB as instances and then use different volume step lengths to achieve different looks for different versions of an instanced object while keeping the needed memory at the same level.

For that to work an additional requirement would be the possibility to assign different volume step lengths and material values to instances...

- - -

Test series made with the ORBX posted by uncia

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=51772&start=20#p259726

Volume step lenght 4

Volume step lenght 93

Volume step lenght 500

[Yan]

When will you release support for OpenCL?
Thanks!

[smicha]

When will you release support for OpenCL?
Thanks!

+1

[abstrax]

When will you release support for OpenCL?
Thanks!

OpenCL has been on hiatus for quite a while and we will continue working on it after OSL has been done, i.e. it may become available around middle of the year. Please be aware, that there is a chance that we may run into unsurmountable problems and we can't get it working (Octane is not a simple path tracer anymore). I didn't run into any issues during my initial tests, but everybody tells me how bad it is, so we will have to see.

There is also a small possibility that AMD's CUDA implementation as part of AMD's Boltzman initiative could be used instead of an OpenCL implementation, but we will see, when we get there. Most likely it will not be useful for Octane.

[smicha]

Marcus, could you refere to my previous questions on subdiv?

[rotorstudios]

Hi Guys!

Great work! Awesome stuff.
Since alpha 2 it seems in alpha 3 that variable UV sets aren't working with baking? Just the first slot works?
Could be something I'm doing wrong on my end but yesterday it was just rendering black in all but the default UV channel.
Otherwise works a treat!

[abstrax]

Marcus,

The new sub div system works like a charm.

I need one easily accessible feature - sub. div. level pin. Could you add a pin for this, e.g., in the object layer pin or anything else on the obj node. Or at least a global button in a toolbar to turn on/off all sub divs. Same for displacement - global on/off button would be so helpful.

That's currently not planned. You could write a Lua script that does this: Just loop over all mesh nodes and geometry archives and set the subdivision level attribute

Another question - is the early reported bump over normal on a to-do list?

I created a task, but don't know when we will get to it.

What could be a reason for inverted normals for any geometry with a displacement map applied (from zbrush if it helps)?

Could you show a screen shot? Normals shouldn't be inverted by displacement mapping.

And the last question - will we have detachable render viewport in 3 for multiple monitors?

Yes, that's planned and part of the UI work, Thomas started.

Btw, some good news: I just updated one of our thirdparty libraries and the editor freeze of that massively instanced scene you sent me a while ago, is gone If we can't find any issues with it, we will release it with the next alpha and probably also merge it to v2.

[chupinsky27]

When will you release support for OpenCL?
Thanks!

OpenCL has been on hiatus for quite a while and we will continue working on it after OSL has been done, i.e. it may become available around middle of the year. Please be aware, that there is a chance that we may run into unsurmountable problems and we can't get it working (Octane is not a simple path tracer anymore). I didn't run into any issues during my initial tests, but everybody tells me how bad it is, so we will have to see.

There is also a small possibility that AMD's CUDA implementation as part of AMD's Boltzman initiative could be used instead of an OpenCL implementation, but we will see, when we get there. Most likely it will not be useful for Octane.

I'm not going to lie, this news comes as a disappointment. OpenCl and the promise of running Octane on virtually any computer, to me, was the headlining feature of v3. I have been using Octane for freelance and personal work for sometime now and I LOVE Octane. Going back to C4D's built in renderer feels so archaic and cumbersome, yet that is what I am forced to use in my professional work environment. I work for a major sports broadcasting network with ~50 Mac Pro workstations loaded with C4D in our location with many more locations globally. After serious consideration, our engineers ruled out the possibility of implementing Octane into our workflow for the fact of the steep investment for external graphics card boxes for individual workstations, server room space, and added complexity of managing said equipment. With OpenCl (or another universal code), Implementation would be a breeze. I can imagine this is true across the industry.

If universal support is seriously on the chopping block, we need a better solution for medium-large studio environments other than adding (Nvidia exclusive) graphics cards to individual workstations.

I will continue to use Octane at home and for side jobs with the same enthusiasm as before yet knowing I may never use it in my current professional environment.