Blender VDB to Carrara

[tschwenke]

Hi,
Is there anyone who did use Blender fluid effects via VDB with Carrara? Importing them into Carrara results in displacement of the emitter. The container changes size and the emitter goes down
Files are here
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b8g6j4s9swvq ... hiVm4pCq0a

In the video you see -> Camera does not move. Only the container size changes from the center, bringing the emitter down

Best wishes,
Thomas

[Sighman]

This problem has to do with the way I implemented VDB support for the plugin. The VDB being animated is growing but the proxy is not. This means the scale of the VDB is constantly changing throughout the animation. I need to add a fixed scale mode to the proxy so that the scale remains constant for the entire animation.

As a temporary work around you could add key frames for the proxy so that it scales with the VDB. Not easy and you would have to eyeball it so it is not really practical.

I'll make this a priority.

[tschwenke]

Hi,

Ok, great. Then I wait for the next version eagerly

BTW: Here is another thing that I noticed.
Focal distance: When I'm in the OR window, I usually disable Auto Focus. When using the Focal distance tool in the OR window, OR updates the Scene channel (at the bottom of the Carrara Keyframe Editor) and not the Focal distance channel of the Camera. So, I always have to put the Focal distance manually by typing the number in the Effects tab of the camera within the Carrara windows.

Thank you very much for everything

Best wishes,
Thomas

[Sighman]

New update has been posted here to address this issue.

Scale Mode
A new scale mode was added to the Octane Volume (OpenVDB) Effect.

Fixed Scale - This mode preserves the original scale of the VDB file. The proxy still provides position, rotation, and scale but it does not force the volume to be rendered within the borders of the proxy. A slider and two edit boxes on the new Scale Settings dialog allow you to scale the VDB volume to fit within your scene. Since each VDB file can provide its own initial size, a loaded VDB volume can appear way too large or too small for immediate use. The min-scale/max-scale edit boxes allow you to provide a 'reasonable' range for the Scale slider. Once a min and max scale has been entered, the scale slider can be used to pick a value between the min and max values. This should allow you to more easily tweak the size of the volume to better fit your scene.

[tschwenke]

Hi Sighman,

Thx for the update. However, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about

I just did another test render with the new version that you can see here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8h8y1c30ys0xe53/fire-test.mp4

The VDB file is wiggling like hell and the center stays at the center(, which is not what I want). I don't want the center to stay at the center but the source of the fire. So, is this update you posted intended for rectyfing this problem? Or is it just an update that does not solve the problem I posted? I'm a little bit confused

Best wishes,
Thomas

[Sighman]

Did you change to fixed scale?

[Sighman]

Seems to be working using 'Fixed Scale' mode.

vdb_avi.zip

Sample Render

(875.53 KiB) Downloaded 441 times

Scale Settings

Scale Settings.png (14.52 KiB) Viewed 9402 times

Fixed Scale

Fixed Scale.png (14.22 KiB) Viewed 9402 times

[tschwenke]

Hi,

Yes, I didn't see anything. I tried again and scaled it up to 5000(???). Now I see it and it works like a charm

Thanks alot

Best wishes,
Thomas

[tschwenke]

Hi again,

Works perfectly. However, would it be possible to add the "Octane Object Layer" modifier to the Fire object? I would like to modify the visibility of volumes.

Best wishes,
Thomas

[tschwenke]

Uh, just found out that I can move the Fire object to a group and apply the modifier then. Everything is fine now. Thanks