Octane v4 vs Octane 2018

[ceen]

So one last time: If I upgrade from perpetual V4 to subscription V2018 and stopped my subscription after 2018... would I lose my license completely?

[glimpse]

nope, You will always have V4, however not the updates past that.

[dzdiode]

So if i want to have the latest updates, i have to go for the subscription?

[johnnymnemonic]

Hey Guys, I am kind of having the same question:
why are there two versions? what are the differences?
Wouldnt it be better to have one version for all - I mean its just less confusing, right?
Cheers

[TonyBoy]

My understanding is V4 is terminal and will not be updated. If you want a continuous development, the subscription version is 2018 +.

[aoktar]

My understanding is V4 is terminal and will not be updated. If you want a continuous development, the subscription version is 2018 +.

There will be perpetual license model for 2019 too.

[frankmci]

Hey Guys, I am kind of having the same question:
why are there two versions? what are the differences?
Wouldnt it be better to have one version for all - I mean its just less confusing, right?
Cheers

Here's my understanding. I could be mistaken.

There are only different versions in the sense that one is older than the other, as with most software in constant development.

The confusion comes from the change in naming convention. Think of V4 as "V 2017", or think of V 2018 as "V5". Either way, V 2018 is the more recent major release, and V4 is the previous major release. With this new naming convention, the next major release is V 2019, which is currently in development and is downloadable by existing customers through the forums. 2019 is not yet officially released.

Otoy is still actively supporting V4, but there will be no additional features, and at this point, development has ceased except for any significant new bugs that may pop up. Again, it is the previous major release.

V 2018.1.3 is the officially shipping current release. There's still significant development being done on it, but a lot of development effort has now shifted to V 2019.

V 2018 has some new features that are pretty slick, if you need them. V4 has the advantage of including network rendering with the monthly licensed version, and it's pretty stable, with minimal bugs. If stability/reliability is more important to you and/or if you want network rendering with a monthly license, go with V4. If the latest features are more important, go with V 2018 for production, and download V 2019 to play with.

Just my 2¢.

[bepeg4d]

Good recap Frank!
We also have just published the first test release of Standalone v2019.2-XB1(v7) with RTX support:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=72221

Also note that Octane is rewritten from scratch at every new major release, so it is impossible to add new features to old major versions.

Here is the list of new features of v2018(v5) stable:

• - Cryptomatte
  - Deep render passes
  - Vectron (analytic geometry)
  - Vertex Attributes
  - Spectron (procedural volumetric light system)
  - Much less volume render noise
  - NV Link support on RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti (Enterprise only)
  - Direct Levelset surface rendering from VDB (can be fed into Vectron)
  - Scatter depth limiting (i.e. fast fog rendering)
  - Cached compressed textures

Here is the list of new features of v2019.1(v6) release candidate:

• - Improved volume AI Denoiser
  - OSL and procedural vertex displacement (vector and height)
  - OSL Shaders for volume textures
  - Layered material
  - Composite material node
  - Universal material New option: Thin wall
  - New rounded edges
  - Bloom/glare threshold
  - Universal camera
  - Geometric primitives
  - AI Up-sampler
  - Spectron Volumetric spotlights improvements
  - Vertex Displacement Auto-Bump Shading

And here is the partial list of new features of v2019.2(v7) alpha test:

• - RTX mode
  - SSS improvements and Random walk SSS
  - Spectral hair material
  - Volume sample position displacement
  - Spectron area/sphere primitives
  - Volume step % and shadow step %
  - New Universal Dirt system
  - Vectron Volumes
  - to be continued...

Happy GPU Rendering,