Octane working with standard Blender builds

[Seggy]

Hi,

Am I right in thinking at one point the plan was for Octane Render to work as a renderer you could add to the standard Blender build.

I see that still you download a special version of Blender with Octane as part of it. Have the plans been shelved for Octane to work with the standard Blender builds, adding it as an add-on, like other renderers work.

Thanks
Mark

[grimm]

Both versions are available, but even with the addon version you need to run Octane Server as well. The addon is the open source part and the Server is the closed source part. The addon version is labeled with "Addon" and you can download it here (I think it's the latest release)...

viewtopic.php?f=113&t=83078

[teteerck]

I think that still the plan until the add on version is on par with the blender build version.
I try to only use the add on version because i don't love having multiple blender builds installed but sadly haven't been updated since february so i think the add on version isnt working with 4.1
Hopefully someday we get rid of having to launch the server everytime haha so annoying.

[linograndiotoy]

The custom build has seen significant improvements, and it's now time to refocus our efforts on the addon version. We'll certainly leverage the progress made and apply these enhancements to the addon build.

Regarding version 4.1, it's a sensitive topic. The Blender Foundation has implemented a major change in how the Smoothing Angle functions, necessitating careful consideration on our part. We need to meticulously plan the best approach to convert old projects to this new build to ensure a smooth transition.

[Andreas_Resch]

Hard to believe that the new Smoothing algorithm causes that much issues. Aren't you baking the normal data into the geometry anyway? You somehow had to handle the Weighted Normal modifier as well - same as existing normal data from OBJ imports.

[linograndiotoy]

While I understand your concerns, it’s important to recognize that Autosmooth is implemented quite differently in Blender 4.1. The traditional mesh “Auto Smooth” option has been redesigned and is now integrated within a modifier node group asset. This change has introduced new challenges that we are actively addressing.

There are two primary issues we need to resolve. First, we must ensure that smoothing information is handled correctly under the new system. Second, it is critical that scenes created with the previous version's Autosmooth settings are compatible and function properly in Blender 4.1.

We are working diligently to solve these problems, and your patience during this transition is greatly appreciated. As the development team, we are committed to making these updates as seamless as possible for all users.

[Andreas_Resch]

But Blender 4.1 takes care of the auto-smoothing of older scenes automatically, by adding an Auto-Smooth modifier to objects. Is Octane converting Blender modifiers to Octane specific ones? I was assuming that all modifiers are applied before the scene is compiled. But I have to admit, that I don't dive into the Octane tree very often to analyze scenes after the compilation. I'll take a look.

Whatever blocks your progress - good luck.

[EDIT] OK. I checked and there might be a refresh issue with the Auto-Smooth modifier. Maybe that's bothering you. However I can only check that in Blender 4 with Octane. Not a huge show-stopper though as the final rendering will always be recompiled before rendering anyway. It's just one of those action->refresh issues of which there are a few still lingering around.

[jimho]

I think that still the plan until the add on version is on par with the blender build version.
I try to only use the add on version because i don't love having multiple blender builds installed but sadly haven't been updated since february so i think the add on version isnt working with 4.1
Hopefully someday we get rid of having to launch the server everytime haha so annoying.

If it is really an issue, we can write a little batch script to resolve this(mine as attached, remember to change the path to yours if you want to reuse it), though still, we have to know the existence of the server file when we need to restart it under certain situation...

OCBlender2914.zip

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