Why octane for cinema is more limited than other plugin?

[Edovech87]

Hi everyone, Merry Christmas!!!

After testing Octane in both Cinema 4D and Blender, I’ve realized that the limitations I initially attributed to the C4D plugin are actually present across all Octane integrations.
The issue is not the host application — it’s the closed nature of Octane’s node system itself.
For example, the Triplanar node:
- only accepts a single float for the Blend input
- does not accept textures, noise, or masks
- does not expose the blend mask
- cannot be procedurally modulated
- cannot be distorted or overridden
- offers no per‑axis control
- cannot be layered intelligently
- cannot be extended via OSL
This behavior is identical in C4D, Blender, Houdini, Maya, and even Standalone.
By comparison, Blender’s Cycles (and other modern renderers) offer a much more open and modular node system:
- any input can be driven by any texture or procedural
- OSL is fully supported
- blend masks are accessible
- projection logic can be customized
- nodes can be extended or replaced
- shading workflows are far more flexible
In Octane, however, many nodes feel “closed” or “sealed”, with fixed internal logic that cannot be accessed or modified by the user.
This raises a few important questions:
- Is Octane’s node system intentionally designed to be closed, or is this simply legacy behavior?
- Are there plans to make nodes more flexible, for example:
- allowing texture‑driven blend inputs
- exposing internal masks
- adding per‑axis controls
- allowing procedural modulation
- supporting more complete OSL functionality
- Is a modernization of the procedural system planned, to bring it closer to what is available in Cycles, Redshift, Arnold, etc.?
- Will Octane eventually allow users to build or extend nodes, rather than relying on fixed, non‑editable internal logic?
Octane is incredibly powerful as a renderer, but its shading system feels significantly more restricted than other modern engines.
A more open, modular, and customizable node system would dramatically expand what technical artists can achieve directly inside Octane.
Any clarification or roadmap information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help