OctaneRender for Blender plugin product dev wanted

[vimaxus]

FYI Cycles already supports multigpu (the graphicall builds) for about a month now.
I would like to have octane integrated in blender though...

[budonobugei]

FYI Cycles already supports multigpu (the graphicall builds) for about a month now.
I would like to have octane integrated in blender though...

Yes, Cycles does support multi-gpu in the development builds, but Octane still seems much faster to me . . . much faster. Also, Octane is more mature, supporting more of the desired rendering features than Cycles does in it's current state. Cycles is also not a truly unbiased rendering engine, and is not intended to be. The goal is to provide physically-based though not necessarily physically-correct rendering capabilities that currently have to be 'faked' with Blender internal engine.

I'm not saying this because I am anti-cycles. It shows a lot of promise, and I am looking forward to seeing further development of the engine. Then again, I am also looking forward to seeing more out of Octane. I think there is room for both in the world and both have their use, and if a truly 'seamless' and integrated plugin for Blender never materializes I still wont be dumping Octane.

[yoyoz]

The main issue about fully integrating Octane into Blender is not technical (although maintaining a fork would be complicated) or a lack of funding but related to licensing as it would interfere with GPL - no linking to proprietary software is allowed. This applies to both Python scripts and C/C++ code.

On the other hand, the use of the Octane SDK would probably allow pretty nice intermediate solutions (as long as geometry is static, for fly-through or animated materials) through a remote-controlled renderer. Because then it would not be an integrated plugin anymore, it is licensed a different way by RS and may not fit people willing to go this way.

[mib2berlin]

Maybe it is also a possibility to use telnet like luxrays SLG2.
http://vimeo.com/14290797
Dunno about licensing.

Cheers, mib.

[yoyoz]

Everything is GPL there, so there's no license conflict. Similar results could be achieved with Octane providing the geometry data is transfered via network, pipes or files so it is no accessed directly by Octane's libraries. Because it won't be a full integration, the SDK would not fall into same licensing by RS, leading to other issues (but I'm sorry I cannot disclose the terms of licensing).

In this case, the part of the code doing the export would have to be GPL, while the 'receiver' part can stay closed-source. I'd like to work on such project but it is not possible with the way RS distributes the SDK at the moment.

[pixelrush]

@yoyoz, so leaving aside the licensing issue for the moment, would you be interested in doing the coding/maintenance if there was a way to proceed?
And about how much funding do you think would be necessary/appropriate? - ball park number...
If you were to do it would you be happy with a progress payment scheme? something else? perhaps you want to sell by yourself rather than be sponsored? or take a regular cut from Refractive?
I wonder how Blenderheads feel about paying for an exporter? free? just a bit like 20 euro? or the same as other official plugins at 99 euro?
Blenderheads usually plead poverty in situations like this but if they want an exporter they might have to organise it and pay for it. Sometimes they wait for someone else to do these things for them which can mean it never happens.
If it couldnt be full integration and perhaps lacked some capability would they still want it? pay the same? use Cycles to get the integration instead?
What I am interested in is exploring options and seeing if we can muster the basic ingredients or common ground to achieve something.
I would like to hear from Refractive too about some flexible ideas to help us out. Special license terms?
Could the Blender/Octane users collect funds through their operations if we wanted to do that? etc. etc.

[ROUBAL]

I wonder how Blenderheads feel about paying for an exporter? free? just a bit like 20 euro? or the same as other official plugins at 99 euro?

Obviously, I can't answer for other people. I can just imagine that people who would want the plugin for free or at very low cost are mainly hobbyists. People using Blender professionnally, who really need a powerful tool will be more open to a price like 99 Euro. I don't mean that hobbyists must be left on the side of the road, but as a comparison, gamers spend probably much more than this amount in games and hardware for their hobbies several times a year. Any passion requires some sacrifices*, and I think that there are worse ways of spending money for someone with a creative mind.

For my own, I earn few money and have had no client for a while, but officially declared as a professionnal artist, I actually need a powerful tool. While waiting for clients, I have to improve my skill and produce images to feed my showcase and increase my chances of getting work.

Many people seem to think that because Blender is free, everything around shoud be free. I see no logic in that point of view. I rather think that having the opportunity of using a good free package leaves more money to buy good complementary tools.

So, using a free software like Blender and an excellent render like Octane at reasonable cost, allows to spend some money on a plugin. Even if clients are rare, the plugin will be paid at the first coming ordered work. So, it does appear to me like a good investment instead of a problem.

Maybe we could create a poll to see how many people would be ready to pay and for what amount ? For example 20,50,99 Euros ?

I haven't left a choice for Free, for the aforementionned reason *. I believe that people who want everything for free don't actually need these things. Beside that, I think that people making an effort for the community desserve some reward for their work.

Just my humble opinion.

[Alain]

99 Euro is not mutch for rich countries.
I guess in China this means alot of money.

I don't know how percent come from poor countries.

Kind regards
Alain

[ROUBAL]

99 Euro is not mutch for rich countries.
I guess in China this means alot of money.

Right, but I also guess that there is no special low cost version of Autodesk 3ds Max, Arion or any modelling/rendering/plugin package for chinese customers.

I don't know how much a day of 3D work is charged in China, but I am sure that the cost of tools is included in the price. Chinese people have always been good in commercial activities.

I agree that from the point of view of the client, cheapest is best, but as the effort comes from developpers, the price is up to them and there is a minimum limit for what is possible or not.

In the same order of ideas, a company can build low cost cars, but can't give them for free in poor countries !

[pixelrush]

Well pretty poor response so far. I guess when it comes to the crunch only a few people actually want an exporter and it doesnt seem like anyone wants to code it. Along with the license difficulties its not worth worrying about....