OctaneRender® for Maya® 3.03.2 - 8.02 Win [ALPHA]

[calus]

I had no problem to load the plugin in 2016 or 2017.

I forgot to mention one major problem in the previous alpha 8.00:
With no IPR open, a render was triggered in background ( GPU was fully loaded as long as it take to render all samples).
Background render were triggered each time I was connecting something in rendertarget or each time I was displaying an old node in Attr Editor.
This issue is solved in alpha 8.02

But IPR is still unstoppable, the "stop" button is grayed-out and GPU stays fully loaded when the IPR window is closed.

Also, Attribute editor seems completely broken for most of the "old" nodes.

Fortunately it's still possible to apply material and texture, connecting nodes in Node Editor and using channel box for the parameters.

[k.a.schubert]

@Solomon

If you look at the docs you can see you need to create a basic nodegraph first (Just one button click).
docs

I will add the error message displayed if you don't create this graph to the docs as well.
Maybe that helps.


I moved license management from the main render loop, so it shouldn't be dependent on the existence of the basic node graph,
but maybe I missed something.

Works when you create the basic node graph first for sure.

@Calus

Refactoring the main render loop atm and 8.02 includes a part of that refactor, so the fix would be due to that.

Yes I recognized that the stop/pause/refresh button in IPR are greyed out sometimes, couldn't pinpoint the reason yet,
this is trial and error + Autodesk support tickets again since there is no specification what a custom renderer has to do to avoid it.

Had to change some scripts for the AE and its breaking the old hardcoded scripts for the old nodes, but they will be replaced in the next steps anyway.

[solomonfl]

[quote="k.a.schubert"]@Solomon

k.a.schubert thanks for all your work on this build, I am so glad to see the Maya plugin starting to work ~ however, It is so strange, I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I am having to relearn Octane all over again while working in Maya 2017 and Octane 3.0

In the 2.0 plugin version for Maya, everything seemed so straight forward. But it looks like some buttons on the shelf like the Create Octane Sky have been rendered redundant with this new approach of "Creating Basic Node Graph" first ~ and the IPR doesn't seem to be responding in realtime either.

Whenever I close Maya 2017, it asks me if I want to Delete the Octane Shelf

still wading through the forest of 3.0... I think the Docs need some updating to help users know what to do the first time you use 3.0 ~ even a video tutorial would greatly help

[Snoopy]

First, thanks k.a.schubert for all your hard work.

I agree with Solomon.

A simple 3 minute video would explain a lot of stuff.

Sometimes I feel like we are testers.

I like how the render looks but the support it's not what I expected.
I wish there were some training videos or tutorials.

To be honest I have never felt any Maya plugin was ever finished.

[gah5118]

I agree, some training would be great....

We are testers at the moment.... this is in the alpha stage; not even beta. kai is laying out the framework currently. I believe with some patience, we will see a great plugin emerge from this. So far the framework is looking good. Don't expect something that is fully functional and polished at this stage. Unfortunately, it will take time.

[gah5118]

an observation

when using 2016, following these steps changes are maintained from the "standalone" nodegraph editor to maya.

-create new scene
-click on create basic node graph
-create geometry
-assign a material
-open ipr
-click the question mark on the octanerender shelf
- make changes
-refresh ipr

settings hold.

however, in 2017 this is not the case.

[k.a.schubert]

@Solomon

I'm redoing the main render class right now, so IPR and one frame rendering will be influenced by that.

The idea going all node based is, that you have shelf buttons to edit the node graph (in maya),
and have it all transparent and not behind closed doors.

I tried to have the octane shelf deleted when the plugin closes and then maya asks you if you want to Delete the Octane Shelf,
did not find a way to do this quietly, so removed it again, as long as this message box pops up.

It was just irritating to me, that the shelf is there, even when the plugin is not loaded.

@gah5118

The settings the standalone window shows are normally overwritten each update, as stated in the docs:

Debug window doc

That the refresh IPR does not overwrite them is probably fixed, when I'm finished with the central render class redo.
It really should update the standalone graph.
(the synch in both directions is optional, but not priority)



So for the docs, the v3 part tells pretty much what is needed to start rendering (If there is no bugs appearing).

Load plugin / create basic nodegraph / open render view / render IPR

I know this is just for testing and batch rendering and so does not work, so if rendering does not work with that, its a bug and
not you missing something.

For more details on a specific node one can look it up in the standalone manual, since most nodes are the same.
Nodes special to maya are described in the v3 docs as well.

In general its a good idea to know the standalone nodes, since the plugin aims to mirror them in maya.

Any suggestion for a good (maybe free) video recording tool? VLC kicked my ass, when I was trying to record a screen stream. XD

[solomon]

@Solomon

I'm redoing the main render class right now, so IPR and one frame rendering will be influenced by that.

The idea going all node based is, that you have shelf buttons to edit the node graph (in maya),
and have it all transparent and not behind closed doors.

I tried to have the octane shelf deleted when the plugin closes and then maya asks you if you want to Delete the Octane Shelf,
did not find a way to do this quietly, so removed it again, as long as this message box pops up.

It was just irritating to me, that the shelf is there, even when the plugin is not loaded.

@gah5118

The settings the standalone window shows are normally overwritten each update, as stated in the docs:

Debug window doc

That the refresh IPR does not overwrite them is probably fixed, when I'm finished with the central render class redo.
It really should update the standalone graph.
(the synch in both directions is optional, but not priority)



So for the docs, the v3 part tells pretty much what is needed to start rendering (If there is no bugs appearing).

Load plugin / create basic nodegraph / open render view / render IPR

I know this is just for testing and batch rendering and so does not work, so if rendering does not work with that, its a bug and
not you missing something.

For more details on a specific node one can look it up in the standalone manual, since most nodes are the same.
Nodes special to maya are described in the v3 docs as well.

In general its a good idea to know the standalone nodes, since the plugin aims to mirror them in maya.

Any suggestion for a good (maybe free) video recording tool? VLC kicked my ass, when I was trying to record a screen stream. XD

I think that's great that you are opening it ~ as you indicate ~ "The idea going all node based is, that you have shelf buttons to edit the node graph (in maya),
and have it all transparent and not behind closed doors. "

However, I think the other approach shouldn't be done away with completely, allow us to have those 2 options, instead of forcing us to go node based outright ~ most Maya users transitioning from the 2.0 version, having been working comfortably with Octane with the way it was before 3.0 ~ the new approach, I believe should build on that stability, while making it possible for the advanced users to go the Node based route. Thanks

[gah5118]

http://camstudio.org/

I've used this one for desktop screen recording. worked well.

[mosssi]

Any news on beta?