Blender Exporter 2.02

[kavorka]

I was just testing the 2.02 exporter. When I hit render, and it is pointing to a .OCS that already exists, and has a .obj, it now loads that .ocs and then also loads a second .obj. So it has the original .obj and then the new one. The original has all the nodes attached and the new one is blank.

It used to just replace the .obj and keep the nodes attached (this was ideal fro me). Does this happen to anyone else or did something go weird for me?

[ROUBAL]

For my own, I still use the 1.20 version, and never check the Create or replace OCS file, and the Write materials into OCS file features. These choices (check boxes) are no more present in 2.02... maybe there is a bug with that, I have not tested. I know, this is not a very helpful response. I will try 2.02 asap.

EDIT : Well, I have installed the 2.02... and I can't get your problem.

[kavorka]

hmmmm, i may have messed something up. gotta do some testing

[kavorka]

I keep getting the same problem. It loads the old .obj then the new one.

I tried with different versions of Blender and different versions of Octane. works normally with 1.17 but this keeps happening with 2.02.

I'm trying to figure out what my company will be doing once 2.0 comes out. We want the new features, but 2.02 isnt workable in our pipeline (even if I could get it to just load one .obj). The official plugin doesn't quite fit yet either. Maybe I should just wait and see what happens when 2.0 comes out

[matej]

I wrote to matej, who made the instances script, but got no response. He hasn't been here since december 2013 apparently...
I hope he is fine, because I have been also far from Blender and Octane for more than a year due to family troubles and not seeing someone for a long time is always worrying.

Thanks for the nice thoughts

Hey, guys. I'm getting back on track with Octane, after being absent for a longer period (working with Cycles).

I tested the following combo:

* Lionels unofficial exporter v1.17
* Octane 1.51
* My instances exporter script v0.19

Everything seems to work ok and just the same when I last used it. But note that in lionels exporter, I never ever used anything that had to do with materials, because I always set up materials inside Octane. Never used the "replace OCS" & "write mats. into OCS" options. The latter is a hack that was discouraged to be used exactly due to .ocs version compatibility problems.

The export instances script cannot function without Lionels exporter, so its not meant to be used in the official Blender-Octane version (unless you have also Lionels exporter active besides it). I've written a standalone .csv exporter script that works with any Blender version. Will post it later.

[kavorka]

With 1.17, you cant render to a preexisting scene. If you change the geometry or camera and then click render image, it will end up loading it into the Octane file like normal, but it deletes a lot of your materials.

In 2.02, it exports everything, not just what layers you have selected. you have to manually hide anything you don't want exported.

I've started using Jimstar's official plugin because it has alembic export (i'm not ready to switch to fully integrated into Blender yet). Biggest problem with that is it creates multiple material nodes for the same material. In one scene I had, there were 15 nodes for the same material, so it was a pain to link all of my nodes.

Honestly, there isnt a perfect solution for Blender users. As of right now, We still use 1.2 with the 1.17 exporter.
That is still the best for what we do.

[matej]

So the .ocs specification changed. Any official info on what were the changes?

I see the problem too now. Though the "export only" option is still usable for when you change just the geometry.

[kavorka]

ya, so as long as your camera doesn't change in Blender, you are fine. I guess you could just update the camera in Octane 1.2 and copy the camera node over to your 1.5x Octane if you want to change the camera.

So, there is a work around, still a bit clunky though.

[matej]

Ok, I checked now the XML of a simple scene created in 1.2 and then re-saved with 1.51. The answer is: everything freaking changed Its a completely different structure.

The bad news is that the module Lionel wrote for creating the .ocs doesn't work for 1.5, and would have to be rewritten. Which is not that trivial, because you need to first understand how it works (trying to understand other peoples code is always a pain). At least the new .ocs structure looks way more neat than the old one (5x less text too). I could have a look at it, but I cant promise much (depending on available free time).

Can someone from Otoy comment here on possible future changes to .ocs? Will Octane 2.0 bring any more (drastic) changes?

[kavorka]

the 2.02 exporter works fine with 1.5x, it just exports everything, not just your selected layers. Maybe looking at that will answer some of your questions.