OctaneRender for Modo (Windows) 1.52 [STABLE]

[funk]

http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 90#p176912

Below are a few detals that we can share from the GTC presentation, as we wait for NVIDIA to put up the slides/video:

- The 1.x->2.x upgrade for standalone will be 99€ when 2.0 is released
- The above price also includes updating a previously purchased OTOY 1st party plug-in (Maya, Max, Blender...) from 1.x->2.0 as well
- 3rd party devs may set their own price for upgrading plug-ins from 1.x->2.x

Further details have not yet been formally announced, but should be soon.

Paul, I assume you are considered a 3rd party developer... Do you have any thoughts on this yet?

[face_off]

Paul, I assume you are considered a 3rd party developer... Do you have any thoughts on this yet?

Yes, 3rd party. And no, no thoughts yet - sorry.

Paul

[face_off]

I have to get some solid steps for the other crashes too, but most of them are random while editing overrides

My expectation is that it will never crash when editing nodes. If it does, there is a problem. If it happens to you, pls let me know: was the Viewport open, and what type of value were you editing (float, int, color)?

I have just resolved a Mac OSX crash related to editing colors. I was unable to reproduce it on Windows - but if /anyone/ has this happen, pls let me know and I will change the Windows version too.

The tooltip states its for when selecting AND creating... I would prefer not to have it open even when creating too.

I will try to add this option.

Paul, please give us this option for the environment too. I almost always use texture environment instead of daylight

This is in the next release.

Issues with downloading livedb presets:

1. I got this to work, but once the plugin installs the presets and you try to exit modo, a confirm/save dialog box appears for each preset downloaded. I had to cancel about 10 save dialog boxes.

Fixed in the next release.

2. Some livedb presets dont have icons yet. The octane plugin displays some strange corrupted icon in the preset browser. There will probably need to be a way to update icons only, once the livedb has generated them. If no icon is generated, we need something nicer in its place (like the X icon in standalone)

Fixed in the next release.

I have been trying out some of the more complex livedb presets (eg. materials\organic\skin\tonysculpter Skin R15) and they dont work in modo due to nodes the plugin doesnt have. In standalone we have "In" and "Out" nodes which can be used as inputs/outputs of grouped of nodes. eg. When you drag drop a preset from standalone, it places it inside a group and the "in/out" nodes become input/output pins of this group node

I have an idea on how to implement this in modo. We could use sub-assemblies which allow inputs and outputs to be exposed. The only problem is the octane node inputs and outputs throw an error when you try to expose them.

I doubt any of the plugins support "tonysculpter Skin R15" because of the input nodes - as you point out. At the moment the plugin filters out all the input/output nodes - because there is now equivalent Octane node in the Modo plugin.

Whilst, yes, this could be supported by the Modo plugin, it would be substantially quicker to manually convert those node layouts to a workspace/subassembly system than have the plugin do it programmatically. If there are a handful of LiveDb textures in this category, I suggest this approach. In the long-term, I will look at having the plugin support in/out and group nodes.

Issues saving and loading our own presets:

We need some documentation on how to do this correctly. I have recreated tonysculpters skin r15 and when I try to save it I only get a glossy node on reload.

1. Load the attached scene
2. Select the head override
3. In the octane window, preset "save as preset"
4. Create a new scene, add a sphere and give it a material
5. Open the preset browser and right click "load" the preset you saved

BUG: Only a standard glossy node and rgb appear.

Fixed in the next release. Manual states "Save as Preset – Saves the selected Octane Override as a Preset, which can be loaded into other scenes. When loading a Octane Override Preset, rightclick the preset item and “Load”, and the Octane Override will be loaded in the root of the Shader Tree, where you can then drag it to the appropriate material group.".

Crash adding override after closing a scene

1. I start modo in the render tab
2. Select the base material in the shader tree
3. Select Add layer > custom material > octane override
4. Close the octane window and close the scene (ctrl+w)
5. Select the base material in the shader tree
6. Select Add layer > octane override

BUG: At this point modo usually crashes. If not repeat from step 4 again

Been discussed above. In summary - I have spoken to the Modo devs about this (yesterday), and we tried many workarounds, but they have not worked. This is fixed in Modo8.

Paul

[face_off]

I have updated the installer at the top of this thread with:

1.50.0.49
- Fixed a number of bugs with "Save as Preset". THe Viewport must also be CLOSED in order to enable Save as Preset.
- Implemented "default" settings for kernel, camera and environment panel properties. Click the "Save Settings as Defaults" in these panels to set the default state that will next be used when adding new items of this type, or opening new scenes.
- Fixed crash that occurred using the Mesh Paint Instance tool with Instance ticked whilst the Viewport is open
- Fixed issue where creating a new scene whilst the Viewprt was open would cause the Viewport to refresh and clear all materials.
- Fixed error popping when the Viewport is open and you change a Modo image property which is not in a material group
- KNOWN ISSUE: If you close the LAST scene in Modo (ie. there is only one scene open, and you close it) with the OctaneRender Setup panel CLOSED, Modo my crash when you create a new scene and add an Octane Override. This is a known Modo bug, which TheFoundry have fixd in the next release of Modo.
- Rectified an issue where invalid LiveDb preview images which are not available (ie. are an 'X') where saving incorrectly with the Preset. You will need to re-download the Preset ZIP file for this to take effect.
- Added new Preferences option to turn OFF the automatic opening of the OctaneRender Setup panel when you CREATE a material
- Focus Pick now works if you slightly move the mouse (up to 5 pixels) whilst the mouse button is pressed. This is to assist tablet users with focus picking.
* I have had a report from a user than set the Octane Aperture to the Modo FStop was crashing Modo. Has anyone else had this? Would be interested if anyone gets it with this release.

Paul

[Calico Jack]

HELP NEEDED!

I'm trying to get the plugin work in Modo 701 but haven't succeed so far. What I'm doing wrong.
Modo says: "Error activating ModoLive account. Invalid OctaneLive plugin account or wrong liveId / password combination."

Are these the username and password I should use (circled below)? I've tried several combinations but can't get it work.

[face_off]

That is your Octane Standalone username/password. It doesn't look like you have a Modo license in your account. Assuming you have purchased a Modo plugin license, I suggest you contact [email protected] to sort the issue out.

Paul

[Thirdeye]

Hi,

Just a simple question. Is it possible to render with the daylight model but not having a direct "sun" casting hard shadows? Cant find a way to turn my direct light off...

[funk]

- Fixed a number of bugs with "Save as Preset". THe Viewport must also be CLOSED in order to enable Save as Preset.

I can now save the skin preset from the sample file I attached here previously. Thanks!

Now I have an issue with the way loading works. The skin preset is pretty complex and I have laid out the nodes neatly so I can tell what's going on. When I load the saved preset into the root of the shader tree, everything is fine and the nodes remain nice and neat. If I drag the override into another material mask, if the setup window is open, I get a dialog telling me to to press "edit in schematic". This renames the workspace correctly BUT it rearranges all the nodes into a huge mess of spaghetti.

I'm not sure why the plugin (or modo?) changes the node layout, but I have a workaround for now. I manually rename the assembly in the groups tab (to match the material mask) before pressing "edit in schematic". Is it possible for you to incorporate this into plugin?

- Implemented "default" settings for kernel, camera and environment panel properties. Click the "Save Settings as Defaults" in these panels to set the default state that will next be used when adding new items of this type, or opening new scenes.

This is working great, but I would prefer the files were saved into AppData\Roaming\Luxology\. I think it might be cool to expand on this so we can save/load presets too.

- Added new Preferences option to turn OFF the automatic opening of the OctaneRender Setup panel when you CREATE a material

Thanks!

[face_off]

Is it possible to render with the daylight model but not having a direct "sun" casting hard shadows? Cant find a way to turn my direct light off...

Not sure I completely understand what you are trying to achieve, but you can soften the sun shadows by changing the "Sun Size" in the Octane Environment, or you can turn the sun off altogether by changing the Octane "Environment" to "Texture Environment", or you can turn off shadows for a particular Mesh item in the Octane Mesh panel of the Mesh properties.

I'm not sure why the plugin (or modo?) changes the node layout, but I have a workaround for now. I manually rename the assembly in the groups tab (to match the material mask) before pressing "edit in schematic". Is it possible for you to incorporate this into plugin?

There is a complex subsystem in the plugin which makes sure there are schematic nodes for each Octane node item, and if there is any doubt, it creates the schematic nodes, which reformats them too - which is what you are hitting. I'll see if your particular situation can be fixed.

I think it might be cool to expand on this so we can save/load presets too.

Yes, would be good to have a bunch of different kernel Presets for draft, final, etc quality, or camera Presets for close-up, wide angle, etc. The kernel preset is might be doable, but I'm not sure how you would do this for cameras - when you load the Octane Camera Preset, how would the load process know which Modo Camera to apply it to? Also - I'm not sure that you can save just the Octane channels into a Preset for a Modo Render or Camera item - the Preset is going to save all that item's settings - which is going to be a problem. So in summary - I'm not sure if Kernel and Camera Preset is doable - perhaps someone with a deeper knowledge of the internals of Preset may know more.

Paul

[funk]

Also - I'm not sure that you can save just the Octane channels into a Preset for a Modo Render or Camera item - the Preset is going to save all that item's settings - which is going to be a problem.

I was talking about using your custom xml files as presets for the octane plugin without using modo's preset system. eg. Instead of just having "save as default" you could have "save as preset", then you would also need a "load preset" button too.