Beta 2.2 RC1: SoftImage XSI plugin testing thread

Autodesk Softimage XSI (Developed by Face)
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Kerro Perro
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face wrote:I think that passes would be supported in the future.
An other way is to render out the masks with Si, it should be faster for a b/w rendering as Octane and you save the export time.
The results of both renders should match 100%.

face
Yeah that's what i thought, can't wait for passes - would be a big step towards a production level renderer.

Another thing i'm wondering: is it possible to use animated textures? Like the image on a tv screen or an animated neon sign?

I see it's possible with Blender plugin: http://www.refractivesoftware.com/forum ... ed+texture Is there a similar method for Softimage?
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face
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Kerro Perro wrote: ...
Another thing i'm wondering: is it possible to use animated textures? Like the image on a tv screen or an animated neon sign?

I see it's possible with Blender plugin: http://www.refractivesoftware.com/forum ... ed+texture Is there a similar method for Softimage?
Yes, that's possible and it's more flexible as the Blender one.

You can see examples her:
http://vimeo.com/13518453
http://vimeo.com/13538683
http://vimeo.com/13627929
http://vimeo.com/20574723

The workaround is relative simple, it bakes the texture from a material to an image file.
To use it, select your mesh, go to Property, select Render Map.
Under Basic, set the resolution you need, select the right uv-texture, select the image format and check the properties you want to render out.
Under Advanced, change the Partial Texel from Normalize to Blend in Background Color. (I will change it in the future automaticly)
Last but not least, rename the RenderMap in OctaneMap.
To do it, open the Si-Explorer, expand your mesh and select the RenderMap. After that, hit F2 and rename it.
That's all...

If you hit export or render, the plugin will search the mesh for the OctaneMap and render the image under the project path out.
The image name will be Meshname_RenderMap.xxx.

With this method, you can render out everything. You can use all material nodes, like mixers, procedural textures, image sequences or whatever.

I hope it works ;)

face
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Kerro Perro
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Wow that's great, those tests looked really good! 8-) I'm going to try it out over the weekend - i want make an animated billboard - will let you know how it turn out!
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Kerro Perro
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Hey face i'm sorry but i can't seem to get the workaround to work.

I've got an animated texture on a cube and think i did all the steps you said but it just renders out (frame or animation) as an RGB in the diffuse...

Also is there perhaps a way to connect the animated texture to the emission property? So you get an animated light surface.
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Capture2.PNG
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face
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In Octane you can connect the outrendered image to any texturevalue you want.

If you want a flat image, also only the animated texture, you should try to use a constant material in Softimage...

face
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Kerro Perro
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Ok if i understand correctly the exporter should update the rendermap every frame on export so the texturevalue gets updated too.

My problem is that the rendermap is not getting generated at all, not when i hit export, Render Frame or Render Animation.

I can get a map if i hit Regenerate Map on the RenderMap window (now renamed OctaneMap) and i can connect that to a texturevalue but this of course does not update...

I don't know if this is connected to the problem but it also seems that when i export it "remembers" the material type - e.g. if it's a phong then in Octane it's glossy and if it's Constant then in Octane it's a diffuse - but no other material properties are getting exported. Not colour and not texture.

I've noticed this before and it's a problem that sometimes happens and sometimes does not - never quite sure why sometimes the exporter "ignores" material properties and sometimes exports everything - for some reason when it's an object i've textured in Mudbox it always exports all the material properties. Is this a baking issue?

But as said i don't know if this is connected to the non-generation of the RenderMap...
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face
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I'm on Android at the moment, but i remember, the image name/path is set from the plugin and should be in the project path with the filename from the mesh + rendermap, like sphere_rendermap.png.

With the phongsettings, there is a thread which settings makes which material in Octane.

Will search it later at home...

Face
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Kerro Perro
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Hey thanks in advance, i've been trying some more but the rendermap just isn't getting generated, it's only generated once when if i hit "regenerate maps..." inside Softimage. The plugin does not seem to be creating/updating it. I renamed it "OctaneMap" - is there something else i need to be doing to make it be seen by the exporter?

As for the material properties: i mean that sometimes things like colours and textures are not exported, for instance:

In example 1 & 2 i have an object that has been textured in Mudbox - when it is exported to Octane it still has it's texture connected to the material

in example 3 & 4 i have an object that i've very simple put an image texture on in the Render Tree - when exported: nothing...

Is this because the object in 1 & 2 is from an fbx import and therefore has it's texture baked into the material? And has this got anything to do with the rendermap problems i'm having?

I'm thinking now that maybe this all has to do with the fact i'm on Softimage 2012 sp1 - i'll try it with 2011 as well...
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faceExample1.PNG
faceExample2.png
faceExample3.png
faceExample4.PNG
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Kerro Perro
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Ok just re-tested everything in 2011 sp1, it's strange: when i set an image texture with a single image in the render tree(like example in previous post) it works fine - but when i set an image sequence texture in the render tree nothing shows in Octane.

Also when i re-test the whole rendermap steps you described in 2011 sp1 still no joy - the rendermap is still not getting created/updated. :(
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face
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A quick answer is, that only phong is supported. Because, when i will support others, the name for the slots is different.
Means, i look with the plugin if there is a shader called phong, if yes, the plugin look if there is an image texture in the diffuse slot.
Same with the spec,refl,refr slots.

The difference on other shaders is, that they sometimes don´t have a diffuse slot or it´s called other, maybe color.
Same with spec, refl, refr.
I can support all others, but it will cost time, so that i haven´t implement it.

face
Win10 Pro, Driver 378.78, Softimage 2015SP2 & Octane 3.05 RC1,
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