OTOY Forums

so, one final update to this thread, covering the latest addition, of course included in the just released version... templating.

i took me quite some time to figure out how to make this possible without the use of scripts or the like, or in other words to integrate it seamlessly into the overall workflow. the final solution is imo capable to make a lot of tasks a LOT easier (and faster of course).

this is how it looks: and this is how it works:
- you can make any of the known image nodes (image/alpha/float) into a template node (and respectively the material containing it) by telling the node from which of the usual daz map channels it should take a new map during link/load operations.

- since not all daz mat sets always cover all maps for particular slots or may have variing setups otherwise, you can choose a primary channel where to take a map from the daz material, and 2 fallback locations. for most circumstances the primary daz channel will be sufficient, but if the daz material is more complex, like having specular2, velvet or sss maps you can still create a template that makes use of them if they are there, and otherwise use some of the other maps.

- in addition you can tell the template node to be static, means a map assigned to it won't be replaced at all - this can be useful to keep i.e. a veins map from a specialised source that is usually not part of common mat sets.

- last but not least you can specify to keep a currently assigned map if the new daz mat set doesn't cover it (i.e. for specular maps that some sets have with them and others not).

- an important extension to octanes capabilities is, that a template image node doesn't need to hold a map; it still stays connected, and the pin it is connected to just works like it would do if there was no image node; say you have an opacity map connected to the opacity pin - if there is no opacity map for it the respective material, it renders with opacity 1.0. or an image node for the normal pin will render like there is no node connected. the plugin "switches" such nodes "on/off" just as needed.

- in short you can create as complex setups to your hearts like, and still have control about what happens if you load a new .dsa/.dsb/.duf/.etc mat set on it, usually without the need to dis- or reconnect image nodes that are not used.

- so if you have created a more or less complex template material, you can copy it to your presets and apply it to a bunch of daz surfaces by just dragging it onto them. the result will be one ore more new octane materials, that all have the same node setup, and the maps taken from the current daz materials in question, depending on on how much daz materials with different maps you have dropped it (aka grouping).

a common example would be to select any of the 13 usual skin surfaces, drop the template material on them, and get 3 or 4 different oc materials, all sharing the same complex node setup, and having maps applied according to the rules chosen in the image nodes.

- another way is to save a complete figure with all template mats as standard .duf material preset. when loading it back onto a figure, it will of course restore all the octane materials along with the template setups. from there on you just need to drop new i.e. commercial mat sets on the figure and have immediately set it up in octane with all the complex materials in place and new maps.

Thanks for the update, and the update (oh .... and all your hard work)! From other things I have heard about developing for DS, I'm sure it's a huge challenge, and far from easy. I have a couple of projects I'm working on right now with the current plugin, so it may be a day or two before I give the new version a go. Thanks again!

Ok, dumb question: Where do I find templating?

DrHemulen wrote:Ok, dumb question: Where do I find templating?

every of the three image node types in octane (image/floatimage/alphaimage) has the additional options shown above.

as soon any single image node within a material is setup to act as template, the whole material will be a template.

normally, when you drop an oc material on a daz surface in the mat tab trees, they are just tied together (aka linked) and octane knows what material to render for a particular surface.

when you drop a template material onto a daz surface, it will not only get linked to it, but also searches the daz material for maps, and replaces its current maps with the ones the just linked daz material has to offer - for any of the nodes set up as template, according to the rules.

simple example: you create a diffuse material, connect* an image node to the diffuse pin, and load a texture map from disk - when you drop it onto a daz surface they will be linked, and octane renders this material with the loaded map for this surface.

*this is important: a template node (as the name says) can only be an individual external node, as only such nodes can contain the needed additional meta-information (managed, saved and loaded by the plugin, not octane).

if you know enable templating for the image node, and select "diffuse channel" as primary source for the template, dropping it i.e. onto another daz surface will make the plugin look into the according daz material for a map in the diffuse channel - if it finds one, it will replace the map you have loaded before against the one the daz material uses.

so, like in the example above you can create a pretty complex octane material tell the image nodes what maps they should grab from daz materials (like diffuse, specular, bump) and whenever you apply it, only the maps will be taken from the according daz material, but the octane setup stays as it was, so you neither have to recreate the setup nor to manually update maps in order to spread complex materials over newly loaded stuff.

btw, a template image node doesn't need to have an an actual map applied, it can be left empty also. it will be replaced whenever applied anyway (as long as there is a map in the daz mat that matches the rules).

last but not least you will usually save it as preset as soone you have sthg. useful created, and just drop it from the presets area onto newly loaded content.

additional note: applying a template will also recreate grouping, not matter what links where there before applying it; say you drop one template preset on the 13 1_* to 3_* genesis surface areas it will create as much new scene materials (still templates) as are needed to match the different map setups in the daz materials (normally 3 or 4 different oc mats)...

Ok, that's really amazing and easy to use! A small thing: I think the pop up says "strength" where it should say "map" for a bunch of the primary sources.
I have had some crashes using it, posted in the bug report thread.

DrHemulen wrote:Ok, that's really amazing and easy to use! A small thing: I think the pop up says "strength" where it should say "map" for a bunch of the primary sources.
I have had some crashes using it, posted in the bug report thread.

yes, i mean no imo it is correct this way. many daz shader channels can have a color map and (or) a strength map, others like bump/opacity only have a strenght map; just they are seldom used apart from bum/opacity...

t_3 - Congrats on the great "new" plugin! I haven't done a whole lot with it yet, but so far it is much more stable than the previous version. Thanks for the hard work, it was well worth the wait.