OTOY Forums

Hi Radiance!
I think the forum nedds an off-topic section (non-Octane related stuff).
There are a lot of non-Octane related threads here in the general discussion section.
What do you think or the Others?

As this is a company owned forum, I'm not sure that topics not related to Octane would really make sense as there are many other forums to talk about non Octane related things, However I think that a place for non technical topics could be useful.

For example that could allow people who can't use Octane due to various reasons, to propose their brand new Cubix Xpander or extra GPU for sale.

As these devices mostly interest Octane users it would be a good place for this kind of proposals.

That's just an idea...

I'm ok with an off topic forum, as long as it does'nt become a test octane vs XXXX engine,
or promotion of competing products forum.

Eg, an off topic forum for discussing funny videos, hobbies, etc...

Radiance

ROUBAL wrote:As this is a company owned forum, I'm not sure that topics not related to Octane would really make sense as there are many other forums to talk about non Octane related things, However I think that a place for non technical topics could be useful.

For example that could allow people who can't use Octane due to various reasons, to propose their brand new Cubix Xpander or extra GPU for sale.

As these devices mostly interest Octane users it would be a good place for this kind of proposals.

That's just an idea...

It does make sens if you want to build a strong community around octane.

It does not make sens at all. You can not pretend, not even here, that octane is the only rendering software on the market. Trying to keep everything else out will only result in bad marketing for RefractiveSoftware. A relaxed attitude is the way to go. Take Luxology. Their forum is a place where it is normal to discuss other software packages, good and bad, where it is normal to post critique for Modo and where this leads to healthy discussions that help develop the product. Despite this and Luxologys "standard" licensing system the company is growing and flourishing because they have a very good product with modo. They don´t have to fear the comparison with other products.

Octane is a wonderful product in its own way. I don´t see why it should be bad to have a place in this forum where we could look on other software packages and compare them to Octane.

As a historian I know that it is nearly impossible to shut out different opinions, and restrictive laws in this direction are most of the time considered as a sign of inferiority by the outside world.

Octane is one of the best rendering products out there. I don´t see that this will change in the near future (because of your much appreciated work). So take it easy and don´t be too restrictive in the forum and in your license policy.

Lutze

Well, I'm for and open forum, and I'm for a closed forum too. I mean, it all depends on the user base to be frank. I think in the end, the best is to have an open forum, but with A VERY diligently executed standard of what is applicable. IE, the moderators need to move topics quickly to the right section if they are off, AND/OR give a warning, and then promptly close a forum if it's still going off tangent.

The SI forums are relatively free from too much this vs. that banter (though that's changing thanks to a new user base fleeing other platforms- IE more Max and LW users of which I am one!). While the LW forums, esp on the actual NT ones, are full of mostly people off offhandedly either bashing LW, or fan boying it- neither of which are productive IMHO.

There is a fine line between helpful suggestions in a comparing/contrasting way and out right VS. wars IMHO, and too few people really know where that line should be drawn. Even I cross that line way too often...and have to admit that a bit of "parenting" wouldn't be bad! So many threads on forums these days are just flat out ridiculous let alone un-needed. Besides, there is always CGtalk and the like if you just want to banter about things.

Example One:
Good
"Could we please have a version of Octane that is able to perform some kind of memory management, either by tiles, strips, or buckets, that would allow us to render much larger images and scenes than even 4GB of video ram would allow? Maybe even instances? Kind of like mr, and other render engines, or what ever tech you can devise to do so?"

VS.

BAD BASHER response
"Octane's small renders suck and are useless. I'm sticking with Vray."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Example Two:
Good
"It would be great if we could load scalar map data from weights or values from CAVs in a supported format. Maybe FBX, Collada etc.? This would really boost productivity in Octane esp. when using gradients, mixers etc."

Vs.

BAD FAN BOY response
"You people are so lazy. Octane is already awesome, and if you just got off your butt and baked those values out to a map, you'd have almost the same functionality. Give the Octane crew a break, get to work and stop crying for a "make things magically read my mind" button! If you don't like it, go else where!"

Good Point.