OTOY Forums

Is there a way for the standalone version of octane to monitor a directory and auto-reload changed geometry.

This would really make my life so much easier.

Nick

Octane loads obj files when opening the scene, or when you hit the reload button. You can refresh at any time. As obj files are built/edited by the user, I don't see the purpose of automatic refresh, as the obj doen't change by itself.

Making the refresh automatic (at intervals for example), could lead to troubles : for example attempting to refresh from an obj file which is being edited and not yet ready to use...

Also, sometimes you can do an error and corrupt an obj... in that case, until you refresh manually, the geometry is still safe in the currently loaded node.

Also, on a system with few System RAM, the export from the 3D package is done with Octane standalone closed to save memory. When the 3D app is closed, and when Octane is launched, the obj file is refreshed anyway.

So, I would be very curious to know what would be the advantages of automatic refresh ?

I was thinking about this idea as well: It's a common scenario for me to go back and forth between fine tuning geometry and rendering it with the purpose of studying the material and lighting on the object. Particularly, if you're doing it a dozen times, it gets *very* tedious to navigate between materials and the object, just to get at that pesky reload button and then go back to the material.

This is where it could help that the exported object automatically reloads and renders, where you have both Octane and your modeler that exports the object available next to each other.

Same goes for textures and other resources, like when you're painting HDRI maps and want to see the result immediately.

In general, all 3D apps should support auto-loading without asking questions, as moving data between them is often incredibly tedious!

henrikmk wrote:I was thinking about this idea as well: It's a common scenario for me to go back and forth between fine tuning geometry and rendering it with the purpose of studying the material and lighting on the object. Particularly, if you're doing it a dozen times, it gets *very* tedious to navigate between materials and the object, just to get at that pesky reload button and then go back to the material.

This is where it could help that the exported object automatically reloads and renders, where you have both Octane and your modeler that exports the object available next to each other.

Same goes for textures and other resources, like when you're painting HDRI maps and want to see the result immediately.

In general, all 3D apps should support auto-loading without asking questions, as moving data between them is often incredibly tedious!

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100% agreed. I would really appreciate this functionality.