OctaneRender™ 3.0 for LightWave™ - Alpha build 3.00.4.0

[juanjgon]

This is a new alpha build of the OctaneRender™ 3.0 for LightWave™ plugin. This 3.00.4.0 release is available for Lightwave 10.1, 11.6 and 2015.3 Windows x64 and OSX.

Alpha and beta version disclaimer
In contrast to v2 we want to do the alpha and beta testing publicly, to get more feedback earlier and to have changes tested more thoroughly. The plan is to let all users with a valid v2 license use the v3 alpha and beta versions until we decide that the beta period has ended and we release the first stable v3. After that you will have to upgrade to v3 or will not be able to use any v3 versions (including alpha and beta versions) anymore. We don't know yet, when that will be, but we will give you a warning a few weeks in advance so you can prepare.

This is an alpha release, so please consider this more a test or development release which may not be stable enough for a production environment. All the new 3.0 features are under development.

Alpha release 3.00.4.0
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... indows.zip
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... .0_OSX.zip

Volumetric demo scenes
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... etrics.zip

Standalone version for the network rendering nodes
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... _4_win.exe
https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloa ... _macos.dmg

New features of OctaneRender™ 3.00
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=51679

How to install the plugin
- (Only for Windows) Remove all the old Octane plugin 2.2 files (octane.dll, octane.dat and the .p plugin file), or add a new LightWave installation to your system to test Octane 3.0
- (Only for Windows) Copy the octane.dll, tbb.dll and octane.dat files into you install Lightwave/bin directory. You must overwrite the LightWave tbb.dll file.
- Add the plugin to the Lightwave Layout.
- Install the custom menu bar to get access to the Octane features.


=============================================
RELEASE 3.00.4.0
=============================================

* NEW FEATURES:
- Upgraded OpenSubDiv to version 3, which should be more robust than the previous version.
- Added support for large amounts of geometry, i.e. you can render now scenes with more than 19.6 million triangles. Please be aware though that it still needs to fit into GPU memory.
- Volume emission works now different depending on which emission node is used: The temperature channel of a volume will modulate the temperature if a black body emission node is used and the emission power if a texture emission node is used.
- Exposure and hot pixel removal also work with the baking camera now.
- Improved baking edge noise removal.
- Improved compilation of acceleration structure for texture baking.
- Added support for displacement textures when using the baking camera.
- Hopefully improved the handling of scenes with many material/texture/geometry nodes (>100,000).
- Working around some weird CUDA driver issue by keeping buffers page-locked for longer. Hopefully this improves the refresh rate when many GPUs are used.
- Allowing a zero AO distance, with which you can emulate the old GI mode "Sample environment" which got removed with version 3.00.
- Added the possibility to render volumes without absorption or scattering but with emission.
- New "Relative to content directory" flags to support relative paths in the volume file options

* TFD VOLUMES SUPPORT (compatible with the v1.0 Rev. 1401 TFD plugin, Windows only):
- New option in the plugin options panel to set the file and path of the TFD plugin.
- Revamped Octane volumetrics control panel, with three tabs to control the procedural, OpenVDB and TFD volumetrics.
- Support of TFD volumes from the volume cache data files (absolute or relative paths).
- Currently the user must manually copy the voxel size, grid size and grid offset parameters from the TFD container.
- Currently the adaptive containers are not supported.

* BUGS FIXED:
- Fixed a bug which would render the inverse normal when a position is specified for the baking camera.
- Fixed rendering of volumes with small gaps.
- Crash if the user try to load an OpenVDB file without Octane enabled. Fixed.
- Crash working with IES lights with large paths or file names. Fixed.
- IES light shape is scaled in the viewports by the grid size parameter. Now it is constant, like in the native LightWave IES light.
- Fixed shadow artifacts on surfaces when rendering nested meshes with volumetric media (fully transparent specular material with IOR=1 and "fake shadows" enabled) and daylight environment.
- Fixed multiple volume intersections having emission artifacts.
- Fixed missing shadows if render layers are enabled and "visibility only" is ticked.
- Fixed cosine mix texture.
- Fixed issue with noise in some info channels when using the baking camera.
- Fixed wireframe render when using the baking camera.
- Render by time and the "Abort+Continue" features are broken. Fixed.
- Disconnect medium node from the environment node not resets. Fixed.


-Juanjo

[vipvip]

Thanks a lot.
So the 1401TFD version which was out some weeks ago is compatible with this ...

[stef]

Many thx !!!
You are our Messiah

[juanjgon]

Some tests of TFD volumes rendered with Octane 3 and LW

http://www.vimeo.com/153522240

-Juanjo

[gordonrobb]

These look amazing. I wont get a chance to try it till maybe Sunday. Is it quite straight forward to get octane to render the TFD stuff, or are there hoops to jump through. It may very well have been discussed already, so perhaps you could point me in the direction of the steps I need to take?

[juanjgon]

The plugin works with the TFD cache files to render them as Octane volumetrics. You only need to add the Octane_Volumetrics custom object plugin to the TFD container Null object to set the path to the cache files, select the grids to be rendered and set some data about the container (voxel size and grid size and offset). And of course you need to add the scatter and emission nodes to build the volume material in the volumetrics node editor.

You need to configure also the TFD plugin path/file in the Octane plugin options panel.

-Juanjo

[OlaHaldor]

I get a error:

Code: Select all

TFD library not found in ""

Your answer above solved it. We wrote at the same time




BUT

How do I add emission/scatter nodes ?
I cannot connect them to the Volumetrics node?
Nothing shows up in Octane.

[BorisGoreta]

In those red inputs you plug in procedural textures, you don't need this to render TFD simulation.


I managed to get it working with TFD !!!

This is awesome job Juanjo, great work !!

Is it possible to scrub the volume on the timeline ?

I can't get it to emit light, emission is using the same channel as for absorption and scattering and I have plugged in black body emission node.

Texture emission node works . Why doesn't blacbody work ?

How can we make clouds ? I would like to use the last frame of simulation for all frames so I can have a cloud which doesn't change.

It would be nice if you managed to support adaptive containers, they calculate so much faster.

[OlaHaldor]

Disregard the below. I placed the Octane volume options on the wrong null. I put it on the emitter, not the container. I've got smoke showing up and is beautiful as ever. Will try with flamable/explosion tomorrow.



Ok, so I don't need to do anything except
- add the LWOctane Volumetrics Options to the fluid container null
- set it to the appropriate TFD cache folder
- Set the correct grid size and voxel size

?

I've looked through all the things that comes with Octane, nothing have those red outputs the Octane Volumetrics need. Procedurals as you mention, does not connect to any of them.

I don't get it. Nothing shows up when I render.

[BorisGoreta]

Not octane procedurals but normal LW procedural nodes have that red output.