Light field rendering

[sergeypo]

Hello guys

I am considering the Otoy pipeline for implementing a VR stereo animation project. Have 3D animation all set up in Maya but want to render it in VR.
At SigGraph I was blown up by Otoy demo of running truck, and I understood that's because they are using light fields rather that traditional spherical or cubes projection.
I downloaded an OctaneRender demo version but did not find the lightfield rendering option. I understand that I need Samsung with VR Gear to watch that.

My question is: is there complete pipeline available of are some parts still experimental? Starting from rendering to the player/viewer? I need to do my project quickly, can render the VR clip in Maya but there must be a reason to use Octane! Please help me to clarify that.

1. Import maya project -> octane
2. Render into light field
3. Upload movie to Oculus store (or directly to my S-Gear?)
4. Play the movie, moving around within 1m cube, as advertized for ORBX player or whatever tool is needed...

I this correct, no gotchas?

[sergeypo]

From this press-release: https://home.otoy.com/otoy-unveils-octanevr/

SAN JOSE, Calif. – March 17, 2015 – Cloud graphics company, OTOY Inc., today announced, OctaneVR, a groundbreaking production tool for cinematic virtual reality, that enables content creators to effortlessly surpass the constraints of traditional CGI and filmed media, in order to render hyper-realistic cinematic experiences at the maximum possible fidelity demanded by consumer VR and AR devices coming to market this year.

I still wonder if this means light field rendering or just some very good raytracer? Is it worth buying or I should just render 360-stereo scene in Maya?

[KevinComerford]

I came here to ask this same question. I'm using 3ds max and I don't see any options for lightfield rendering. Is there a way for us to do it or do we have to wait even longer?

[sergeypo]

OK, to help others with same question I am posting the reply from Otoy:

You can buy OctaneRender Standalone only or buy the Combo version, integrated plugin for Maya + OctaneRender Standalone. In the first case you have to export you scene in obj (static elements) and Alembic (animated elements) and create materials and lighting inside the latest Standalone v3. In the second case you can prepare and render your scene for Octanerender inside Maya (change materials to Octane materials, lighting and camera setup), but you have to know that you are currently limited to work with v2, because the integrated Maya plugin v3 is currently in alpha stage and not ready for production.
Any OctaneRender version (Standalone or plugin)can render in Cube Map 18k version ready to be viewed inside Samsung Gear VR HMD via ORBX player.
The app is just been updated, and you should be able to see some new animated examples in the VR Vines section.

[glimpse]

hi,

as far as I understand light fields are not yet presented (implimented into commercial version) - You can render VR (cubemaps & other format), but not lightfields. Plus that would take enourmous amount of render power & until ORC is released to public that might be a bit problematic (due to the fact renderfarms for Octane Render do not exist).

sorry to spoil Your plan, but I guess You have to stay tuned for these features.

tom