Octane Blender vs Octane C4D?

[tapanojum]

Hello, I'm currently deciding between Blender and C4D for my production needs and one big variable to consider is the implementation of Octane. Coming from Daz, Octane had a lot of quirks and bugs so I'd really like to avoid that this time around. I've been playing around with Octane Prime a bit but it's hard to really test the limitations as I'm also having to learn through Blender as well.

In general, how happy are you with Octane Blender? Are features lagging too far behind from Octane C4D in your opinion? Are there any big bugs, limitations, or general headaches that you've found from using it?

Edit: Playing around with Octane Prime in Blender, there doesn't seem to be any way to pause the viewport rendering. Is this the case? Do you have to either work in the viewport with Octane rendering the entire time or have to switch to viewport shading and then wait 10-30 seconds for shaders to update whenever you want to see Octane in the viewport?

[J.C]

Hi,

There are many factors that may make you choose particular tool. Both has its strengths and weaknesses. I mainly use Blender plugin and recently tried plugin for C4D but my experience less so my opinion may be not objective.

Starting from Blender:
Pros:
- seamless Octane integration, feels like a part of Blender,
- uses build in node editor for materials,
- free tier version.

Cons:
- plugin for 2.8 is buggy and in beta state,
- missing up to date stable Octane releases even for Blender 2.79,
- long wait for bug fixes,
- confusing color management,
- confusing Octane Layer management,
- smaller community,
- confusing cryptomattes management,
- developers are barely active in forums.

C4D plugin:
Pros:
- large community and active developer,
- up to date releases and fixes,
- extra features that are available only in C4D plugin (vdb management, C4D textures etc),
- no need to run octane server,
- better passes previews.

Cons:
- confusing render output management,
- crashes more than Blender plugin,
- render layers are no so easy to setup compared to Blender,
- doesn't use built in node editor for materials.

[J.C]

Edit: Playing around with Octane Prime in Blender, there doesn't seem to be any way to pause the viewport rendering. Is this the case? Do you have to either work in the viewport with Octane rendering the entire time or have to switch to viewport shading and then wait 10-30 seconds for shaders to update whenever you want to see Octane in the viewport?

This Is not implemented yet. I reported this but no response.

[tapanojum]

Thank you J.C, your response was very helpful!

[linograndiotoy]

- developers are barely active in forums.

We're constantly on the forums (and on Facebook) and taking action as soon as possible about any reported issue, even if you don't always immediately get an answer here.
We'll try to get better under this point of view, but please don't confuse a delayed answer in a thread with developers "being barely active".

[J.C]

- developers are barely active in forums.

We're constantly on the forums (and on Facebook) and taking action as soon as possible about any reported issue, even if you don't always immediately get an answer here.
We'll try to get better under this point of view, but please don't confuse a delayed answer in a thread with developers "being barely active".

The answers from DrawFun or Azen are very rare. They respond to bug reports once a month. I don't remember when they answer other questions on other topics in Blender plugin section.

[protovu]

I have said this before: Octane should put J.C. on the payroll !

[linograndiotoy]

- developers are barely active in forums.

We're constantly on the forums (and on Facebook) and taking action as soon as possible about any reported issue, even if you don't always immediately get an answer here.
We'll try to get better under this point of view, but please don't confuse a delayed answer in a thread with developers "being barely active".

The answers from DrawFun or Azen are very rare. They respond to bug reports once a month. I don't remember when they answer other questions on other topics in Blender plugin section.

Not answering to posts quickly does not mean they've not read them. And, most importantly, that issues don't get fixed.

You're doing a great job reporting issues, and for sure your reports are always read and considered (and fixed!), even when not specifically answered.

[J.C]

Not answering to posts quickly does not mean they've not read them. And, most importantly, that issues don't get fixed.

You're doing a great job reporting issues, and for sure your reports are always read and considered (and fixed!), even when not specifically answered.

I'm not saying no one reads bug reports. My concern is that there is very limited interaction between users and developers on Blender plugin section compared to other plugins.

[linograndiotoy]

Not answering to posts quickly does not mean they've not read them. And, most importantly, that issues don't get fixed.

You're doing a great job reporting issues, and for sure your reports are always read and considered (and fixed!), even when not specifically answered.

I'm not saying no one reads bug reports. My concern is that there is very limited interaction between users and developers on Blender plugin section compared to other plugins.

I'm really open to improve the interaction. What do you propose?