Re: prim array to per point

[David Barosin]

In vex ;)

Take a look at 'geometry functions' in the docs.



On Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 5:06 PM Olivier Jeannel 
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I feel stuck (probably stupidly)
>
> I'm in VOP
>
> I have a geo with several primitives (lines / strands), each primitive has
> a different number of points.
> I can know how many points per primitive there is with @numvtx.
>
> I've build an array of sub indices per primitive (with a for loop)
> prim0 [0,1,2,3]
> prim1 [0,1,2]
> prim2 [0,1,2,3,4]
> prim3 [0,1]
>
> I can't find a VOP way to remap these array sub indices per point.
>
>
> Or, at worst a vex ... :/
>
> Thank you.
>
> --
> Softimage Mailing List.
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> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
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Reminiscing

[David Barosin]

Brad!   Glad you're still checking the list.  Houdini is feeling fun. In
many respects it's way more than I've had before in Soft.

The option to use code (vex) or ice like nodes (vops) interchangeably makes
handling arrays and other loops/flow control much easier.  Also the
presence of volume/vdb objects and a robust dynamics framework is a huge
bonus.   The list goes on but overall I'm getting that feeling ICE gave us
and then some.




On Friday, August 5, 2016, Bradley Gabe  wrote:

> Hi list! We haven't chatted in ages, and I wanted to see who I could dig
> up out of the caves with a little reminiscence about the good old days.
>
> I found this thread
>  from the
> Friday Flashback archives and it reminded me of a time when an XSI TD had
> amazing power for creative problem solving at his fingertips. Even the
> drudge work of shot tech support had, for a time, become fun again, when
> you could cook up something clever through sheer experimentation (and a
> spoonful of stubbornness).
>
> Having been out of the loop long enough now, just curious where everyone
> has gone to find that same kind of satisfaction? What goodies has the
> industry offered to empower the user?
>
>
>
> -B
>
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Re: [SItoA] Object motion converted to path animation but normalized at origin?

[David Barosin]

Glad it helped ;)

On Thursday, January 14, 2016, Steven Caron  wrote:

> Not really, I have it working how I want now, I had come up with my own
> way but also David Barosin on the SItoA list (I accidentally posted there)
> gave me a simpler answer. Here is David's response...
>
>
>> If the plane is on a curve, a hierarchy of 2 nulls could do it.
>> The parent null is constrained to the plane. The child null is
>> constrained to the curve.  Plot the child null's position.
>> Remove the constraints from both nulls.
>> Now constrain the curve to the child null and zero out the parent null's
>> SRT.
>> Hope that makes sense.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 14, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Grahame Fuller <
> grahame.ful...@autodesk.com
> > wrote:
>
>> So just to be clear, you want the plane/ship to stay at the origin while
>> the rest of the scene moves around it?
>>
>> Would it be good enough to parent a camera to the ship, or just use an
>> object view, while you develop the effect?
>>
>> gray
>>
>>

Re: Query scene for geo intersection (raycast)

[David Barosin]

Sounds like you want this
http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2014/en_us/sdkguide/si_om/Geometry.GetRaycastIntersections.html



On Tuesday, November 10, 2015, Fabian Schnuer Gohde 
wrote:

> Hi,
> is there some way in scripting to cast a ray and get the closest
> intersection position/geo/object or similar info. I'm basically wanting to
> make some tools to quickly place objects to the floor and other locations
> for layout and set dressing. Like being able to select a hundred instances
> of something and have them all fall down on the landscape.
>
> Thank you,
> Fabian
>

Re: Can't be more OT than this!: The Science of choosing the Perfect Job

[David Barosin]

Nice one Alok.  Thanks for sharing.

On Fri, Nov 6, 2015 at 6:51 AM, Alok Gandhi 
wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Not the slightest intention of self-promotion. Just wanted to share this
> with you fellow softies(that we still are and will always be) in the
> interest of general career benefit.
> The Science of choosing the Perfect Job 
>
> --
>

Re: Paul Smiths Fuzz for animation

[David Barosin]

I'm not familiar with Paul's setup but he's a very clever and talented guy.
If the jitter is just a few occasional pops, I'd check if any nodes are
using a point reference frame (ICE attribute) instead of a poly reference
frame  (or a point normal instead of a poly normal).  When sticking
geo/particles to other surfaces I've found that the point reference frame
is an interpolated result which can make things jitter on a deformation.
The poly reference frame (or poly normal) locks to each polygon.  I like
the look of the point interpolation but when it causes problems I switch to
poly.


Beyond that emitting from deforming geo can also cause problems.  I would
suggest using a static object to do all the emitting/grooming and transfer
that over to the animated mesh. Not sure how you're doing it now.

Re: End of the ride

[David Barosin]

Thanks for being part of a good thing. I wish you all the best.

Dave

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Perry Harovas  wrote:

> Best of luck to you Graham. I hope the next place is more fun, more money
> and less hours!
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 7:49 PM, Graham Bell  > wrote:
>
>> Thanks, it would of been good to continue, but unfortunately AD made me
>> redundant.
>>
>> On Wed, 13 May 2015 at 00:41, Gustavo Eggert Boehs > > wrote:
>>
>>> Good luck Graham! Thanks for the interaction through all this years.
>>>
>>> Gustavo E Boehs
>>> Dpto. de Expressão Gráfica | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |
>>> http://www.gustavoeb.com.br/
>>>
>>> 2015-05-12 20:29 GMT-03:00 Adam Sale >> >:
>>>
>>> I echo the sentiments of Eric and Angus. You have been a great help to
 our community Graham.
 Best of luck in your future endeavours!

 Adam

 On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 4:11 PM, Angus Davidson <
 angus.david...@wits.ac.za
 > wrote:

>  Dear Graham
>
>
>
> Thank you for all you have been able to do , both here, on places like
> si-community and via email.
>
>
>
> Where ever you end up I hope its at least free of Adobe installers ;)
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Angus
>
>
>
> --
>
>  *From:* Graham Bell [bell...@gmail.com
> ]
> *Sent:* 13 May 2015 12:59 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> 
> *Subject:* End of the ride
>
>   I hadn't wanted to make any kind of announcement, but reading
> Stephens latest Flashback thread and the discussions on where peoples
> journey with Softimage first started, it's kinda made me realise that mine
> has basically ended.
> And as I'm posting here, I didn't want to fly under false colours, so
> to speak.
>
>  As of the start of this month, I'm no longer at Autodesk, The
> bloodline of european Softimage AE's from Ben, Chinny, and James, to 
> myself
> has now ended.
>
>  Perhaps it's time to start earning an honest living again. lol :-)
>
>  This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is 
> confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please 
> notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy 
> or disseminate this communication without the permission of the 
> University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into 
> agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised 
> that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the 
> University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, 
> which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the 
> Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and 
> outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees 
> in writing to the contrary.
>
>

>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
> Perry Harovas
> Animation and Visual Effects
>
> http://www.TheAfterImage.com 
>
> -25 Years Experience
> -Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)
>

Re: Transfer UV via Ice

[David Barosin]

Use Node Position instead of point position when using closest location



On Monday, April 27, 2015, Adam Seeley  wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm sure I've done this before but...
>
> I just want to find the closest location of a surface and transfer the UV
> values to my geometry's UV set.
>
> It works fine with Weightmaps. ie.
>
> Get Grid -> Get_Closest_Location_On_Geo ->  location -> Get Weights -> Set
> Data Self.Weights
>
> but
>
> I get a context mismatch with UV's as per the jpeg.
> I can pick up the values from the other Geo's Uv set  but plugging them
> into the local Geo Uv set is the problem.
> I tried switch context as a quick fix but no joy.
>
> Any pointers appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Adam.
>
>

Re: deleting disconnected clusterkeys

[David Barosin]

Not sure if I picked the right classID so if it doesn't find a match try
some others

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2014/en_us/sdkguide/si_om/siClassID.html



On Thursday, February 5, 2015, David Gallagher 
wrote:

>  Great! I will try it.
> On 2/5/2015 5:37 AM, David Barosin wrote:
>
>  This is untested but the idea is there.
>
> ###
> import win32com
> from win32com.client import constants as c
>
> oCls = Application.FindObjects2(c.siClusterID)
>
> for i in oCls:
> if "clskey<" in i.Name:
> Application.DeleteObj(i)
>
> ###
>
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2015 at 12:59 AM, David Gallagher <
> davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> Does anyone know how I can purge my scene from these clusterkeys I can't
>> seem to delete? It errors with this each time I save this file.
>>
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - Save: [6] objects were not saved normally
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<267>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<52056>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<3221>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<18389>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<52757>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<21774>] was saved, but is disconnected from
>> the scene. (Floating object)
>>
>>
>
>

Re: deleting disconnected clusterkeys

[David Barosin]

This is untested but the idea is there.

###
import win32com
from win32com.client import constants as c

oCls = Application.FindObjects2(c.siClusterID)

for i in oCls:
if "clskey<" in i.Name:
Application.DeleteObj(i)

###

On Thu, Feb 5, 2015 at 12:59 AM, David Gallagher <
davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Does anyone know how I can purge my scene from these clusterkeys I can't
> seem to delete? It errors with this each time I save this file.
>
> ' WARNING : 3000 - Save: [6] objects were not saved normally
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<267>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<52056>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<3221>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<18389>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<52757>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
> ' WARNING : 3000 - -- [clskey<21774>] was saved, but is disconnected from
> the scene. (Floating object)
>
>

Re: New Shiite

[David Barosin]

Really impressive work.

On Thursday, January 22, 2015, Jason S  wrote:

>  On 01/21/15 17:23, Eric Turman wrote:
>
> I don't know Jason..."braught" has a certain linguistic weightiness to it
> ;)
>
>
> Maybe :), but I dont like mistakes that aren't intentional :)
>
> Speaking of OpenVDB, it's also pretty amazing, I've just shaded regular
> particles with it,
> pretty easy to get nice and smooth results, it being voxel based making
> tons of small particles obsolete, while being pretty fast.
>
> Also, here is a recent SI/Houdini coffee blend ;), with OpenVDB having
> been used for some Houdini FX imports.
>  *http://vimeo.com/114354361 *
>  Nescafe Inside Tama
>
> from Dirk Riesenfeld  1 month ago Not Yet
> Rated
>
> Agency - Dentsu Japan
> Director - Niels Thomsen
> Production - The Marmalade
> On-Set Supervisor - D.Riesenfeld
> Lead - Manuel Bamberger / Dirk Riesenfeld / Jan Elsner
> 3D - J.Elsner / M.Bamberger / U. Prieto / S.Kowalski / A. Böinghoff /
> D.Springer / J.Buchert / G.Freese
> Compositing - D. Riesenfeld / M.Henzel / M.Winter
> Software - Nuke / Flame / Houdini / Softimage
> My Tasks:
> Lead Comp / CGI + Fx Elements Comp / Clean ups / Set Supervision /
> Transition fly through glass
>
>

Re: Sticking Ice Strands

[David Barosin]

If I understand correctly you need to...
1) Store the initial StrandPosition in the local particle space.(by
multiplying the strandPosition array by the inverted particle transform)
-- get particle transform --> invert ---> multiply (strandPosition)
by matrix--> set data (myLocalStrandPosition)

2) Multiply the stored StrandPosition (myLocalStrandPosition) by the
current particle transform



On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 3:34 PM, Lawrence Nimrichter 
wrote:

> Hey guys, if you have ice strands that are all curly, do you know how to
> make it stick to the surface of geo as is. When the emitting point sticks
> to deforming geo, it stretches and does dynamics etc to the strand (which
> normally is great, but not this time). I wish they were each frozen to the
> particle and just moved with it. does that make sense?
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Lawrence Nimrichter
>
>
>

Re: Carnegie Mellon bvh files

[David Barosin]

Maybe try their Acclaim format.  You grab the .asf file (skeleton) and
apply the .amc (motion) to it.  Import it using File>Import>Acclaim...
>From there you could try a rig to rig transfer in motor.

Just fyi the source data from CMU is pretty noisy.  It will need a bit of
clean up.

Motor may take some fussing before you get the workflow but I've been able
to get data across.


Another fyi.  There are a bunch of motor files that come with the install
of Softimage which are pretty decent.  Cleaner than the cmu data.
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Softimage 2014 SP2\Data\XSI_SAMPLES\Actions

On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 1:33 PM, Andi Farhall  wrote:

> Afternoon, evening or good morning
>
> I'm trying to use the free bvh files from Carnegie Mellon to give me a
> range of mocap files for some ambient crowd rep stuff (using Golaem in
> Maya), and the rig tagging, motor thing is only half working for me. I've
> got a simple rig I've set up in soft, a single chain for the clavicle and
> hands, two for the feet  etc, simple stuff as I've never gone near
> character/rigging type stuff before really. The hips, legs feet chest and
> neck work, albeit with a bit of adjustment and the hands work also, however
> the shoulders and arms refuse to play ball. The bvh file itself has
> animation on the arms and hands but not the clavicles, but nothing gets
> transferred to these parts of my rig. I ran through a digital tutors movie
> about targeting and motion transfer and got that to work no problem but the
> mocap file they supplied had a lot more markers.
>
> Any body got the Carnegie Mellon stuff to work? There's so much stuff in
> there  it seems like a mocap goldmine if i can just get it to work..
>
> cheers,
>
> Andi.
>
>
>
>
> ...
> http://www.hackneyeffects.com/
> https://vimeo.com/user4174293
> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andi-farhall/b/496/b21
>
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_hackney/
> http://spylon.tumblr.com/
>
> This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended
> solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or
> opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
> represent those of Hackney Effects Ltd.
>
> If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take
> any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone.
>
> Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in
> error.
> 
>

Re: ICE attributes don't show

[David Barosin]

Just a quick check but is there a subdivision on the geo?

On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 11:56 AM, Francois Lord 
wrote:

> Allright. What's the deal with ICE attribute values that don't show up
> when they're asked to?
> I've never had this problem with earlier version but now since maybe 2013,
> it seems to be a increasing problem. I have a simulated mesh with 3
> different ICE trees in different stack regions. I tried with the
> AttributeDisplay prop and the little 'v' on connections, they don't show.
> Attributes are 'on' in the visibility options of the viewer.
> I can see there are values when I plug them in the render tree, but I need
> to know the numbers.
> WTF?
>
> Thanks.
>

Re: Glasswoks Lycra

[David Barosin]

Wow.  Cool idea and great execution!

On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 11:39 AM, Byron Nash  wrote:

> Very nice spot.
>
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 5:41 AM, Alastair Hearsum  > wrote:
>
>>  Thanks for the compliment.
>> Yes Softimage and Redshift
>> Great result from the team here at Glassworks and such a good director
>> work with.
>>
>>
>>
>>  Alastair Hearsum
>> Head of 3d
>> [image: GLASSWORKS]
>>  [image: Facebook]
>>  [image:
>> Twitter]  [image: Vimeo]
>>  [image: Instagram]
>> 
>>  See our latest work *here*. 
>>  33/34 Great Pulteney Street
>> London
>> W1F 9NP
>> T +44 (0)20 7434 1182
>> glassworks.co.uk 
>>  Glassworks Terms and Conditions of Sale can be found at glassworks.co.uk
>>  (Company registered in England with number 04759979. Registered office
>> 25 Harley Street, London, W1G 9BR. VAT registration number: 86729)
>>  Please consider the environment before you print this email.
>>  DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and attachments are strictly privileged, private
>> and confidential and are intended solely for the stated recipient(s). Any
>> views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
>> necessarily represent those of the Company. If you are not the intended
>> recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that
>> any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is
>> strictly prohibited. If this transmission is received in error please
>> kindly return it to the sender and delete this message from your system.
>>  On 30/09/2014 18:55, olivier jeannel wrote:
>>
>> http://www.glassworks.co.uk/video/lycra-moves-you&search-type=all&term=all
>>
>> Beautifull film, out of curiousity are we still speaking softimage here ?
>>
>>
>>
>

Re: This is what Mark Schoennagel is upto these days

[David Barosin]

Very cool.  Thanks for sharing that.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2014, Alok Gandhi 
wrote:

> http://youtu.be/RxP3pfl9QYg
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>

Re: Eric "MOOTZOID" Mootz is nominated for a 3D World CG Award!

[David Barosin]

Voted.  Congratulations Eric!  Well deserved.

Re: SI and Houdini

[David Barosin]

Jordi thank you!  I've been checking out the first few chapters and
thoroughly appreciating all the time and effort you put into these.

A truly kind act.

Cheers,
 -Dave




On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 7:40 PM, Nick Angus  wrote:

> Thank you Mr Bares!
> 
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] on behalf of Jordi Bares [
> jordiba...@gmail.com]
> Sent: 29 May 2014 08:34
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: SI and Houdini
>
> Well, seems finally found a gap to add another guide
>
> Houdini procedural animation introduciton aka CHOPs ready to download
>
>
> http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&p=148076#148076
>
> Jordi Bares
> jordiba...@gmail.com
>
> On 21 May 2014, at 22:49, Sebastian Kowalski  wrote:
>
> > I am experiencing the same. Amazed by it actually.
> > And all the sexy things one can do in a ROP Network..
> > Never would thought of XSI pass system being too rigid.
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 21.05.2014 um 20:33 schrieb Andy Goehler <
> lists.andy.goeh...@gmail.com>:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>> On 21.05.2014, at 19:35, Ciaran Moloney 
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Mantra aint too shabby...
> >>
> >> I'm running a test scene and surprisingly Mantra keeps pace with Arnold
> speed/quality wise (brute force). I really like all the options that Mantra
> brings along. There's is an unmatched flexibility with lights, objects and
> shaders with Mantra all inside Houdini without having to resort to external
> C++ IDEs.
> >>
> >> Andy
> >
> >
>
>
>
>

Re: smoothing tagged keys on fcurves

[David Barosin]

You can hit 'q' to bring up the bounding region in the fcurve editor after
you tag keys which does limit the effect.   The smoothing introduce new
kinks at the boundaries though :P  It could use a falloff.




On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 12:19 PM, adrian wyer  wrote:

>   like the title says...
>
>
>
> curve processing affects the whole curve, ignoring selection
>
>
>
> i have a track with a kink, the more i try and smooth it manually, the
> worse it gets
>
>
>
> smoothing works fine, but i only want to smooth a small section
>
>
>
> i COULD create a null, copy the camera animation, smooth just that bit,
> and copy it back but really? this is 2014!
>
>
>
> a
>
>
>
> Adrian Wyer
> Fluid Pictures
> 75-77 Margaret St.
> London
> W1W 8SY
> ++44(0) 207 580 0829
>
>
> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com
>
> www.fluid-pictures.com
>
>
>
> Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
> Company number:5657815
> VAT number: 872 6893 71
>
>
>

Re: What use is ICE really?

[David Barosin]

Here's a little personal indulgence.  An ICE mazes generator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfiBD9DnnjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR5X_mOFWKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z3KCrf4Zbo

It was a great feeling to finally do something off the clock.  Softimage
still gets me excited and is a big part of why I enjoy what I do.

Thanks Alastair for suggesting this.




On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 7:49 AM, Sofronis Efstathiou <
sefstath...@bournemouth.ac.uk> wrote:

>  These excellent videos by Mr Sale have been invaluable for students
> looking to create their facial rigs. We have built on these and it's been
> great. Really powerful stuff - and very, very artist friendly, especially
> as a number of our students are from a non-3D backgrounds - i.e. sculptors,
> graphic designers, painters, illustrators, 2D animators etc.
>
>
>
> http://vimeo.com/26980409
>
>
>
> http://vimeo.com/26996037
>
>
>
> And the rest - http://vimeo.com/thejoncrow/videos/page:6/sort:date
>
>
>
> By the way, thanks for making these available Adam - really appreciated!
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> Sofronis Efstathiou
>
> Postgraduate Framework Leader and BFX Competition & Festival Director
>
> Computer Animation Academic Group
>
> *National Centre for Computer Animation*
>
>
> Email: sefstath...@bournemouth.ac.uk
>
>
>
> Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965805
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Matt Morris
> *Sent:* 21 March 2014 11:39
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: What use is ICE really?
>
>
>
> When I first heard about ICE I thought it was just for particles, but its
> speeded up my character rigging workflow massively.
>
>
>
> https://vimeo.com/50523730
>
> Video showing a set of shapes automatically connected to face controls,
> and secondary deformers (dorritos) added, all in ice. (bit older, scuse the
> capture quality)
>
>
>
> https://vimeo.com/77202592
>
> Extending and reusing that work for these guys, also all the hair was ice
> (kristinka).
>
>
>
>
>
>   BU is a Disability Two Ticks Employer and has signed up to the
> Mindful Employer charter. Information about the accessibility of University
> buildings can be found on the BU DisabledGo 
> webpages
>
> This email is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may
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> distributed or disclosed to any other person.
>
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> its subsidiary companies via email.
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> This message has been scanned for viruses and
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Re: "Top List of ICE Nodes That Cover 80% of What You Do With The Toolset"

[David Barosin]

"Nope" sounds about right.

Chris will all due respect.  It's like asking how many letters to you need
to say your favorite words.
ICE is an established visual language for the Softimage folk.  You can
program with it and it reaches far beyond just simulation.




On Sat, Mar 15, 2014 at 1:00 PM, Andy Jones  wrote:

> On Sat, Mar 15, 2014 at 6:41 AM, Chris Vienneau <
> chris.vienn...@autodesk.com> wrote:
>
>> Do you guys think there is a top list of nodes in ICE and compounds you
>> all use that cover 80% of what you do with the toolset?
>>
>
> Nope
>

Re: survey on visual programming

[David Barosin]

Done!
>
>

Re: maths, my head hurts

[David Barosin]

plug the orientation of the particle into a 'rotate vector' node.  For the
'Z' axis of the particle use 0,0,1 as the value in the 'rotate vector'
node.




On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 7:36 AM, Chris Marshall
wrote:

> Hello all.
> I'm struggling on something that I'm sure should be simple.
> I have some particles, cubes, that are sitting flat on a surface, all with
> their x axis pointing straight up, but rotated around that axis so they're
> all facing in different directions across the surface. I can see this by
> having the Orientation attribute visible and Display as Axis on.
> Now I want to use Get Location by Raycast on some geometry in the scene,
> using the Z axis of the particles as the Direction Vector input.
> What I'm struggling on is how to get the vector of the Z axis of the
> particles? How do I extract this information from the Orientation? Like I
> said, I can see that its the Z axis of each particle I want to use. Maybe
> it's not the Orientation I should be using?
>
> I hope that makes sense.
> Thanks
> Chris
>
>
> --
>
> Chris Marshall
> Mint Motion Limited
> 029 20 37 27 57
> 07730 533 115
> www.mintmotion.co.uk
>
>

Re: Nesting custom properties

[David Barosin]

Character Key sets are hierarchical.  I think they only work with existing
parameters but it's a potential way to organize...


On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 11:37 PM, Mathias N  wrote:

> Evening
>
> I will be managing an obscene number of parameters, a number that requires
> that I keep things somewhat structured rather than just dumping everything
> into a single custom property.
>
> Since we are apparently unable to create hierarchies of parameters (see
> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/xsi_list/OkUqJFjOqP0/discussion )
> my current plan is to use nested CustomProperties in the following manner:
>
> Gradient
>   Marker_1
> Red
> Green
> Blue
>   Marker_2
> Red
> Green
> ...
> Where gradient and marker_1/marker_2 are custom properties, and
> red/green/blue are parameters.
>
> I am primarily posting to ask whether there isn't a better way of doing
> this, but assuming the answer to that is no, I was wonder if it is possible
> to accomplish purely with C++.
>
> With scripting you would just use AddProp to create the CustomProperty,
> setting the parent property as the input.
> In C++ the only way to add a custom property is, as far as I can tell, by
> calling AddCustomProperty, but this method is not available to a
> CustomProperty as it is not derived from SceneItem.
>
> Calling the native AddProp to do the job wouldn't be much of a problem,
> but I do prefer to keep my code, ehem, *pure*. Also not a fan of spamming
> the console.
>
> Cheers
>

Re: Gear installation question

[David Barosin]

oops.one more time.

Not sure if this is still relevant to the current gear version but at an
early version I made a plugin that concatenated the gear location to the
syspath.

Here's the script.  In my case I used a folder called modules in the
__sipath__ location.  Ideally gear could be on a network drive and this
plugin located in a workgroup.  It would save having to edit local files on
each machine.


---


# gearPath Plug-in
# Initial code generated by Softimage SDK Wizard
# Executed Tue May 22 10:50:07 EDT 2012 by dbarosin
#
# Tip: To add a command to this plug-in, right-click in the
# script editor and choose Tools > Add Command.
import win32com.client
from win32com.client import constants
import siutils, os, sys, re
import platform

null = None
false = 0
true = 1

def XSILoadPlugin( in_reg ):
in_reg.Author = "dbarosin"
in_reg.Name = "gearPath Plug-in"
in_reg.Major = 1
in_reg.Minor = 0

#RegistrationInsertionPoint - do not remove this line

setupGear()

return true

def XSIUnloadPlugin( in_reg ):
strPluginName = in_reg.Name
Application.LogMessage(str(strPluginName) + str(" has been
unloaded."),constants.siVerbose)
return true


# Callback for the Activate event.

def setupGear():

# add plugin path
siutils.add_to_syspath( "%s\\modules" % __sipath__ )
import gear

#set platform 64 or 32
#list eligible extension
bit = platform.architecture()[0][:2]
platSkip = ['32','64']
platSkip.remove(bit)
ext = ["py","pys","js","vb","vbs"]

#add platform specific extension
if sys.platform == "win32":
ext.append("dll")
else:
ext.append("so")


mList = os.listdir( "%s\\.." % __sipath__ )

for i in mList:
#look for delayed load folder
if "DelayLoad" in i:
rootdir = "%s\\..\\%s" % (__sipath__, i)

#walk dir tree
for root, subFolders, files in os.walk(rootdir):
for file in files:
f = os.path.join(root,file)

#test for files with proper ext
if os.path.isfile(f):
fileExt = f.split(".")[-1]
if fileExt in ext:

#check for either 32 or 64 dll
pBit = re.search("\.(%s)\." % platSkip[0],file)
if not pBit:
print ("looking for %s in %s" %
(platSkip[0], file))
Application.LoadPlugin(f)

Re: Gear installation question

[David Barosin]

Not sure if this is still relevant to the current gear version but at an
early version I made a plugin that concatenated the gear location to the
syspath.

Here's the script.  In my case I used a folder called modules in the
__sipath__ location.  Ideally gear could be on a network drive and this
plugin in a workgroup.  It would save having to edit local files on each
machine.


--











































































































































































































































































































































On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 11:22 AM, Jon Swindells
wrote:

> setenv would be my first choice
>
> .pth file works well too
>
> --
>   Jon Swindells
>   jon_swinde...@fastmail.fm
>
> On Mon, Jan 20, 2014, at 06:13 PM, Manny Papamanos wrote:
> > Did you try
> > C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Softimage 2014\Application\bin\setenv.bat
> > instead of global?
> >
> > -m
> >
> > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
> > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Szabolcs
> > Matefy
> > Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 11:02 AM
> > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> > Subject: Gear installation question
> >
> > Hey folks,
> >
> > Does anybody have an idea how can I install Gear without changing the
> > Environment variable on the computer? Our head of IT was a bit nervous
> > when I told, I wanted to change that...
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> >
> > Szabolcs
> > ___
> > This message contains confidential information and is intended only for
> > the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not
> > disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender
> > immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and
> > delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be
> > guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be
> > intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or
> > contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any
> > errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a
> > result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request
> > a hard-copy version. Crytek GmbH - http://www.crytek.com - Grüneburgweg
> > 16-18, 60322 Frankfurt - HRB77322 Amtsgericht Frankfurt a. Main- UST
> > IdentNr.: DE20432461 - Geschaeftsfuehrer: Avni Yerli, Cevat Yerli, Faruk
> > Yerli
>
>

Re: exporting camera roll -> FBX?

[David Barosin]

Roll is really just rotation.  Is any rotation making it over?

To be thorough, constrain a null to the soft camera - plot it and copy the
animation back to the camera.
Export the camera with the interest.


On Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 7:35 AM, Paul Griswold <
pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com> wrote:

> I've tried both plotted and unplotted.
>
> It seems to be a Fusion issue, not Softimage.  For some reason Fusion
> can't see animated roll on the camera, even when it's plotted.
>
> -Paul
>
> ᐧ
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 7:34 AM, David Barosin  wrote:
>
>> Plot it before you export?  The roll I believe is from a direction
>> constraint.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 6:46 AM, Paul Griswold <
>> pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have an animated camera where I've also animated the roll on it.
>>>
>>> When I export the scene as FBX, the camera imports without the roll.
>>>
>>> Is there a way to include it?
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>> ᐧ
>>>
>>
>>
>

Re: exporting camera roll -> FBX?

[David Barosin]

Plot it before you export?  The roll I believe is from a direction
constraint.


On Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 6:46 AM, Paul Griswold <
pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com> wrote:

> I have an animated camera where I've also animated the roll on it.
>
> When I export the scene as FBX, the camera imports without the roll.
>
> Is there a way to include it?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
> ᐧ
>

Re: rigging in xsi vs maya

[David Barosin]

Dave that's a great summary, especially coming from someone with the proper
credentials in both packages.   This should find it's way up the ladder at
AD.


On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 2:45 PM, David Gallagher <
davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> I rigged on quite a few characters in Maya at Blue Sky Studios and now
> (Softimage) AnimSchool. We offer the well-known "Malcolm" rig for free.
>
> There is no comparison to rigging in Softimage and Maya--not the kind of
> rigging I do. I often assume by now they have better workflows in Maya, but
> I'm often surprised to find how convoluted and limiting the workflows are
> to this day. Most Maya people must not know there are better ways of
> working or aren't doing the kinds of things I am, because the difference is
> profound.
>
> -At any point in the rigging process, you can make edits in the model
> stack to change the shape and topology of the model. After experimenting,
> you can freeze that part of the stack and continue on with that new shape,
> retaining almost every bit of work you've done.
> YOU CAN CHANGE THE TOPOLOGY. YOU CAN CHANGE THE SHAPE FREELY.
> This difference is huge. You can work toward completion without fear of
> losing work. You can experiment freely--knowing it's fine if you want to
> make a major change. I'm never afraid of losing blendshape work.
> And if the changes are really significant, you can always Gator you're way
> out of a jam.
>
> -You can do blendshape edits directly on the geometry, modelessly, instead
> of on a separate blendshape object.
>
> -There is no comparison with corrective blendshapes. In Softimage, you go
> to Secondary Shape mode and drag a few points.
> In Maya, I wish you luck. You can install one of several plug-ins and
> scripts and HOPE that it works. If the scenario is simple enough, it might.
> Several people here tried to help a student make a single corrective
> blendshape on an elbow -- and we're all experienced Maya riggers. After
> hours of attempting, we threw up our hands. There was something in that
> object's history that was making the blendshape plug-in fail. The answer is
> what it often is: just start over.
> -EDITING corrective blendshapes. In Maya, heaven help you if you want to
> edit that blendshape later. Start the process again and make a new one. In
> Softimage, drag a few points and you're done in seconds.
>
> -For facial work, being able to make face shapes in conjunction with the
> mixer, working directly on the main geo. To see other shapes muted, soloed
> as you're working. This allows you to craft shapes that work for different
> scenarios, with just the right falloff. You can make correctives for shape
> combinations quickly. In face work, it's all about how the functions
> combine to make the range of expressive results.
>
> -The envelope weighting is far superior. The smoothing is just better, and
> more reliable. Negative weight painting actually works.
> Being able to make sophisticated weighting allows you to make lighter
> rigs, because fewer nodes and calculations are needed.
> I can't believe someone actually compared Maya's Component Editor to
> Softimage's Weight Editor. I'm stunned.
> Sometimes, demoing Maya's envelope weighting, it just stops working for no
> reason -- I have no idea why. (Mind you, I've been rigging in Maya since
> 1999.)
>
> -You can envelope/skin null objects, not just joints. (Yes, Maya will let
> you add other objects as deformers but it is limiting and causes problems.)
>
> -The tweak tool. You can grab anywhere and it will just get the nearest
> point/edge/poly and transform it precisely. Add the proportional editing
> and it's very sculptural without giving up precise transform control. I far
> prefer this workflow to the Zbrush approach geared toward paintstrokes.
>
> -In Softimage, you can change the wireframe on shaded opacity. You can
> change the point sizes. These mean I can visualize and work with the shape,
> not get visually stuck on the tech clutter like in Maya.
>
> -LinkWithOrientation. Does Maya have anything built-in yet? I know there
> are pose readers out there, but they are slow and 3rd party.
>
> -The "smooth preview" Geometry Approximation is better, faster, and more
> stable in Softimage.
>
> -Even with the army of tools and plug-ins we had at Blue Sky Studios, I
> would still much rather use off-the-shelf Softimage.
>
> -You can select controls without selecting (and highlighting) all its
> children. This makes it easier to animate the rig -- just drag selecting
> will get you the selectable controls. In Maya, drag-selecting gets a
> mixture of heirarchy parts.
>
> All this means that I can focus on the ART, the shaping of the rig, not
> jump through hoops all day.
> As a result, our characters are more flexible and expressive.
>
>
>
>
> On 1/8/2014 2:30 AM, Stefan Kubicek wrote:
>
> To be fair, I weighted a fair amount of characters in Maya over the years
> but I never experienced anything like that.
> When exactly 

Re: cache not loading

[David Barosin]

Is there a simulation phase in the stack on the cloud reading the cache?

Maybe try reading the cache from a newly created cloud.


On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 7:23 AM, adrian wyer  wrote:

>   i have a field of wheat generated with particle instances, that
> stick to an underlying surface, as a lattice pushes the surface out of the
> way of a table moving through the field (gotta love commercials eh!)
>
>
>
> the sim works fine, so i cache it out using the cache manager (adding ALL
> properties, just in case)
>
>
>
> i load the cache onto a new cloud, and when i scrub it moves, all good
>
>
>
> when i render on the farm it renders the same frame, like it's not loading
> the cache data for anything but frame one
>
>
>
> the weird thing is, earlier versions of this setup work just fine! and
> have been for days
>
>
>
> i guess i'll just have to re-cache or re-create the reader cloud/model
>
>
>
> but gah!!! bloody caching is a PITA
>
>
>
> /end rant
>
>
>
> Adrian Wyer
> Fluid Pictures
> 75-77 Margaret St.
> London
> W1W 8SY
> ++44(0) 207 580 0829
>
>
> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com
>
> www.fluid-pictures.com
>
>
>
> Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
> Company number:5657815
> VAT number: 872 6893 71
>
>
>

Re: ICE: Emit from weightmap

[David Barosin]

You can use a weightmap in the 'emit from geometry' node.

Rate Type: set to Total Number of Particles

In the emission filter parameters -
   Rate Control: set to exact rate.
   Reference: points to your weight map values (e.g.
cls.WeightMapCls.Weight_Map.Weights)





On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 10:46 PM, David Rivera <
activemotionpictu...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi, I´ve been looking around a method to emmit particles in ICE from a
> Weightmap.
> I know there´s a compound to "FILTER particles" from a weightmap.
> So the way it works is: I have an emmiter to a 100 particles over the
> entire surface,
> and if I filter, I only see "20" or so particles at the location paint of
> the weightmap.
>
> The desired result should be: 100 particles ONLY on the painted area of
> the weightmap.
>
> I´ve been looking around si-community but so far no luck.
> Emmit particles from location (and get data.self.weight) is something that
> comes to mind
> but doesn´t work as desired.
>
> Could someone help me with the ICE tree?
> Thanks.
>
> David.
>

Re: Problems with weighted constraints

[David Barosin]

 >>>offset1 and offset2, then its constrained to both, with a 0.5 weight on
each constraint.

Soft constraints are layered, meaning that the order the constraints are
applied is important.  The last applied constraint trumps the previous
one.  So if you want to blend a 50/50 amount you have to leave the first
constraint at 100% and the second at 50%

Think of it as the if last constraint reveals to the previous ones.

Hope that makes sense.


On Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 3:43 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote:

>  I'm running into an interesting problem with weighted constraints. I have
> a feeling of what's causing it, but I wanted to see if anyone has ran into
> it before.
> I've got a fairly straightforward 3-arm animation setup. One chain is the
> IK arm, another chain is the FK arm, and the third chain is the deformation
> arm. Each joint on the deformation arm has two orientation constraints,
> targeting its corresponding joint in both the IK arm and FK arm. The
> weights on the constraints are controlled by a single Custom Parameter, so
> I can blend with a single control.
> There are some Offset controls parented to each joint of the Deformation
> arm. And there are a bunch of little nulls sitting on the deformation arm.
> These nulls are position constrained to two of these offsets each. Say, one
> of the nulls sits midway between offset1 and offset2, then its constrained
> to both, with a 0.5 weight on each constraint.
> The problem I'm seeing is that each time I move the arm(s) (either), be it
> by manually moving the animation controls I have for them, or by playing
> with my blending slider, these small nulls seem to not return precisely to
> their original locations. They land somewhere in the vicinity, but they
> have a hard time returning to their original place. This is more notorious
> when I perform fast movements (for example, by quickly dragging side by
> side on the blending slider I have for my Custom Parameter). If I drag said
> slider very slowly, they stand a much better chance of coming back to their
> original position.
> My feeling is that it's somewhat related to the fact that all the objects
> constrained in all cases, were constrained with Constraint Compensation on.
> Looks like all these offsets added together are causing rounding errors
> during the solve. Of course, this is just my gut feeling, but I wanted to
> see if anyone has ever seen a problem such as this. I'm kinda surprised SI
> would have problems with such a simple setup... there's a bit of stuff
> going on (I actually over-simplified it for the purpose of this
> explanation, but it's nothing crazy really), but nothing that should break
> like this.
> We're on SI 2012. Any pointers are welcome. Thanks!
>
> --
>
<>

Re: skin lots of cubes

[David Barosin]

Nice one Steve.  I was hoping that would somehow make it's way into Soft.
Thanks for taking an interest.




On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 5:27 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:

> it isn't really ready for mass consumption... if reinhard wants to post
> it, that is fine. currently this project has no licensing which i need to
> add!
>
> s
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Ed Manning  wrote:
>
>> ooh, that's pretty great, Steve!
>>
>> can you post to rray.de?
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 4:59 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:
>>
>>> ack, my attachment is too big. hopefully the admin will permit it.
>>> otherwise email me directly.
>>>
>>> here is a picture of it working, is this what you had in mind?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 1:53 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:
>>>
 hey chris

 i am interested in seeing if this works for you... i compiled my
 openvdb plugin and attached it to the email.

 if you have arnold installed, you should disable it while using this
 plugin... they don't peacefully coexist at this time.

 there are some custom ice nodes, the ones you want are the mesh
 conversion nodes. here are some steps...

 -create an empty polygon mesh
 -get the merged cubes mesh
 -get the mesh to volume node and a volume to mesh node
 -wire them up like so... get data>mesh to volume>volume to mesh>create
 topo>set topo

 at this time the conversion to volume has an inside and outside width.
 openvdb has the ability to 'fill in the inside' i just haven't implemented
 it. so keep an eye out for that, you might need to do some clean up after
 you are done

 s



 On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 1:36 PM, Chris Marshall <
 chrismarshal...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the feedback,
> I've tried polygonizer - shrink wrap, doesn't work too well, but I'll
> have another go tomorrow.
>
> Thanks for all the other suggestions.
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, 27 November 2013, Steven Caron wrote:
>
>> that is probably one of the best options without any 3rd party tools.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Ed Manning wrote:
>>
>> use polygonizer, then shrinkwrap?
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 1:29 PM, Steven Caron wrote:
>>
>> like 3dcoat, you might be able to use openVDB. essentially voxelize
>> the mesh and convert that volume back into a mesh.
>>
>> here is a link to the plugin i made. i don't have precompiled
>> binaries right now.
>>
>> https://github.com/caron/OpenVDB_Softimage
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Paul Griswold <
>> pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com> wrote:
>>
>> Retopo in 3DCoat?  I believe the most recent beta release has major
>> improvements in hard edges:
>> http://3d-coat.com/community/participate/upload-screenshot/?list=singleimg&img_name=137762198694&img_type=1
>>
>> I want to say emTopolizer could do what you want, but I'm not
>> entirely sure:  http://www.mootzoid.com/plugin/emtopolizer2
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>> ᐧ
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 10:08 AM, Rob Chapman 
>> wrote:
>>
>> perhaps something like meshlab?
>>
>>
>> On 27 November 2013 15:03, Leo Quensel  wrote:
>>
>> If anyone has any ideas on this topic: I am interest aswell - have
>> run into this situation countless times ;)
>>
>> *Gesendet:* Mittwoch, 27. November 2013 um 16:00 Uhr
>> *Von:* "Chris Marshall" 
>> *An:* "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" <
>> softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
>> *Betreff:* skin lots of cubes
>>  Hi All,
>> After managing to get a frozen poly mesh from hundreds of ICE cubes,
>> what I need to do now is perform something like a boolean union on them 
>> all
>> (though they are a single merged polygon), a bit like polygonizer but
>> without the round corners. Any tools out there that could do that?
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
>
> Chris Marshall
> Mint Motion Limited
> 029 20 37 27 57
> 07730 533 115
> www.mintmotion.co.uk
>
>
>

>>>
>>
>

Re: neural net Delete point?

[David Barosin]

No problem.  Hope you figure it out.


On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> Thanks again David...I really appreciate the help!
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 2:54 PM, David Barosin  wrote:
>
>> close.  You need to compare the 'value' port of the 'remove from array'
>> node  to 0,0,0  using the 'equal to' comparison node.  That plugs into the
>> boolean input of the 'if'.   The 'result' output of the 'remove from array'
>> node is where you get the remaining array to plug into your set data.
>>
>> Honestly it seems like there is something else going on.  I'm not
>> familiar with the compounds you're using but I'm guessing there is
>> something like a 'nearby points' node that is not finding any points and
>> resulting in 0,0,0.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> this what you mean? Seems to give the same effect?
>>>
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/sw0o5k89h99byyg/if.jpg
>>>
>>> Thanks for all your help by the way.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:49 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>>>
>>>> Seems like only some of the particles have that issue.  Maybe have an
>>>> 'if'  node in there to check if the the first index of the StrandPosition
>>>> =  0,0,0.  If so remove else leave as is.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Pop from Aray didn't workhowever Remove from Array did but it alos
>>>>> did something else...seems to have deleted a number of the stand segments?
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt2hc2p6vgj4ewb/deletedStrands.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:09 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Each particle has a StrandPosition attribute.   Grab that attribute
>>>>>> using a Get Data node set to (self.StrandPosition)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Put that get data through a 'pop from array'  node and Set Data back
>>>>>> to self.StrandPosition.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> if that doesn't do it, try the same setup using a  'remove from
>>>>>> Array' (index 0) node instead of the 'pop from array'
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Chris Johnson 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> there doesn't seem to be a get strand..there is a get posiition on
>>>>>>> strand?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Chris Johnson 
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> How would something like that look in ICE?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:22 AM, David Barosin >>>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> seems like you have a strand position at 0,0,0
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> maybe you need to remove a strand position from the array.  (try
>>>>>>>>> 'remove from array' on index 0 or pop the last index)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Chris Johnson <
>>>>>>>>> chr...@topixfx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I was having a problem with this a while back and had to out it
>>>>>>>>>> down...just getting back to it now.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I'm trying to mimic this C4D canned effect in Ice with Neural
>>>>>>>>>> Net. Problem is it has this point stuck at Global 0 that doesn't 
>>>>>>>>>> seem to be
>>>>>>>>>> a point. I go to delete point by id and there's no ID there? Anyone 
>>>>>>>>>> else
>>>>>>>>>> ran into this?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yd1dazq27s9ejm7/pointID.jpg
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Here's quicktime of the test
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lglnmwehfm58q7o/neuralNetBroken.mov
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Here's hack I made by using a second point cloud but it doesn't
>>>>>>>>>> look like it's coming off the characters geo...looks more like it's 
>>>>>>>>>> chasing
>>>>>>>>>> him? If there's something that could help point of emission on this 
>>>>>>>>>> one I'd
>>>>>>>>>> settle but not ideal.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy3z4xdjq0vjzxh/neuralNetChase.mov
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: Latest demo video from Mark Schoennagel

[David Barosin]

Thanks.  Haven't heard from Mark in a long time.   Maybe the best demo
guy.


On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 5:16 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> Some crowd ICE stuff and how it can cooperate with Maya:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmJ2L3jC0A8
>
>
>
> Found it among these other webinars:
> http://www.autodesk.co.uk/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=452932&id=17148448
>
>

Re: neural net Delete point?

[David Barosin]

close.  You need to compare the 'value' port of the 'remove from array'
node  to 0,0,0  using the 'equal to' comparison node.  That plugs into the
boolean input of the 'if'.   The 'result' output of the 'remove from array'
node is where you get the remaining array to plug into your set data.

Honestly it seems like there is something else going on.  I'm not familiar
with the compounds you're using but I'm guessing there is something like a
'nearby points' node that is not finding any points and resulting in 0,0,0.


On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> this what you mean? Seems to give the same effect?
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/sw0o5k89h99byyg/if.jpg
>
> Thanks for all your help by the way.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:49 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>
>> Seems like only some of the particles have that issue.  Maybe have an
>> 'if'  node in there to check if the the first index of the StrandPosition
>> =  0,0,0.  If so remove else leave as is.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> Pop from Aray didn't workhowever Remove from Array did but it alos
>>> did something else...seems to have deleted a number of the stand segments?
>>>
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt2hc2p6vgj4ewb/deletedStrands.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:09 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>>>
>>>> Each particle has a StrandPosition attribute.   Grab that attribute
>>>> using a Get Data node set to (self.StrandPosition)
>>>>
>>>> Put that get data through a 'pop from array'  node and Set Data back to
>>>> self.StrandPosition.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> if that doesn't do it, try the same setup using a  'remove from Array'
>>>> (index 0) node instead of the 'pop from array'
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> there doesn't seem to be a get strand..there is a get posiition on
>>>>> strand?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> How would something like that look in ICE?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:22 AM, David Barosin 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> seems like you have a strand position at 0,0,0
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> maybe you need to remove a strand position from the array.  (try
>>>>>>> 'remove from array' on index 0 or pop the last index)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Chris Johnson 
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I was having a problem with this a while back and had to out it
>>>>>>>> down...just getting back to it now.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I'm trying to mimic this C4D canned effect in Ice with Neural Net.
>>>>>>>> Problem is it has this point stuck at Global 0 that doesn't seem to be 
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> point. I go to delete point by id and there's no ID there? Anyone else 
>>>>>>>> ran
>>>>>>>> into this?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yd1dazq27s9ejm7/pointID.jpg
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Here's quicktime of the test
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lglnmwehfm58q7o/neuralNetBroken.mov
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Here's hack I made by using a second point cloud but it doesn't
>>>>>>>> look like it's coming off the characters geo...looks more like it's 
>>>>>>>> chasing
>>>>>>>> him? If there's something that could help point of emission on this 
>>>>>>>> one I'd
>>>>>>>> settle but not ideal.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy3z4xdjq0vjzxh/neuralNetChase.mov
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: neural net Delete point?

[David Barosin]

Seems like only some of the particles have that issue.  Maybe have an 'if'
node in there to check if the the first index of the StrandPosition =
0,0,0.  If so remove else leave as is.




On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> Pop from Aray didn't workhowever Remove from Array did but it alos did
> something else...seems to have deleted a number of the stand segments?
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt2hc2p6vgj4ewb/deletedStrands.jpg
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 12:09 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>
>> Each particle has a StrandPosition attribute.   Grab that attribute using
>> a Get Data node set to (self.StrandPosition)
>>
>> Put that get data through a 'pop from array'  node and Set Data back to
>> self.StrandPosition.
>>
>>
>> if that doesn't do it, try the same setup using a  'remove from Array'
>> (index 0) node instead of the 'pop from array'
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> there doesn't seem to be a get strand..there is a get posiition on
>>> strand?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>
>>>> How would something like that look in ICE?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:22 AM, David Barosin wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> seems like you have a strand position at 0,0,0
>>>>>
>>>>> maybe you need to remove a strand position from the array.  (try
>>>>> 'remove from array' on index 0 or pop the last index)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I was having a problem with this a while back and had to out it
>>>>>> down...just getting back to it now.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm trying to mimic this C4D canned effect in Ice with Neural Net.
>>>>>> Problem is it has this point stuck at Global 0 that doesn't seem to be a
>>>>>> point. I go to delete point by id and there's no ID there? Anyone else 
>>>>>> ran
>>>>>> into this?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yd1dazq27s9ejm7/pointID.jpg
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's quicktime of the test
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lglnmwehfm58q7o/neuralNetBroken.mov
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's hack I made by using a second point cloud but it doesn't look
>>>>>> like it's coming off the characters geo...looks more like it's chasing 
>>>>>> him?
>>>>>> If there's something that could help point of emission on this one I'd
>>>>>> settle but not ideal.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy3z4xdjq0vjzxh/neuralNetChase.mov
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: neural net Delete point?

[David Barosin]

Each particle has a StrandPosition attribute.   Grab that attribute using a
Get Data node set to (self.StrandPosition)

Put that get data through a 'pop from array'  node and Set Data back to
self.StrandPosition.


if that doesn't do it, try the same setup using a  'remove from Array'
(index 0) node instead of the 'pop from array'


On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> there doesn't seem to be a get strand..there is a get posiition on strand?
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>
>> How would something like that look in ICE?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 11:22 AM, David Barosin wrote:
>>
>>> seems like you have a strand position at 0,0,0
>>>
>>> maybe you need to remove a strand position from the array.  (try 'remove
>>> from array' on index 0 or pop the last index)
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:
>>>
>>>> I was having a problem with this a while back and had to out it
>>>> down...just getting back to it now.
>>>>
>>>> I'm trying to mimic this C4D canned effect in Ice with Neural Net.
>>>> Problem is it has this point stuck at Global 0 that doesn't seem to be a
>>>> point. I go to delete point by id and there's no ID there? Anyone else ran
>>>> into this?
>>>>
>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yd1dazq27s9ejm7/pointID.jpg
>>>>
>>>> Here's quicktime of the test
>>>>
>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lglnmwehfm58q7o/neuralNetBroken.mov
>>>>
>>>> Here's hack I made by using a second point cloud but it doesn't look
>>>> like it's coming off the characters geo...looks more like it's chasing him?
>>>> If there's something that could help point of emission on this one I'd
>>>> settle but not ideal.
>>>>
>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy3z4xdjq0vjzxh/neuralNetChase.mov
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: neural net Delete point?

[David Barosin]

seems like you have a strand position at 0,0,0

maybe you need to remove a strand position from the array.  (try 'remove
from array' on index 0 or pop the last index)


On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> I was having a problem with this a while back and had to out it
> down...just getting back to it now.
>
> I'm trying to mimic this C4D canned effect in Ice with Neural Net. Problem
> is it has this point stuck at Global 0 that doesn't seem to be a point. I
> go to delete point by id and there's no ID there? Anyone else ran into
> this?
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/yd1dazq27s9ejm7/pointID.jpg
>
> Here's quicktime of the test
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lglnmwehfm58q7o/neuralNetBroken.mov
>
> Here's hack I made by using a second point cloud but it doesn't look like
> it's coming off the characters geo...looks more like it's chasing him? If
> there's something that could help point of emission on this one I'd settle
> but not ideal.
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy3z4xdjq0vjzxh/neuralNetChase.mov
>
>
>

Re: I'll be back...

[David Barosin]

Are there any workgroups with shaders or plugins?

Else start systematically deleting objects, materials, etc.. to see if the
error goes away.


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:

>  While troubleshooting erros in a scene I stumbled across this error in
> the script editor:
>
>
>
> # INFO : 4000 - Server '\\SERVER_NAME' is unreachable. Marked as invalid
> for the next 300 seconds
>
>
>
> “SERVER_NAME” has been out of service for years. Its not even plugged in
> anymore. I’m currently using a scene that contains some older geometry that
> was built during a time when SERVER_NAME was in service. Now the scene is
> apparently looking for the server.
>
>
>
>
>
> I’ve searched for SERVER_NAME in every project in the current database of
> Project Manager. Nothing found there.
>
>
>
> I’ve searched for it in the External Files Manager. Nothing found there.
>
>
>
> I’ve searched for it in the Render Manager. Nothing found there.
>
>
>
> I’ve search for it in Explorer/Sources/Images and queried each image.
> Nothing found there.
>
>
>
>
>
> I’ve been unable to find it anywhere I thought to be a relevant place to
> look. Any ideas on what I might be overlooking?
>
>
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
>
>

Re: Crowd FX in production

[David Barosin]

Ok thanks again.  Very helpful!





On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 3:04 PM, Sandy Sutherland
wrote:

>  We went to 2014 to use the FBX export tools, then didn't use them.  We
> actually ICE cached out and then used Instances with caches on - purely to
> fit in with the pipeline that exists at the place I was working on this!
> As it was rendering arnold, the instance root also helped.
>
> S.
>
>
> On 2013/11/05 9:32 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>
> Excellent thanks Sandy!   Very much appreciated.   Were you in 2013 or
> 2014?
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Sandy Sutherland <
> sandy.mailli...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> We used it earlier this year for a commercial - must say I was pretty
>> impressed with it.  The blending was pretty cool, but misses control over
>> the threshold to blend, and we had jittering where the blend was obviously
>> borderline between two actions and was swapping in and out.  It looked like
>> there used to be some control over that, but they took it out.  The other
>> thing that it misses is a true geometry collision as it only has a radius
>> setting per particle so for characters with length such as the cats we were
>> doing, it is easy to have them running through each other's tails or trying
>> to avoid each other with huge gaps and when you have lots of them together,
>> this tends to force a lot of 'searching' - twitching one way then the other
>> 'looking' for enough space.
>>
>> Stability was pretty good - I had something like 4000 cats in one shot
>> and it it did it and did it pretty quickly too.  Ooo - only thing is that
>> one shot was pretty big scale and the constrain to geometry did not work
>> correctly for some reason - the cats kept on going round in circles as it
>> was coming down a hill - so I did a post sim constrain to surface on
>> another cloud.
>>
>> my 0.02c on it - would certainly use it again for doing crowds on a
>> budget!
>>
>> S.
>>
>>
>> On 2013/11/05 8:11 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>>
>>> I'm hoping to get some opinions (positive or negative) for crowd fx in
>>> production.  I've only looked at it in soft_2013 briefly and I know it went
>>> through some changes since.  We're using 2013 now but if there is a major
>>> benefit to 2014 we could do that too.
>>>
>>> I'm considering it because it can blend animations and can constrain
>>> joints (e.g. look direction)
>>>
>>> Basically I'd like to hear how stable it is and if there are any
>>> limitations/gotchas.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>  -Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> (also we'll be rendering in Arnold)
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Re: Crowd FX in production

[David Barosin]

Excellent thanks Sandy!   Very much appreciated.   Were you in 2013 or 2014?


On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Sandy Sutherland
wrote:

> We used it earlier this year for a commercial - must say I was pretty
> impressed with it.  The blending was pretty cool, but misses control over
> the threshold to blend, and we had jittering where the blend was obviously
> borderline between two actions and was swapping in and out.  It looked like
> there used to be some control over that, but they took it out.  The other
> thing that it misses is a true geometry collision as it only has a radius
> setting per particle so for characters with length such as the cats we were
> doing, it is easy to have them running through each other's tails or trying
> to avoid each other with huge gaps and when you have lots of them together,
> this tends to force a lot of 'searching' - twitching one way then the other
> 'looking' for enough space.
>
> Stability was pretty good - I had something like 4000 cats in one shot and
> it it did it and did it pretty quickly too.  Ooo - only thing is that one
> shot was pretty big scale and the constrain to geometry did not work
> correctly for some reason - the cats kept on going round in circles as it
> was coming down a hill - so I did a post sim constrain to surface on
> another cloud.
>
> my 0.02c on it - would certainly use it again for doing crowds on a budget!
>
> S.
>
>
> On 2013/11/05 8:11 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>
>> I'm hoping to get some opinions (positive or negative) for crowd fx in
>> production.  I've only looked at it in soft_2013 briefly and I know it went
>> through some changes since.  We're using 2013 now but if there is a major
>> benefit to 2014 we could do that too.
>>
>> I'm considering it because it can blend animations and can constrain
>> joints (e.g. look direction)
>>
>> Basically I'd like to hear how stable it is and if there are any
>> limitations/gotchas.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>  -Dave
>>
>>
>> (also we'll be rendering in Arnold)
>>
>
>

Crowd FX in production

[David Barosin]

I'm hoping to get some opinions (positive or negative) for crowd fx in
production.  I've only looked at it in soft_2013 briefly and I know it went
through some changes since.  We're using 2013 now but if there is a major
benefit to 2014 we could do that too.

I'm considering it because it can blend animations and can constrain joints
(e.g. look direction)

Basically I'd like to hear how stable it is and if there are any
limitations/gotchas.

Thanks,
 -Dave


(also we'll be rendering in Arnold)

Re: Strands

[David Barosin]

Get all edges
add a particle per edge
use edge vertex index 0 for the particle position (and strand 0 position)
use edge vertex index 1 for strand 1 position

or ;)

go to rray.de and look for this - Strandwire Compound by Andreas Byström


On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 7:35 AM, royston michaels wrote:

> Hey guys,
>
> I'm trying to create some strands using
> points on a mesh with the strand along each
> edge so each point is a particle and all connecting
> edges are strands...anyone have ideas creating
> this.
>
> Thanks for all/any suggestions.
>
> R
>

Re: what

[David Barosin]

we can hear you ;)


On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 5:20 PM, Mc Nistor  wrote:

> I don't understand how this works... where am I posting?!
> google is getting more and more retarded
>

Re: Equivalent to Maya's Wrap Deformer...

[David Barosin]

My guess is that when you extract polygons it makes a new object with the
center at world 0,0,0.   The extracted polygons are not really deforming
with the source geo but rather getting extracted at each frame in the new
pose.  So the cage deformer is seeing this as a new bind pose rather than a
deformation.



On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 3:28 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:

> did you freeze the weights? the performance should pick up once you freeze
> the weights. also, use settings like where mentioned earlier in this thread
> (search distances and such)
>
> also, i don't know much about your pipeline but why does animation need to
> see these mud patches? surely this could be a job for character effects
> department? or maybe they are hidden right before point caching?
>
> lastly, an ICE cage deformer is possible, here is one way to do it...
>
>
> http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/userguide/index.html?url=files/idef_deforms.htm,topicNumber=d30e295689
>
> not the most ideal because of the mesh copy required, which can that can
> be removed if one knows the cavaets with ICE attributes, ref models, and
> ICE optimizations
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 12:16 PM, Sergio Mucino  > wrote:
>
>>  Reviving this topic...
>> I got back to working on this issue, and found a couple of issues.
>> First, I'll describe what's going on. I've got a character's coat, to
>> which we're attaching some mud patches. To do this, I selected the polys
>> under the mud patches, and extracted them as suggested before. Everything
>> works (the extracted mesh does follow the original coat's deformations). My
>> idea was to use these extracted polys as a cage for a cage deformer on the
>> mud patches.
>> I'm having two issues. First, creating the cage deformer on the mud
>> patches mesh, using the extracted mesh as the cage, has thrown out any
>> sense of interactivity out the window, big time. The rig went from real
>> time to "wait 10 seconds for anything to happen". The animators will
>> definitely not work with this.
>> Second, I don't know if it's related to the above or not, but it seems
>> the cage deformer is not really working (as expected, at least). There's a
>> mud splat on the forearm, for example. When SI finished applying the cage
>> deformer to the mud patches, I can see the weight points all over the mud
>> mesh. Fine. However when I rotate the forearm up (and after waiting for a
>> while for anything to happen), the patch on the forearm loses all its
>> weight colors and goes completely blue, staying in its place, instead of
>> following the forearm. Its as if the cage that influences it walked away,
>> leaving it with no weights (instead of it following the cage). I don't know
>> if its because the deformer does not understand the procedural deformations
>> happening on the extracted mesh or what. I also tried moving the cage
>> operator from the Modeling stack over to the Animation stack. It made no
>> difference.
>> In any case, the complete grind in performance may stop me from using
>> this approach at all. I'm open to additional suggestions. If anyone knows
>> of alternative ways (ICE?) of deforming a mesh with another, I'm all ears.
>> Before anyone suggests this one... GATOR is not an option (the original
>> coat uses a very complex system of layered deformations involving
>> envelopes, lattices, and ICE trees. GATOR seems to ignore a lot of these
>> things).
>> Cheers!!
>>
>>
>> On 24/10/2013 6:03 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote:
>>
>> This is definitely gonna work. Thanks Grahame! I'll continue tomorrow.
>>
>>
>> On 24/10/2013 5:54 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote:
>>
>> Ah, if I had known that... :-)
>> I spent like half an hour deleting polys on my copy. But of course, I
>> ended up with a completely independent object. Sound like what you suggest
>> would retain a connection to the original object, which is what I'd need.
>> I will give it a go.
>>
>>
>> On 24/10/2013 5:53 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:
>>
>> Oh I must have missed that, sorry. On the original object, select the 
>> polygons that you don't want to delete and choose Model > Create > Poly Mesh 
>> > Extract Polygons (keep). The selected polygons will be copied to a new 
>> object (the old ones will be left alone). As long as you don't freeze the 
>> Extract Polygons operator, it should update properly.
>>
>> gray
>>
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
>> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
>> ] On Behalf Of Sergio Mucino
>> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 5:45 PM
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> Subject: Re: Equivalent to Maya's Wrap Deformer...
>>
>> Looks like I will have a few problems here...
>>
>> 1. I cannot reduce the cage polygon count. Actually, it is a hi-res model 
>> (not crazy polygon counts, but still). I need to attach to it a copy of 
>> itself, but with lots of polygons deleted. Kinda like attaching polygon 
>> patches that need to follow it. So, I'm trying to get a lower-res mesh to 
>> foll

Re: Painting negative weightmap values

[David Barosin]

You need to set this up in the weight map property.  You can set the min
and max values.  Just use negative values in the 'min'.


On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 12:02 PM, olivier jeannel
wrote:

> I thought I did this before, but can't remember how...
>
> I want to paint (interractive paint, with the brush) negative values in
> weightmap (-1)
> All I can do is add, or subtract until I get "0" value, but can't paint
> negative values.
> Have we got the button to do it ?
>
> I managed to subtract a second weightmap in Ice, but frankly...
>
>
>

Re: I'd like to punch Softimage in the face today

[David Barosin]

merge the scene rather than load it.  It might give you a fresh sim
environment

Re: Strand Collision Framework

[David Barosin]

Honestly that's pretty phenomenal.  No reason to downplay, it's not a
trivial problem to solve.


On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 10:56 PM, Mathias N  wrote:

> A couple of years ago I decided I needed inter-colliding strands and spent
> an ungodly amount of time trying to make it in ICE.
>
> As a result of not knowing anything back when I started working on it the
> code is a complete mess, and fixing the more glaring issues would be a
> significant undertaking. Thus, the project was abandoned long ago.
>
> A few weeks ago I got a message asking if I could share the unfinished
> product, prompting me to dust it off and apply a few strategically placed
> band-aids to at least get it functioning.
> Consider it a lesson in bad design.
>
> What it can do: https://vimeo.com/groups/ice/videos/76018502
> Download (Addon and example scenes):
> http://www.mayulive.com/StrandCollisionFramework.zip
> Will likely require the VC++2012 redistributable:
> http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30679
>
> More details on how broken it is in the si-community thread:
> http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4486
>
> Any bugs that do not result in Softimage crashing are features.
>

Re: looking for motion capture...

[David Barosin]

The crowdFX characters have a decent batch of mocap.


Motor is also an option.



On Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Chris Johnson  wrote:

> Hi everyone...been off in Houdini land for a year or soshaking off the
> XSI cobwebs...I need some humanoid geo with motion capture for a proof of
> concept thing...I would have even used the old disco bot from XSI samples
> if I could fins him but I can't...anyone got access to anything like this
> or is there a free xsi motion capture tutorial out there somewhere I can
> use?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>

Re: XSIUIToolkit.FileBrowser - get multiple files?

[David Barosin]

Maybe look at siControlListBox (setting this attribute -
siUIMultiSelectionListBox )

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=si_om/siPPGControlType.html,topicNumber=si_om_siPPGControlType_html

The navigation through the directory structure could use pick folder then
populate a listbox.



On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 4:09 PM, Tim Crowson  wrote:

>  Somehow that sounds very wrong... lol!   :-D
>
> After all this time Soft does have a way to allow multi-file importing via
> FileBrowser? Qt is not a problem for us internally, but this for a
> collection of tools that I may want to distribute, and I hate to add an
> extra dependency. At the risk of derailing my own topic, what are the
> minimum number of files you need to package with a Qt-based addon, assuming
> the user has the PyQtForSoft plugin? Just certain dlls?
>
>
>
>
>
> On 10/16/2013 2:54 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>
> Best option without Qt is to do an infinite loop that you break out of
> when you Cancel once.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Tim Crowson <
> tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com> wrote:
>
>>  I think I asked this a long time ago and I don't know that the question
>> was ever fully answered
>>
>> Is it possible to select multiple files with XSIUIToolkit.FileBrowser? If
>> not, is there a way to do this sans-Qt?
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> *Tim Crowson
>> **Lead CG Artist*
>>
>> *Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
>> *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214
>> *Ph*  615.885.6801 | *Fax*  615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com
>> tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com
>>
>> *Confidentiality Notice: This email, including attachments, is
>> confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original
>> intended recipient(s). If you have received this e-mail in error please
>> inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage
>> mechanism. Magnetic Dreams, Inc cannot accept liability for any statements
>> made which are clearly the sender's own and not expressly made on behalf of
>> Magnetic Dreams, Inc or one of its agents.*
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
>

Re: ICE Shape Node expressions linked to Custom Property Parms breaking on reload

[David Barosin]

I would bring the parameters in directly into the ice tree using a get data
node rather than an expression.


On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 6:14 PM, Jeffrey Dates  wrote:

> Hiya guys,
>
> I'm running into something I don't remember coming across before and was
> hoping you guys can point out what I'm doing wrong.
>
> I have an ICE Shape mixer controlled by a Custom Property Params..   (
> just expressioned an == to the weight.  )  Nothing fancy.
>
> However, when the scene is reloaded or a model is exported, the
> expressions set themselves to Pass.Through and nullifies the connection.
>
> What are some things to look at that cause this!?
>
> OR, if the flaw is my workflow, how are you guys typically controlling the
> ICE Shape mixer!?
>
> I feel like this has come up before.. but I've never experienced it myself
> as of late.
>
> thanks in advance.
>
> Jeff
>
> --
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> "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>
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Re: ICE Multiply Vector by Matrix

[David Barosin]

Ok sorry please ignore. Seems to work.


On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 11:12 AM, David Barosin  wrote:

> Can't remember if I posted about this before.  Should the Multiply Vector
> by Matrix node be able to take an array for the positions and an array for
> the matrices at the same time?
>
> I'm hoping I can feed in an array of point positions and an array of
> Matrices and get their respective multiplication as a result.
>
> Seems the node only works when one of the inputs is an array but not
> both.
>
> Thanks,
>  -Dave
>
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ICE Multiply Vector by Matrix

[David Barosin]

Can't remember if I posted about this before.  Should the Multiply Vector
by Matrix node be able to take an array for the positions and an array for
the matrices at the same time?

I'm hoping I can feed in an array of point positions and an array of
Matrices and get their respective multiplication as a result.

Seems the node only works when one of the inputs is an array but not both.

Thanks,
 -Dave
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Re: Looking for artists

[David Barosin]

It's always great to hear about new life for Softimage artists.  Please
share some more info about your group.

Best,
 -Dave


On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 7:54 AM, Sebastian Kowalski  wrote:

> hey b&c vip studio artist pool…
>
> would be nice having some more information about that studio.
> its a bit weird being a start up studio with places in ny, lon, van and
> mexico city.
> as good talent is rare to find, you should put a bit more effort in it.
>
> maybe its just me, but that call sounds a bit blatant for my taste.
>
> take care
>
> -sebastian
>
>
> Am 22.09.2013 um 04:41 schrieb B&C Artist Pool <
> softimage.l...@bcvipstudio.com>:
>
> If for some reason your mail to artist.invitat...@bcvipstudio.com or
> studio.invitat...@bcvipstudio.com is being rejected, please try again.
> We are moving the server as we are recieving more applications than
> expected.
>
> Thank you and sorry for the inconvinience.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> *B&C VIP Studio*
> Artist Pool
>
>
>   Original Message 
> Subject: Re: Looking for artists
> From: Sebastien Sterling 
> Date: Sat, September 21, 2013 7:14 pm
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>
> Hello, What does B&C stand for :) ?
>
>
> On 22 September 2013 02:10, Emilio Hernandez  wrote:
>
>> Great!  Count me in!
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 2013/9/21 B&C Artist Pool 
>>
>>> Hello Softimage Community artists.
>>>
>>> We are a new studio gathering talent all around the globe.
>>>
>>> We are looking for talented freelance artists or small studios (2-10
>>> artists).  Not only in 3D modeling, rigging, animation, particles, etc.
>>> But we are also looking for Comp, Colorists, Concept, Shooting Board,
>>> Motion Graphics, Match Movers, etc.
>>>
>>> Softimage is our preferred 3D software and will be used as the main 3D
>>> core in our Pipeline.
>>>
>>> If you are interested or know some one that might be, please send an
>>> e-mail to the following adresses, depending if you are a freelance or a
>>> small studio, with the subject: invite-me.
>>>
>>> Freelance: artist.invitat...@bcvipstudio.com
>>> Small studio: studio.invitat...@bcvipstudio.com
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>> Sincerely
>>>
>>>
>>> *B&C VIP Studio *
>>> Artist Pool
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with
>>> subject "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with
>> subject "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>>
>
>  --
> --
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> "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>
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>
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Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)

[David Barosin]

Try the SDK explorer (Object Details tab). (ctrl + shift +  4, using
softimage keymap)

It will list the port connections.  You can select the operators (i.e.
envelope, lattice)  and it will list the objects/deformers connected.


On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino
wrote:

> Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help.
> I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems
> anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with
> (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max.
> I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might
> be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is
> navigating scene relationships.
>
> I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene
> relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these
> relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files,
> and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this
> point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me
> there the entire way. Let me give you an example.
>
> I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed
> by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene
> objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know
> I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will
> select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's
> deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the
> objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way).
> However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the
> Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can
> find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that
> cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I
> get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice
> object in the scene deforming this cluster easily.
>
> The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I
> turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course.
> Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see
> links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each
> link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially
> since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the
> link that had "Lattice" written on it. Then I could follow it and find
> the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to.
>
> I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene
> relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the
> software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking
> people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has
> some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to
> hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the
> same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph...
> a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s).
> If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally
> different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could
> describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love
> to hear that too.
> I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for
> your time!
>
> Sergio Mucino
> Lead Rigger
> Modus FX
>
> --
> To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject
> "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>
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Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)

[David Barosin]

If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter
properly?


On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino
wrote:

>  Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a
> Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything
> displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and
> its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have
> turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone!
>
>
> *Sergio Mucino*
> Lead Rigger
> Modus FX
>
> On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote:
>
> This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David!
>
> *Sergio Mucino*
> Lead Rigger
> Modus FX
>
> On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote:
>
> You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer -  (alt + 8)  and set the
> viewer menu's display to schematic.
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino  > wrote:
>
>>  Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to
>> finding my way through it rather reasonably.
>>
>> I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not
>> sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could
>> get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and
>> hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier
>> healthier life :-) .
>>
>> I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again!
>>
>>  --
>>  *Sergio Mucino*
>> Lead Rigger
>> Modus FX
>>
>> On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
>>
>> Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're
>> going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it
>> shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can
>> get a bit soupie.
>>
>> You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in
>> a way you understand.
>>
>> If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in
>> xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check
>> the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I
>> think it's been discussed a few times before.
>>
>> Eric T.
>>
>> On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote:
>>
>> Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help.
>> I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems
>> anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with
>> (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max.
>> I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might
>> be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is
>> navigating scene relationships.
>>
>> I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene
>> relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these
>> relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files,
>> and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this
>> point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me
>> there the entire way. Let me give you an example.
>>
>> I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed
>> by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene
>> objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know
>> I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will
>> select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's
>> deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the
>> objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way).
>> However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the
>> Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can
>> find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that
>> cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I
>> get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice
>> object in the scene deforming this cluster easily.
>>
>> The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I
>> turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course.
>> Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see
>> links 

Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)

[David Barosin]

You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer -  (alt + 8)  and set the
viewer menu's display to schematic.


On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino
wrote:

>  Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to
> finding my way through it rather reasonably.
>
> I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure
> how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it
> to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide
> the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier
> life :-) .
>
> I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again!
>
> --
> *Sergio Mucino*
> Lead Rigger
> Modus FX
>
> On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
>
> Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're
> going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it
> shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can
> get a bit soupie.
>
> You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in
> a way you understand.
>
> If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in
> xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check
> the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I
> think it's been discussed a few times before.
>
> Eric T.
>
> On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote:
>
> Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help.
> I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems
> anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with
> (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max.
> I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might
> be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is
> navigating scene relationships.
>
> I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene
> relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these
> relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files,
> and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this
> point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me
> there the entire way. Let me give you an example.
>
> I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed
> by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene
> objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know
> I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will
> select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's
> deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the
> objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way).
> However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the
> Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can
> find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that
> cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I
> get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice
> object in the scene deforming this cluster easily.
>
> The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I
> turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course.
> Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see
> links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each
> link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially
> since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the
> link that had "Lattice" written on it. Then I could follow it and find
> the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to.
>
> I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene
> relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the
> software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking
> people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has
> some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to
> hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the
> same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph...
> a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s).
> If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally
> different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could
> describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love
> to hear that too.
> I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for
> your time!
>
> Sergio Mucino
> Lead Rigger
> Modus FX
>
> --
> To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject
> "unsubscribe" and reply to the confirmation email.
>
>
>
> --
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Re: Royal Render and Vray

[David Barosin]

Never used it with vray but how do you know it's seeing the workgroups?
Is the log showing that royal is sending the workgroups in the command?

It's been a while but I remember that there was a string length limit.  So
sometimes a command string with too many workgroups would get truncated.  I
think  workgroups that are unchecked  will still get sent with a ! before
the path.  Keep the workgroup list lean.


On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 3:59 PM, Eric Lampi  wrote:

> Anyone have this set up? We're getting errors saying that certain plugins
> etc are not installed, yet it can see the workgroups. Our IT guys can't
> seem to figure this out.
>
> Suggestions are appreciated!
>
> Eric
> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>
> http://vimeopro.com/user7979713/3d-work
>

Re: something broken in syflex ice?

[David Barosin]

Thanks Chris!


On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Chris Chia  wrote:

> Yes the bug: syflexIsSpring is already being worked.
>
>
> On 11 Sep, 2013, at 2:23 AM, "David Barosin"  dbaro...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> I had a similar problem with the length parameter on the syflexISpring
> node not working.  I'm guessing it happened with the introduction of
> weightmaps for syflex.
>
> I submitted a bug report but you may want to add this one to the list.
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 1:31 PM, Andi Farhall  hack...@outlook.com>> wrote:
> 2 point springs appear to broken in 2014sp2/linux. Just to double check, i
> loaded the sample scene that demonstrates the 2 point spring, and there's
> nothing going on. I'll have a butchers at the win7 version later.
>
>
> cheers,
>
> Andi.
>
> ...
> http://www.hackneyeffects.com/
> https://vimeo.com/user4174293
> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andi-farhall/b/496/b21
>
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_hackney/
> http://spylon.tumblr.com/
>
>
> This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended
> solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or
> opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
> represent those of Hackney Effects Ltd.
>
> If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take
> any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone.
>
> Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in
> error.
>
> 
>
>

Re: something broken in syflex ice?

[David Barosin]

I had a similar problem with the length parameter on the syflexISpring node
not working.  I'm guessing it happened with the introduction of weightmaps
for syflex.

I submitted a bug report but you may want to add this one to the list.


On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 1:31 PM, Andi Farhall  wrote:

> 2 point springs appear to broken in 2014sp2/linux. Just to double check, i
> loaded the sample scene that demonstrates the 2 point spring, and there's
> nothing going on. I'll have a butchers at the win7 version later.
>
>
> cheers,
>
> Andi.
>
> ...
> http://www.hackneyeffects.com/
> https://vimeo.com/user4174293
> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andi-farhall/b/496/b21
>
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_hackney/
> http://spylon.tumblr.com/
>
> This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended
> solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or
> opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
> represent those of Hackney Effects Ltd.
>
> If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take
> any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone.
>
> Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in
> error.
> 
>

Re: arrays yet again

[David Barosin]

Where are the values coming from?   You could convert a string to an array
(String to Array Node)
Or use a (build array from constant node) and replace the values with
whatever method you need (modulo etc...)



On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 7:06 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:

>  OR….
>
> ** **
>
> An array that looks like
>
> ** **
>
> 0,1,4,5,8,9,12,13,16,17,20,21,etc
>
> ** **
>
> would also do…
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Ponthieux, Joseph
> G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 05, 2013 6:51 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* arrays yet again
>
> ** **
>
> Howdy,
>
> ** **
>
> I want to build a 100 index array in ICE that looks like
>
> ** **
>
> 0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,00,1,1 etc
>
> ** **
>
> I’m guessing that this is doable, but I’m stumped.
>
> ** **
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
> ** **
>

Re: softimage.tv - Hello World!

[David Barosin]

Well done!  Feels like new life for the community.  Thanks for putting this
together.


On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Jeremie Passerin wrote:

> Really nice indeed ! Good job guys !
>
>
> On 4 September 2013 08:43, Alok Gandhi  wrote:
>
>> Very nice!  A much needed resource.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On 2013-09-04, at 11:31 AM, Vladimir Jankijevic <
>> vladi...@elefantstudios.ch> wrote:
>>
>> Nice! Thanks for the efforts. This for sure will be a place to go.
>> Just a thought, how about adding a site where we could find the artists
>> that worked on all these beautiful things? Like a Softimage Freelance
>> Register or something, just because Work is always done by people and it
>> would be nice to see them all in one place :). Just a thought.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Vladimir
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:24 AM, Cristobal Infante wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks Simon, feel free to post all your goodies. Just make sure you are
>>> logged in when you do!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4 September 2013 16:20, Simon Reeves  wrote:
>>>
 Nice work guys, I look forward to seeing how it goes!



 Simon Reeves
 London, UK
 *si...@simonreeves.com*
 *www.simonreeves.com*
 *
 *


 On 4 September 2013 16:03, Mario Domingos wrote:

>  "Thanks Mario for being our first submission!"
>
> Yey! Whats the prize?
> —
> Sent from Mailbox  for iPhone
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 2:18 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:
>
>> Yes, just register an account and make sure to be logged in when
>> submitting.
>>
>> Thanks Mario for being our first submission!
>>
>>
>> On 4 September 2013 14:15, Miquel Campos wrote:
>>
>>> Sure thing! :D  Should we register in the web to post stuff? how it
>>> works?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>> Miquel Campos
>>> www.miquelTD.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2013/9/4 Cristobal Infante 
>>>
 Hi Miquel,

 Looking foward to see all TDsurvival set in there!

 Thanks everyone ;)


 On 4 September 2013 13:59, royston michaels 
 wrote:

> Congrats and Well Done for all your efforts guys.
> looks awesome
>
>
> On 4 September 2013 14:49, Sebastien Sterling <
> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Count me in, hello Mario !
>>
>>
>> On 4 September 2013 14:40, Mario Domingos <
>> mdomingos.p...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm in! :)
>>> —
>>> Sent from Mailbox  for iPhone
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 1:34 PM, adrian wyer <
>>> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com> wrote:
>>>
  oooh look at you outdoing autodesk's 'well oiled' (hehe
 right) pr machine!!



 there's been some really great, very high profile Soft work
 done lately, this is a great idea to keep that momentum going, and 
 prove
 that Soft is up there with the 'big boys'



 well done



 a



  --

 *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Cristobal
 Infante
 *Sent:* 04 September 2013 13:18
 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* softimage.tv - Hello World!



  Hi All,



  Would like to announce the launch of softimage.tv created to
 showcase the best softimage work out there. It's meant to be 
 mainly a video
 depository but hoping it will also function as a hub for the 
 community.



  The idea sparked from Andy Moorer's Nike Evolution write up
 on that Nike job, I thought amazing effort but how do we showcase 
 it a bit
 more? The list and si-community are great place to discuss soft, 
 but I
 think a lot users are not on it, not to mention producers, 
 agencies and
 decision makers.



  It is still early days so this is a work in progress, we will
 be adjusting the layout based on the predominant content we 
 receive. This
 is where eveyone can help us a bit, If you ever created a tutorial 
 for
 soft, uploaded a test, done 

syflex - length parameter not working?

[David Barosin]

Hi. Can anyone confirm if this is a bug? I'm testing some ICE syflex cloth
sims in 2014sp1 (centOS).  It seems that the 'length' parameters doesn't
work anymore.  This parameter allows the cloth to contract nicely around
geo (i.e. muscles)

The length parameter is nested down inside syCloth > Syflex Cloth Springs

There are three syflexISpring nodes with 'length' parameters.  These work
fine in 2012sp1 (centOS)

I'm guessing something may have broken with the introduction of weightmaps.

It would be great to evolve the pipeline here to 2014 to get weighmaps
involved but it's not possible if this 'length' parameter in broken.

Thanks!

 -Dave


P.S.  syflex has a couple unexposed parameters that really should be
known.  Length is one.  The other is the Reset which is nice for updating
constraints.  Also you can directly plug in your own ice pointpositions
into the mimic node with is quite useful.

Re: Spherical Harmonics in ICE

[David Barosin]

Wow Vlad.  Really impressive.  Thanks for sharing.


On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Vladimir Jankijevic <
vladi...@elefantstudios.ch> wrote:

> Hey gang,
>
> I was diving into Spherical Harmonics the last few days and I wanted to
> share my results with you. I ended up with two custom ICE nodes to
> generate/evaluate Spherical Harmonic coefficients and learned a lot during
> this exercise. So in case anybody is interested please take a look:
> http://vimeo.com/71990801
>
> on the vimeo page is a link to the scene and the source
>
> Cheers
> Vladimir
>

Re: Car-setup

[David Barosin]

Maybe this?
http://www.craftanimations.com/news/press-releases/craft-director-stuido-for-softimage



On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:49 PM, olivier jeannel wrote:

>  I was wondering about Rob Wuijster suggestion : *
> "**Softimage 2012/13? came with a 3rd party addon for this. It was a
> separate install/plugin. Not sure if this is still the case.**"*
> Was he talking about a car setup pluggin ?
>
>
> Le 05/08/2013 20:28, Alan Fregtman a écrit :
>
> I would guess he means the one from Andy Nicholas in his car rig tutorial
> that Jeremie Passerin linked to in his response (also first response to
> this thread)...
> http://www.andynicholas.com/?p=1549
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:19 PM, olivier jeannel 
> wrote:
>
>> What free  pluggin ?
>>
>> Le 11/07/2013 17:07, Pingo van der Brinkloev a écrit :
>>
>>  This is great guys. Awesome tutorial and a free plugin. How cool is
>>> that? And yes good idea about the pre blurred wheel.
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>>
>>> Pingo
>>>
>>> On 09/07/2013, at 18.31, Andy Jones  wrote:
>>>
>>>  One tip is to make sure you've got a plan in mind for how to deal with
 the wheels.  There are a few different ways to solve it.  Probably the
 simplest is to render with full 3D motion blur, and use enough
 transform steps so that the wheels don't do strange things.  Of
 course, this can have an impact on render times, depending on what
 you're using and how your settings are dialed.

 Another option is to us a pre-blurred spinny wheel image.  Or you can
 apply a sort of elliptical blur in comp prior to post motion blur.
 Neither of these techniques produce a physically accurate image,
 however.  True motion blur of wheel rims is a really unique-looking
 thing that is difficult to recreate by other means.

 Another option I've used in the past was to temporally oversample and
 use a motion interpolated retime, such as kronos/oflow/twixtor.  At
 the time, I used a OpenGL so that the render times were low enough to
 make oversampling viable.

 Really, for me this was one of the big reasons I decided that the long
 term future for rendering will be full 3d motion blur, and I try to
 build my lighting/compositing workflows with that in mind.

 On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 9:13 AM, Pingo van der Brinkloev
  wrote:

> No car lovers out there :)
>
> On 06/07/2013, at 22.41, Pingo van der Brinkloev 
> wrote:
>
>  Hey,
>>
>> I have an upcoming project where a car(3D) is driving inbetween
>> shapes, that turn out to be a logo. It's gonna be semi realistic, so I 
>> need
>> to make the cars movements believable. I have a fast edit (quick cuts), 
>> so
>> I'm probably going to animate by hand (don't think I need dynamics). But 
>> if
>> anybody has some heads up, dos and don'ts about car-related animation 
>> it'd
>> be greatly appreciated. It's a Formula1 btw.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> P
>>
>
>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Re: Nike Evolution and a community thank you

[David Barosin]

Well done!  That put my Softimage spirits in a better place. ;)


On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 12:05 AM, Andy Moorer  wrote:

> Hi gang. I wanted to give a shout out to the folks who worked on Nike
> Evolution, it just posted. Those who weren't involved, this is a pretty
> nice story...
>
> A young studio, Royale, got interested in this ICE buzz and invited a
> number of us from the list to visit the studio and work on a commercial.
> Their designers had been watching cool stuff on ICE for a while, admiring
> Tim Borgmanns work and the tools Eric was writing, and had tried
> Exocortex's tools for maya. They decided this was pretty neat and when they
> got a chance to reach out, they took it.
>
> The brief was to take what Digital Domain had accomplished (about a year
> ago?) with "Biomorph" and introduce a new product with an effect similar to
> the Biomorph knitting sequence... But with a small team, for a very short
> produvtion duration and a fraction of the budget.
>
> Oh and three commercials, not 1.
>
> These are the times we live in.
>
> Given this challenge, Royale turned to the ICE community they had been
> eyeing... names were passed around and folks talked to and consulted. In
> the end I wound up CG sup, leaning heavily on Ciaran Moloney as lighting
> lead and Leonard Kotch as a tool builder. Steven Caron took a short break
> from Whiskytree to lend a hand with some pipeline tools and general
> expertise, Billy Morrison dove in with me on VFX, and aside from that we
> had the help and assistance of Royale's maya artists and designers. And not
> a few of you on the list helped by offering the studio names and advice
> when contacted.
>
> So the job was greenlit and we started the clock - about three weeks, from
> installing Softimage to delivery.
>
> http://youtu.be/932FiLPe4kc
>
> We rented a farm and populated it with 25 Arnold nodes, the folks at
> SolidAngle were awesome, plugged everything in and made the spot. Our
> principal tool was ICE, specifically a very cool and robust system Leonard
> Kotch put many hard hours in to create which we called "LKFabric" and
> inspired by the example Psyop's Jonah Froedman has set earlier, Anto's
> "knit the strands," and earlier work Polynoid did with their "carbon" spot.
>
> Leonard went all the way with LKFabric... it let us manage some of the
> complexity of trying to get the major components of the shoe to weave
> themselves procedurally, from fibers, to threads, to cloth. Because the
> next spot, which we're wrapping up right now, required us to get in on
> individual fibers in extreme macro shots, Leonard built the system in an
> abstracted out manner, unsimulated, and supporting motion blur etc. I would
> send him pages and pages of feedback and requests, and he chewed away at it
> like a trouper. Pretty outstanding Leonard, I owe you many beers.
>
> Royale has been kind enough to agree to share the system out to the
> community, through Leonard, some time after the final project wraps.
>
> Ciaran, Billy and Steven worked similarly hard and with the same good
> cheer we see so often here on the list. This is why I like Softimage so
> much, it attracts artists of this calibre and can do mindset. I should
> add that emTools, emTopo and polygonizer were used as well, though largely
> in the design phase and for an effect that was later cut (no fault of the
> tools lol the idea just didn't gel with the client.) Thanks Eric!
>
> It's very rare for a small studio with literally no staff using Softimage
> to get excited over ICE and have the courage to jump in with it no hold
> barred, for multiple spots, like Royale did. I can't express more
> admiration for their willingness to try something new and embrace ICE the
> way they did for these jobs.
>
> The results may not be earth shattering but the client and the studio are
> happy and the other ice-heavy spot is looking cool too. In a time where we
> are all concerned with where Softimage may be headed it was really
> gratifying having a maya studio step out of their comfort zone and place
> all their chips on Softimage with one of their major clients like that.
>
> So I wanted to take a minute to share the story and thank the people on
> this list who contributed, both those of us who worked on the project
> directly and the guys who extended advice and friendship to the studio
> willing to take a chance on softimage like Todd Akita, Rob Chapman, the
> gang over at Whiskytree and many others. Thanks guys.
>

Re: Future of Naiad

[David Barosin]

Just to add..  ICE is pretty amazing with non simulated trees too ;)


On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 11:04 AM, Greg Punchatz  wrote:

> Ice is more than a simulation environment ... It's deep ties to the
> program make it useful for so many more things... Biofrost sounds like its
> a stand alone app for simulation vs something that could be used for
> character animation or anything else you can imagine.
>
> Can biofrost work in a character set up?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 25, 2013, at 9:45 AM, Luc-Eric Rousseau 
> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 6:33 AM, adrian wyer
> >  wrote:
> >> lets face it, if the AD higher ups can't see that houdini is trousering
> them
> >> in the vfx dept, and that their best hope for a procedural approach to
> vfx,
> >> is to hit the ground running with ICE, then they deserve to be buried
> by the
> >> competition
> >
> > Autodesk is doing the right thing in that context. What they have done
> > with Naiad is add expertise about scalable, distributed, out-of-core
> > simulation that's also platform agnostic, which ICE is not. ICE is a
> > module built deep into XSI that does threaded operations on block of
> > data that reside in XSI's RAM and that's it.  At the user group, they
> > did a tech preview of something called Bifrost with its GUI running in
> > Maya, which is the standard linux studio platform, and that's a
> > totally a reasonable thing to do given also its extensive SDK.
> >
> > Things might make more sense if you understand that Naiad was not just
> > a fluid solver, it was meant to be a complete simulation framework,
> > like Houdini.  It's not something you plug into ICE, it's an
> > alternative to it.
> >
>
>

Re: Maths problem (barycentric coordinates)

[David Barosin]

If you can chew through the greek notation this is helpful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_distance_weighting




On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 11:38 AM,  wrote:

>   Hi, I have spent days on this and I cant work it out
>
>  I have a selection of points (not on a flat plane) and I have a test
> position.
>  It returns an array that represents the weighting, related to the
> proximity to the other points.
>
>  I want to have it so that when the test position is directly at a point,
> the value for that point in the array = 1
>  and the rest will be zero
>  as the test point moves around the area it interpolates these values,
> but they always add up to 1
>
>  It sounds really easy, but I’ve been literally* tearing my hair out over
> this for days.
>
>  Ive managed to get barycentric interpolation working for a flat plane,
> and only 3 points, but I need it to accept multiple points in 3d space.
>
>  Please help. I’m going bonkers over this
>
>  Paul
>
>  *(not really literally)
>

Re: ICE arrays again

[David Barosin]

Would an fCurve node do the trick?   Make the animation curve in there and
grab values base on a scalar input.


On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 1:49 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:

> ** **
>
> >How would you store the animation from just a single  ICE scalar node as
> an action?
>
> ** **
>
> So I figured this part out at least. I did manage to bring in the
>  StoredFcvAction and the value  and pass it along to something else. I can
> pull any value from any defined frame. Problem is this does not look
> portable. The action is stored under Mixer Sources and not under “self”. I
> need this to inherit the original scalar animation from any object which
> this tree is applied and inherit any changes. I’m guessing a new action
> would need to be created every time a change is made to the original.  Is
> that correct?
>
> ** **
>
> Joey
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> >And further, doesn’t this require explicit creation of a new action for
> each time I plan to reuse this  tree on a different object? 
>
> ** **
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Gustavo Eggert
> Boehs
> *Sent:* Friday, July 12, 2013 1:03 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: ICE arrays again
>
> ** **
>
> You can get data at a given frame as long as it is stored in a Action.
> There is a get data from action node with a frame parameter.
>
> Em 12/07/2013 13:20, "Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]" <
> j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> escreveu:
>
> Hello,
>
>  
>
> I have a scalar node in an ICE tree which has been keyframed. I want to
> load the sequence of values(represented by the animation curve) into an ICE
> array so that I can extract a value from any frame by selecting that
> corresponding index. 
>
>  
>
> For example, if I am on frame 99 I want to get the animation value from
> Frame 3. I thought arrays would permit me to do this but it seems I’ve only
> been able to insert or set a value on a specific frame, the minute I move
> to another frame the index value is lost. I can’t figure out if this is
> possible. What am I doing wrong?
>
>  
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
>  
>

Re: Polygonal description -

[David Barosin]

Ah thanks Grahame. The thought was to transform all the point positions and
add the polygon description after.  I just found I could transform the
topology arrays directly ;)

I didn't get as far as transferring UVs so these links are great to pick
apart.

Cheers,
 -Dave

Re: Can you see me now?

[David Barosin]

If you check the 'hide instance master' in the visibility prop of the
master object(s) the instances will still be visible.


On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 4:54 PM, Eric Turman  wrote:

> You could also throw them in a group and drive the group's vis properties
>
> -=T=-
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 3:29 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
> j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>> Yeah, I know, but I can shove it off into the nether I think. That or put
>> it in a lead box so the kryptonite rays are ineffective. J
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> --
>>
>> Joey Ponthieux
>>
>> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>>
>> Mymic Technical Services
>>
>> NASA Langley Research Center
>>
>> __
>>
>> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>>
>> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 19, 2013 4:25 PM
>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> *Subject:* RE: Can you see me now?
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> If you hide the master, all the instances will be hidden too.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
>> *On Behalf Of *David Barosin
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 19, 2013 12:54 PM
>> *To:* xsi
>> *Subject:* Re: Can you see me now?
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Can you just make the model an instance and hide the instance masters? **
>> **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 3:32 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
>> j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:
>>
>> I’ve got a model hierarchy of dozens of parts under a parent object.
>>
>>  
>>
>> The parent object is animated via an ICE tree and I’ve added conditional
>> behavior to the ice tree to affect things like visibility of the parent
>> object when certain situations are met.
>>
>>  
>>
>> This is all working as I would like with one except. I’d like the
>> visibility condition to propagate from the parent to the entire model.***
>> *
>>
>>  
>>
>> Am I required to apply a setdata node of visibility for every child of
>> the parent, or is there an easier way?
>>
>>  
>>
>> I seem to recall I would have performed  a branch key in the past, but I
>> have no clue how this might translate to ICE.
>>
>>  
>>
>> --
>>
>> Joey Ponthieux
>>
>> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>>
>> Mymic Technical Services
>>
>> NASA Langley Research Center
>>
>> __
>>
>> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>>
>> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>>
>>  
>>
>> ** **
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
> -=T=-
>

Re: Can you see me now?

[David Barosin]

Can you just make the model an instance and hide the instance masters?


On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 3:32 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:

> I’ve got a model hierarchy of dozens of parts under a parent object.
>
> ** **
>
> The parent object is animated via an ICE tree and I’ve added conditional
> behavior to the ice tree to affect things like visibility of the parent
> object when certain situations are met.
>
> ** **
>
> This is all working as I would like with one except. I’d like the
> visibility condition to propagate from the parent to the entire model.
>
> ** **
>
> Am I required to apply a setdata node of visibility for every child of the
> parent, or is there an easier way?
>
> ** **
>
> I seem to recall I would have performed  a branch key in the past, but I
> have no clue how this might translate to ICE.
>
> ** **
>
> 
>
> --
>
> Joey Ponthieux
>
> LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES)
>
> Mymic Technical Services
>
> NASA Langley Research Center
>
> __
>
> Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>
> represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
> ** **
>

Re: external file data into ICE

[David Barosin]

check out the code at the bottom.  I think it is courtesy of Brad Gabe.

http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Icecache_File_Format

In the past I was able to use this to get .ply data in as particles.


On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 9:02 AM, adrian wyer
wrote:

> ** ** ** ** **
>
> back to the drawing board on reading point positions/colours from an
> external ascii file
>
> ** **
>
> anyone had experience pulling strings from external txt files into an ice
> tree?
>
> ** **
>
> current thinking is using vbs (shut up, i'm comfortable with it!!)   to
> pull data from a file and insert into a string node 
>
> SetValue "pointcloud.pointcloud.ICETree.StringNode.value_string",
> "8,28,38,37,46,23.blah blah blah
>
> ** **
>
> works but sloppy
>
> ** **
>
> any better ideas?
>
> ** **
>
> a
>
> ** **
>
> Adrian Wyer
> Fluid Pictures
> 75-77 Margaret St.
> London
> W1W 8SY
> ++44(0) 207 580 0829 
>
>
> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com
>
> www.fluid-pictures.com 
>
> ** **
>
> Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in **England** and **
> **Wales.
> Company number:5657815
> VAT number: 872 6893 71
>
> ** **
>

Re: syFlex ICE- length

[David Barosin]

Just to add...  I'm looking to get the rescale behavior that the non ice
operators offer.

Thanks again,
 -Dave


On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 5:05 PM, David Barosin  wrote:

> Can anyone confirm whether or not the 'length' parameter works on the ICE
> node for syflexISpring?  I'm using 2014
>
> Thanks,
>  -Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>

syFlex ICE- length

[David Barosin]

Can anyone confirm whether or not the 'length' parameter works on the ICE
node for syflexISpring?  I'm using 2014

Thanks,
 -Dave

Re: scripting: returning value in SIImportMatLib

[David Barosin]

Look at these links - they help explain what ISIVTCollections are and when
they are returned.
http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=files/outarg_bylang.htm,topicNumber=d30e53710
http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=files/ISIVTCollection.htm,topicNumber=d30e53970



On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 7:36 AM, Martin  wrote:

> Hi list,
>
> I have a question about SIImportMatLib command.
>
> I was trying to get the return value in jscript without success until I
> checked Eric's  ET_PassManager code where he is using
>
> oMatLib = xsi.SIImportMatLib(strMatLibPath)("Value")
>
>
> and the oMatLib gets the return value.
>
>
> It works (in jscript too) and I'm using it now, but why does it work?
>
>
> I mean, where this ("Value") thing comes from?
>
> When should I use it?
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
> M.Yara
>
>

Re: copy transform value

[David Barosin]

It does act funny when there are keys set (maybe constraints too).  You
could make a quick script that does a pose constraint that you later
delete.


On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 4:03 PM, Kris Rivel  wrote:

> Nah...not with chains at least...not most of the time.  If I literally
> type in the same values..it syncs...but "match transform" or "match
> rotation" just makes it go all over.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 3:58 PM, Mirko Jankovic 
> wrote:
>
>> doesn't it work?
>> match transforms always worked perfectly to me as I remember
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Kris Rivel  wrote:
>>
>>> Would be great if "match transforms" actually worked!!  Is there another
>>> way to copy the rotation value of something and apply it something else via
>>> vbs script?
>>>
>>> Kris
>>>
>>
>>
>

Re: building asset tools

[David Barosin]

For importing there is an attach to existing geometry option.  The workflow
we have now is using a previous version 1.0.45 and scripting the export and
import thru their python api.

The behavior is a bit different in the latest version.  There are now
export options for transformations.  Without it in front of me I think it's
(flat hierachy, full hierarchy and baked global)  If I recall correctly I
just selected the geo to export with flat hierarchy selected in the export
options.  In the import scene I needed the same named object to receive the
operator.  With nothing selected I was able to import the data with the
'attach to existing'  option checked.

Overall it seems to be very sensitive with object names and what is
selected.  When I have the time I'll see if I can get our pipeline work
with the latest version.


On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 1:40 AM, Nick Angus  wrote:

>  Hi David, what is your recipe for getting alembic as ‘pointcache only’?,
> we have always found it tries to replace existing geo regardless…
>
> ** **
>
> N
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *David Barosin
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 29 January 2013 2:41 AM
> *To:* xsi
>
> *Subject:* Re: building asset tools
>
> ** **
>
> We're currently using alembic from soft to soft here.  Using reference
> models with pre existing envelopes that attach on the fly to our rigs.
> Alembic is basically used for point caching.
>
> Alembic has also been used here for sharing data between Soft, Max, Maya
> and Houdini quite nicely (cameras, animated geo...)  It has been the most
> robust experience I've had to date compared to FBX or any other data
> format.  The speed can be a little slow if you're also using alembic to
> generated the topology per frame but for point cache only purposes it's
> very nice.
>
>
> What are you referring to regarding Maya Alembic?   I haven't heard the
> good side of it.  
>
> ** **
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 10:58 AM, Stefan Andersson 
> wrote:
>
> So Maya Alembic wins again...
>
>
>
> 
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Guillaume Laforge <
> guillaume.laforge...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> You can't 'out the box', but you could store all the envelope weights and
> static pauses using some Alembic properties. 
>
> The main problem would be that you would need to interpret those new
> properties in every DCCs alembic plugin too...
>
> ** **
>
> So, in short the answer is no :).
>
> ** **
>
> Guillaume
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 9:07 AM, Stefan Andersson 
> wrote:
>
> Does anyone here on the list knows if you can envelope an alembic file?
>
> regards
> stefan
>
>
>
> 
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 2:22 PM, Guillaume Laforge <
> guillaume.laforge...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > As far as technicalities go, I'd go for FBX for storing hierarchies of
> objects. 
>
> ** **
>
> Hierarchies can be saved using Alembic too. It is a format to bake scenes
> after all :).
>
> ** **
>
> FBX "advantages" are that you don't bake the meshes as they keeps their
> envelope and use the DCC specific code to do the skinning. It can be very
> useful if you do the skinning in a package and the rigging in an other one.
> 
>
> But for every validated assets, I won't use such format as you can't be
> sure your animation will be the same at the end of the pipeline. The
> optimized point cache approach of Alembic is much better.
>
> ** **
>
> Cheers,
>
> ** **
>
> Guillaume Laforge
>
> ** **
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 4:15 AM, Michal Doniec  wrote:*
> ***
>
> *"I would say, the most important is to make the right difference between
> the asset and the file on disk.*
>
> *The asset is just a concept, often just an entry in whatever storage
> unit you choose with metadatas and bind to a file on dis*k."
>
> I can only second that. The most common design mistake I see in data/asset
> management systems is treating files on disk as the higest level assets.
> Having a higher abstraction level ("*asset is just a concept*") from the
> beginning is really beneficial in many cases, including the one pointed out
> by Jo and will for sure lead to much simpler code. If you decide to treat
> ordinary disk files as assets, I can guarantee you will end up with a layer
> of "super assets" or asset collections, packages (call it what you want)
> sooner or later.
>
&

Re: Middle mouse pan in ice tree

[David Barosin]

Yeah I guess the happy solution would be a preference check box.  Thanks
for everyone chiming in.  It does seem to break from the established flow
of selecting objects and components in the 3d view.

This new mode slows things down if you have large trees that need to be
shuffled around (especially with a mix of branches and temporarily
unconnected nodes).


On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 4:13 PM, Grahame Fuller  wrote:

> There's no preference that I know of, but you can still middle-click (i.e.
> no drag) to branch-select a node. It also works with Shift (add to
> selection), Ctrl (toggle Selection), and Ctrl+Shift (deselect).
>
> gray
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leonard Koch
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 04:06 PM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Middle mouse pan in ice tree
>
> Yeah, that would be really lovely. That change annoys me about 15 times
> every day. Whenever my mind is elsewhere I fall back into the old and
> accustomed-to behaviour.
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 9:55 PM, David Barosin  dbaro...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> Anyone know if there is a way to turn off the middle mouse for panning in
> the ICE Tree.  I really miss the old behavior that had middle mouse handle
> branch selection boxes.  It was totally consistent with everything else in
> XSI's selection mode.  Not sure why that was even changed.
>
>
>
>
>
>

Re: Middle mouse pan in ice tree

[David Barosin]

Yes.  Just hoping for the selection box to grab a bunch of branches at
once.


On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 4:11 PM, Stephen Blair wrote:

>  Middle click still branch selects, doesn't it?
>
>
> On 28/01/2013 3:55 PM, David Barosin wrote:
>
> Anyone know if there is a way to turn off the middle mouse for panning in
> the ICE Tree.  I *really* miss the old behavior that had middle mouse
> handle branch selection boxes.  It was totally consistent with everything
> else in XSI's selection mode.  Not sure why that was even changed.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Re: softimage and it's binary format

[David Barosin]

back in the day... hrcConvert ;)


On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 11:24 AM, ivan t  wrote:

> Thanks Stefan , will do :)
>
> The team is aware of this popular request (and many others). I will log it
> down.
>
> Best Regards
> Ivan
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 12:08 AM, Stefan Andersson wrote:
>
>> You might want to check the backlog for the last 8-10 years of beta list
>> discussions :)
>>
>> If you remember to log it, please write back which REQ number.
>>
>> best regards
>> stefan andersson
>>
>>
>>

Re: building asset tools

[David Barosin]

We're currently using alembic from soft to soft here.  Using reference
models with pre existing envelopes that attach on the fly to our rigs.
Alembic is basically used for point caching.

Alembic has also been used here for sharing data between Soft, Max, Maya
and Houdini quite nicely (cameras, animated geo...)  It has been the most
robust experience I've had to date compared to FBX or any other data
format.  The speed can be a little slow if you're also using alembic to
generated the topology per frame but for point cache only purposes it's
very nice.


What are you referring to regarding Maya Alembic?   I haven't heard the
good side of it.


On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 10:58 AM, Stefan Andersson wrote:

> So Maya Alembic wins again...
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Guillaume Laforge <
> guillaume.laforge...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> You can't 'out the box', but you could store all the envelope weights and
>> static pauses using some Alembic properties.
>> The main problem would be that you would need to interpret those new
>> properties in every DCCs alembic plugin too...
>>
>> So, in short the answer is no :).
>>
>> Guillaume
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 9:07 AM, Stefan Andersson wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone here on the list knows if you can envelope an alembic file?
>>>
>>> regards
>>> stefan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 2:22 PM, Guillaume Laforge <
>>> guillaume.laforge...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
 > As far as technicalities go, I'd go for FBX for storing hierarchies
 of objects.

 Hierarchies can be saved using Alembic too. It is a format to bake
 scenes after all :).

 FBX "advantages" are that you don't bake the meshes as they keeps their
 envelope and use the DCC specific code to do the skinning. It can be very
 useful if you do the skinning in a package and the rigging in an other one.
 But for every validated assets, I won't use such format as you can't be
 sure your animation will be the same at the end of the pipeline. The
 optimized point cache approach of Alembic is much better.

 Cheers,

 Guillaume Laforge


 On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 4:15 AM, Michal Doniec wrote:

> *"I would say, the most important is to make the right difference
> between the asset and the file on disk.*
> *The asset is just a concept, often just an entry in whatever storage
> unit you choose with metadatas and bind to a file on dis*k."
>
> I can only second that. The most common design mistake I see in
> data/asset management systems is treating files on disk as the higest 
> level
> assets. Having a higher abstraction level ("*asset is just a concept*")
> from the beginning is really beneficial in many cases, including the one
> pointed out by Jo and will for sure lead to much simpler code. If you
> decide to treat ordinary disk files as assets, I can guarantee you will 
> end
> up with a layer of "super assets" or asset collections, packages (call it
> what you want) sooner or later.
>
> As far as technicalities go, I'd go for FBX for storing hierarchies of
> objects. The format has a future, is expandable, but be prepared to deal
> with some oddities and bugs from time to time.
> At my previous place, all pipeline was mostly fbx based for rigs and
> similar.
> Cache format, Alembic is imo the best choice.
>
>
> On 27 January 2013 20:39, jo benayoun  wrote:
>
>> hey Stefan
>> I would say, the most important is to make the right difference
>> between the asset and the file on disk.
>> The asset is just a concept, often just an entry in whatever storage
>> unit you choose with metadatas and bind to a file on disk.
>> So to keep things simple, why not considering your asset as a zip
>> archive on disk, in which you may use different file formats to store 
>> datas
>> depending on the type of the asset and the
>> application it's most often used in.  Bundled with the archive, add
>> it a json/xml/whatever file used to store the metadatas (creator, ctime,
>> asset-type, ...)
>> It becomes easy then when an asset is wanted to retrieve the adequat
>> file (if exists) or run a converter (if needed).   This allows you to 
>> keep
>> application-specific file formats while not having trade-offs on their
>> re-use in others by abstracting.  Your asset manager don't know about the
>> files but only about .
>> Dont bother with file formats but make your asset manager enough
>> solid to handle whatever is used underneath to store datas.
>> --jon
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 2013/1/27 Stefan Andersson 
>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>> I'm building a set of tools for a asset manager for Softimage. I've
>>> had it working in Maya for a while, but I'm now converting it and
>>> re-writing it to fit Softimage. I'm quite tempted to use C

Re: FBX and soft is rubbish

[David Barosin]

Yes that has bitten me pretty bad on one project.  The UV's on some
individual polygons rotate when exporting with FBX.  Crosswalk is much
better for going to maya with UV's intact.


On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 12:22 PM, Sebastien Sterling <
sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Has anyone else noticed the uv bug when exporting FBX from soft to Maya ?
> all the uv's get disconnected, it must be something to do with tearing mode
> in Soft.
>
>
> On 29 December 2012 12:56, Chris Chia  wrote:
>
>> Hi Ben,
>> I hope the following links will help:
>>
>>
>> http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/xsidocs/import_export_xwalk4xsi_ImportingandExportingFBXFiles.htm#Rbn41429
>>
>> http://xsisupport.com/2011/06/01/exporting-fbx-to-maya/
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Chris
>>
>>
>> On 29 Dec, 2012, at 8:41 PM, "Ben Beckett" > nebbeck...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Chris
>>
>> Alls good, Sorry if I was a bit well way!
>>
>> But Cross walk is brill all. I was give a load of mocap to sort very late.
>>
>> Importing them in to XSI seems never to work the way one would expect,
>> the key are all over the place. I guess they come in at 30 or 24 fps never
>> 25.
>>
>> But Importing via Maya back to xsi via crosswalk works a treat. but bit
>> long winded!
>>
>> So It leaves me with one question why can't we force the FPS on FBX
>> imports into XSI.
>>
>> Hope everyone a happy new thanks
>> Ben
>>
>>
>> On 29 December 2012 10:12, Chris Chia > chris.c...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
>> Hi Ben,
>> Have you tried Crosswalk?
>> And what exactly do you wish to achieve?
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Chris
>>
>>
>> On 28 Dec, 2012, at 8:12 AM, "Ben Beckett" > nebbeck...@gmail.com> nebbeck...@gmail.com>>> wrote:
>>
>> more option on import would be nice.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 28 December 2012 00:07, Ben Beckett > nebbeck...@gmail.com> nebbeck...@gmail.com>>> wrote:
>> Am I missing something
>>
>> To import a FBX in to soft is pile of #$%?? there no FPS seting so it all
>> was Fup
>>
>> Sort it out Autodesk
>>
>> So the only way for a while one has been able to do it is via another app
>> like Maya
>>
>> So the way I do it is maya import FBX
>>
>> check it at the right FPS
>>
>> expoxt via cros walk back to soft
>>
>> TIT wa#k
>>
>>
>>
>

Re: how to determine which deformers an envelope operator is looking for

[David Barosin]

A shot in the dark but maybe you can reference the deformed meshes in.
Referencing might add a little bit of protection from the envelopes
breaking.  If needed you can also redirect the reference to a different
deformer model.   If it connects you can localize the model save the
envelope out and reapply to clean up any issues.


On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 2:37 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> We have too many assets to re-create them in 2013 or later.  We have to
> accept assets as-is.
>
> ** **
>
> We have a number of clothing pieces which were weighted to deformers in
> the character rig, and some of those deformers have been since removed
> leaving invalid entries in the envelope.  Envelopes.Deformers throws an
> error when used on these envelopes, so I wrote a tool which uses
> Envelope.GetDeformerWeights() to detect and repair the envelope by
> replacing the envelope with a new one using the remaining valid deformers.
> The end result is a new envelope with no prior history.  These new
> envelopes work just like any other envelope in 7.5, even after being
> reloaded and worked over further.
>
> ** **
>
> The problem is these envelopes do not respond in 2013.  Softimage 2013 SP1
> will load them, but the envelope will not find it’s deformers even when
> present in the scene.  It’s as if the geometry never had an envelope in the
> first place.  To make matters worse, Envelopes.Deformers is inaccessible
> and the workaround of using Envelope.GetDeformerWeights() throws and error
> as well.  I have not found a way to extract the list of deformers from the
> envelope.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Jeremie Passerin
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 18, 2012 10:55 AM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: how to determine which deformers an envelope operator is
> looking for
>
> ** **
>
> Hey Matt, 
>
> ** **
>
> Did you try to build this setup in 2013 or are you just testing with rigs
> created in 7.5 and loaded in 2013.
> Not ideal but maybe you can store the deformers name at some point in a
> userdatablob or or property during the rig creation.
>
> ** **
>
> I'm wondering if envelopeOp.Deformers() is not accessible when you
> re-import you rigs, or if it's not accessible right from the beginning even
> after you created the envelope the first time.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> my 2c
>
> Jeremie
>
> On 18 December 2012 10:31, Matt Lind  wrote:
>
> Perhaps you didn’t read my post.  Envelopes.Deformers is not accessible.**
> **
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Fabricio Chamon
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 18, 2012 6:03 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: how to determine which deformers an envelope operator is
> looking for
>
>  
>
> Here on a simple scene it works ok...(cylinder enveloped to a 2-bone chain)
> 
>
>  
>
> logmessage (selection(0).envelopes(0).deformers.getAsText())
>
> // INFO : cylinder,bone,bone1,eff
>
>  
>
> funny thing is the cylinder itself got logged, also the effector that was
> not picked as deformer.
>
>  
>
> 2012/12/18 Adam Sale 
>
> envelope > Select deformer from envelope? 
>
>  
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 10:26 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
>
> We are trying to upgrade from Softimage 7.5 to Softimage 2013 SP1 and ran
> into a speed bump during testing.
>
>  
>
> Our workflow for character work is to create a master character rig which
> contains the skeleton and body (flesh) geometry.  We use separate models
> for clothing and other accessories which the character needs to wear.  This
> means the clothing geometry is enveloped to deformers in the master
> character rig.  When a clothing model is imported into a scene, if the
> deformers are present (e.g. master character rig is in the scene) they
> activate and deform as expected.  If the deformers are not present, then
> the geometry sits still in the default rest pose as if no envelope existed.
> This workflow has been working for the past 5 years.
>
>  
>
> When these scenes and models are imported into Softimage 2013 SP1, the
> envelopes stop working, and sometimes Softimage crashes.  When clothing
> geometry is inspected in the weights editor, the deformer names are
> displayed as “invalid”.
>
>  
>
> Digging into the SDK I got some basics.  For each enveloped piece of
> clothing geometry:
>
>  
>
> X3DObject.Envelopes(0)  returns valid envelope
>
> Envelope.Weights.Array returns valid envelope weight data.
>
> Envelope.Deformers throws ‘invalid pointer’ error, or returns an empty
> collection of deformers.
>
>  
>
> In essence, I have the weight values a

Re: syflex ICE and weightmaps

[David Barosin]

The best control I've been able to find is the Mimic node which requires
duplicate geo to attach the sim.  You can dig into it a bit to find where
it selects which points to stick.  Maybe hack the node to use a weight map
to determine which points are attached.  There is a reset check box that is
useful for any attachments that change over time.

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/userguide/index.html?url=files/iceref_syflexIMimic.htm,topicNumber=d30e573841




On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 8:44 PM, Kris Rivel  wrote:

> Is there a way to control any aspect of syflex with a weightmap in ICE?
>  Any other hack for doing something like this?  Like maybe a mix of syflex
> and matching points on a duplicate surface with no syflex and controlling
> the blend via a weightmap?
>
> Kris
>

Re: GATOR problem transferring UVs

[David Barosin]

Some clusters need to be complete - meaning all points are included.  Maybe
something on the source cluster is not correct. There is an attribute for
that

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=si_om/Cluster.IsAlwaysComplete.html,topicNumber=si_om_Cluster_IsAlwaysComplete_html

On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 6:49 PM, Adam Sale  wrote:

> This type of cluster property requires the parent cluster to be always
> complete

Re: Importing FBX from Maya to SI

[David Barosin]

Yeah someone else had the same issue.  in and out of maya fine but not
softimage.  Just check to see if there are pivots that are not zero'ed
out.

On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Debdas Mohanty  wrote:
> Hello David,
>
> Problem is when i am importing the same FBX file i.e. exported
> from maya and importing again in maya and other softwares, its showing no
> change in animation curve.
> But only in softimage, it is changing. Why i dont know?
>
> As Sandy suggested me to change the import fbx default frame rate from 30 to
> 24 and it worked for him. But no good luck for me yet..May be i am missing
> some thing...
>
>

Re: tying a bow on a christmas present

[David Barosin]

off the top of my head...

model the completed bow using ribbon geo deformed on a curve or surface.
Envelope chains and or nulls to the deformer surface.
Start with the bow knot finished and animate it in reverse (untying).
animate the surface deform so the ribbon slides along the path.
throw some turbulence rolling down the pre-deformed ribbon for effect ;)


On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Andi Farhall <
andi.farh...@primefocusworld.com> wrote:

> Me and my big mouth It seemed so simple before actually attempting it,
> tying a ribbon around a bottle into a bow. No slight of hand allowed, must
> be viewed in all it's glory.
>
> ** **
>
> I'm looking for any direction whatsoever that may give me a fighting
> chance, bearing in mind i'm not a character animator and my early attempts
> of shape animation a spline look like twitchy spaghetti.
>
> ** **
>
> any pointers gratefully recieved,
>
> ** **
>
> cheers,
>
> ** **
>
> Andi.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Andi Farhall | Senior 3D Animator
>
> T: +44 (0)20 7565 1000 | M: +44 (0)7976 263 989
> A: 37 Dean Street, London, W1D 4PT, UK
>
> http://spylon.tumblr.com/
>
> ** **
>

Re: In case you missed it..

[David Barosin]

I'm really not asking for a hard sell to big studios.  Just clear the road
and not impede Softimage from becoming something if a big or small studio
takes an interest.  Give it an honest equally marketed chance next to the
other apps.

Re: In case you missed it..

[David Barosin]

I don't think you really need to do much except allow Softimage a fighting
chance.  The companies are able to make their own decisions.  Maybe I've
heard too many rumors at this point but it seems like Autodesk is the first
in line to talk companies out of moving forward with Softimage as a core
app.

To answer the neutral question.

Promote Softimage equally (There is a problem though - with all the
negative rumors that have damaged any interest to date, maybe an extra
scoop of marketing is in order to undo the damage)
Equally meaning on all fronts  - website, trade shows, the inside scoop
conversations with clients, suites, body language ;)

Softimage is a fine piece of software.  Was it my imagination or was
Softimage gaining popularity with ICE right before Autodesk purchased it.
I wonder where it would be if it if it didn't have such anemic marketing.

Btw that graph doesn't even include compositing ;)






On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 3:55 PM, Graham Bell wrote:

> "I don't want Softimage to be a good companion to Maya&3dsmax, I want
> Softimage to kick their ass and make all users leave their software and use
> Softimage instead!!"
>
> This is a perfectly valid point, however playing a neutral card for a
> moment and to just throw something out therehow do we do that?
> There are plenty of Maya/Max based studios out there, skilled up, decent
> pipeline with some tech & tools, and producing very good and capable work
> for years, how would you get them to then rip all that up and go with
> Softimage?
> I'm not sure it's that easy, expanding the capability of a pipeline by
> adding another solution/software is one thing, but a complete
> replacement/retool of your core 3D app? That's a whole bigger thing
> altogether.
>
>
> G
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
> Sent: 10 September 2012 20:35
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: In case you missed it..
>
> Stefan, I totally agreed with you ranthopefully we are wrong
> We are sitting on the fence about upgrading our licenses, at this point we
> will have to take a hard long look.
>
> We have been with Softimage/XSI since the early '90..
>
> Leoung
>
> On 9/10/2012 3:07 PM, Stefan Andersson wrote:
> Just to throw some more gasoline onto the fire.
>
> So the value to a 3dsmax/Maya user would be to use Softimage as a particle
> plugin. Everything else their respective Software is good at.
>
> I know you don't agree with them Graham, and it's not you who "wrote/made"
> this :) It's been said over and over again on this list, it doesn't seem
> that Autodesk cares about Softimage.
>
> And it's for that reason alone that I don't recommend anyone (anymore) to
> buy or learn Softimage. Autodesk representatives on this list is trying to
> assure us, but apparently those people have absolutely NO contact with the
> Marketing/PR people. It's not that we have been asking for much, but the
> way they market Softimage and the way new users and studios look at
> Softimage... well... you get my point.
>
> I don't want Softimage to be a good companion to Maya&3dsmax, I want
> Softimage to kick their ass and make all users leave their software and use
> Softimage instead!! But that is not in Autodesk view a good thing. And for
> this reason I think Autodesk is really bad for Softimage.
>
> Why is attitude and "kick butt" mentality a bad thing? it's what keeps a
> lot of us going and improving our-self. It's what makes us trying to reach
> for those extra 10% in a production.
>
> Am I pissed at Autodesk? you bet you sweet ass I am. I spent years behind
> Softimage and got companies to buy the software that were Maya based, and
> really really tried to get it to work...
> With ICE I had big hopes. But... Autodesk had little incentive to kick
> Maya/3dsmax out the window. They made Softimage into a particle plugin.
>
> So what happens now?
>
> I know it's pointless rant, and it just adds fuel to the fire. But it's
> difficult to talk about something positive when it comes to Softimage. It's
> like having a Formula One car, but you live in the country side and no one
> understands why you have it.
>
> Sorry for the rant everyone.
>
> best regards
> Stefan
> On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 4:36 PM, Graham Bell  > wrote:
> Perhaps worth pointing out that this is a Entertainment Creation 'Suites'
> magazine and of the course the two main flavours (Ultimate aside) for the
> Suites are Maya and Max. And therefore the three packages shown in the
> image are all including in the Maya/Max Suites, hence the reason for trying
> to show their value to those respective users.
>
>
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] On Behalf Of Paul Griswold
> Sent: 10 September 2012 15:08
> To: softimage@listproc.autod

Re: object center orientation

[David Barosin]

so if I understand you want to have each geo's y-axis point at the origin
without effecting the geometry.

You could throw an envelope on all the obects,  apply a direction
constraint to a null at the origin then freeze the envelope.

On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 3:03 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> I don’t see any reason why you need to script this.  You can do what you
> need in a couple of clicks in a multi-selection regardless of size.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Eric Lampi
> *Sent:* Monday, September 10, 2012 11:56 AM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: object center orientation
>
> ** **
>
> There are over 1685 objects with no null parent, they already had a center
> at vertices.
>
> I was just making sure there wasn't an operation available before I
> ventured into scripting something, thanks anyway.
>
> 
>
> On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
>
> What?  ICE doesn’t solve this out of the box?   
>
>  
>
> Try this:
>
>  
>
> 1) Select all globe pieces.
>
> 2) MCP > Transform > Move Centers to Vertices
>
> 3) Create a null at the center of the globe.
>
> 4) Set select filter to “Center”.
>
> 5) Apply direction constraint to each globe piece picking null at center
> of globe as the target.  Choose desired axis, then remove constraint.
>
> 5) Make globe pieces child of this null.
>
>  
>
> Animate the null to rotate the globe pieces.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Eric Lampi
> *Sent:* Monday, September 10, 2012 11:06 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: object center orientation
>
>  
>
>
> It's a globe, and all the rotations of these pieces are pointing towards
> global 0 x,y,z, the y axis needs to point outward in relation to the
> center, much like the normal of all of the polys on a sphere. There are
> 1000 pieces, so I'm looking for a repeatable function I can loop through at
> least.
>
> On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 1:55 PM, Alan Fregtman 
> wrote:
>
> Press "Center" in the top right, translate/rotate/scale as desired, then
> press "Object" again? Or did I miss something?
>
> On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 1:08 PM, Eric Lampi  wrote:**
> **
>
> I'm not sure how to accomplish this, I am drawing a blank at the moment...
>
> A modeler build a globe and cut up the continents into little pieces, the
> orientation needs to point toward the center of the globe so they can
> animate out on a local y axis. Is there any way to globally make the center
> axis to point towards a null or to global 0 without moving the individual
> objects? The geo is properly oriented, but the center points are all at the
> same default rotation.
>
> Eric
>
> --
> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>
>  
>
>
>
>
> --
> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>
>
>
>
> --
> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>

Re: Small Annoying Things

[David Barosin]

Thanks Stephen.  I cleared my user preferences and it seems to have come
back.  I had my prefs on so many machines it seemed like the norm :P

Cheers,
 -Dave



On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 6:28 AM, Stephen Blair wrote:

> CTRL+Y did work when I tried. But maybe it's like CTRL+C and CTRL+V, which
> work, except when they don't.
>
> I think maybe using the right-click menu will sometimes kickstart the
> keyboard shortcuts back into working...I'll try to remember and check next
> time it happens
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 5, 2012 at 12:38 PM, David Barosin  wrote:
>
>> Without reading the long list. Did anyone mentioned ctrl+Y working for
>> redo in the script editor?
>>
>>
>

Re: Small Annoying Things

[David Barosin]

Without reading the long list. Did anyone mentioned ctrl+Y working for redo
in the script editor?

Re: Bye Bye

[David Barosin]

Guillaume I also want to express my appreciation for all that you brought
to the Softimage experience.  I feel like I'm getting too much practice
writing 'sad to see you go' emails.  Best of luck on the next steps.

Regards,
 -Dave

On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 10:55 PM, Chris Chia wrote:

> Please take care Guillaume.
> And thanks for all the guidance all this while.
>
> Ps: And if you are involved in FabricEngine, do sign me up on your Beta ;)
>
>
> Chris
>
>
> On 1 Sep, 2012, at 10:49 AM, "Guillaume Laforge" <
> guillaume.laforge...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Guys,
> >
> > I just wanted to say thank you for all the good words I heard today.
> > I'm out of AD and won't follow this list as much as before, but it was a
> real pleasure to exchange ideas with all those great peoples !
> >
> > See you maybe on the Fabric Engine beta list !
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Guillaume Laforge
>

Re: Friday Flashback

[David Barosin]

Stephen I'm very saddened to hear this.  I really appreciate all your time
and help.  You went above and beyond for the Softimage community.  I hope
you find better things with a company that understands how valuable you are
to have on the team.

Re: Feathers done with ICE, developed from our development based on Melena.

[David Barosin]

Looks really great.  Are the feathers backwards?  In any case very
impressive!

On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 10:41 AM, Sandy Sutherland <
sandy.sutherl...@triggerfish.co.za> wrote:

>  Don't tell me the pic that I pasted into the mail did not come through
> trying again -
>
> S>
>
>
> _
> Sandy Sutherland
> Technical Supervisor
> sandy.sutherl...@triggerfish.co.za
> _
>
>
>
>
>   --
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] on behalf of Sandy Sutherland [
> sandy.sutherl...@triggerfish.co.za]
> *Sent:* 30 August 2012 16:22
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Feathers done with ICE, developed from our development based
> on Melena.
>
>   Hi all,
>
> Thought I would pop this amazing pic done by our super duper Fur lead -
> she took Fur and developed it into feathers, we used MB feathers on
> Zambezia - which are super cool, but as we had to do a whole bunch of fur
> anyway, Sue took it further and did the birds as well!
>
>
>
> _
> Sandy Sutherland
> Technical Supervisor
> sandy.sutherl...@triggerfish.co.za
> _
>
>
>
>
>

Re: The boy who cried wolf

[David Barosin]

Looks really great.


On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 7:51 AM, Ben Houston  wrote:

> Beautiful work!
> -ben
>
> On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 2:30 AM, Bradley Gabe  wrote:
> > http://www.themill.com/work/emerson-lukoil-us.aspx
> >
> > Amazing work done by The Mill.
> > The wolf was entirely Softimage (hair done using Melena + modifications).
> >
> > I wish I could have touched that job, but alas I was busy working on
> other
> > stuff. :-)
> >
> > -Bradley
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Ben Houston
> Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom
> http://Exocortex.com - Passionate CG Software Professionals.
>

Re: traveling the shortest distance between two points on a sphere?

[David Barosin]

Take a look at either the 'Increment Rotation with 2 Vectors' node or the
'Increment Quaternion with 2 Vectors' node in ICE.

Use can use the weight as a blend btwn the two points.



On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 3:11 PM, Jeff McFall  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I am trying to find the best way to move a point along a path of the
> shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere.
> Probably a pretty basic geometry function but I am having trouble even
> starting.
> >From what I can gather the way to solve this is through a Great Circle
> calculation
>
> I am getting hung up on the long/lat conversion to 3Dspace, not to mention
> how to interpolate the movement along this path once calculated
>
> Anyone happen to have a tutorial or know of a compound that could help?
> in ICE of course
>
> many thanks
> Jeff
>
>
>
>

Re: Trying to read StrandPosition via Python, getting empty tuples

[David Barosin]

Not sure if this applies to your situation.  I've noticed that sometimes
you have to force a display of the attribute before a script can read it.

On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 10:33 AM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> It's from the docs, but sure...
> http://pastebin.com/B5MFweQC
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 10:23 AM, Alok  wrote:
>
>>  Hi Alan,
>>
>> Can you please post the relevant code
>>
>>  On 11/07/2012 10:06 AM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>>
>> Anyone else had this problem? Even with the sample code from the docs, I
>> cannot for the life of me read this particular pointcloud's StrandPosition
>> attribute.
>>
>>  It's the right size, but it's full of empty tuples. :/ Argh!
>>
>>  Any clues appreciated.
>> Cheers,
>>
>> -- Alan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
<>