RE: spreadsheet - setting UIItems in combo box items

[Matt Lind]

Would it make any difference if I return data from the Query functions in a 
GridData object which supports combo items?  The spreadsheet appears to be a 
giant GridWidget, is it not?


Thanks,

Matt




-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Luc-Eric Rousseau
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 8:03 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: spreadsheet - setting UIItems in combo box items

your enumeration strings only exist in the PPG Layout object.  Some stuff 
internally may work differently, but your not your stuff.

On Tue, Nov 12, 2013 at 8:26 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:
> I have many spreadsheet queries which display information stored in 
> custom properties in the scene.  Some of the custom property 
> parameters are integers represented by combo boxes in their respective 
> PPGs.  When I dump the values of those parameters into the 
> spreadsheet, the spreadsheet only shows integers.  I would like to 
> convert the cells with those values to be combo boxes with the same 
> label/value pairs as the combo boxes of the custom properties.  I see 
> some of the native Softimage spreadsheet queries have this capability, 
> but I don't see any documentation how to do it.  I have dissected some 
> of those queries and they use GUID/CLSID values to pull the combo box 
> enumerations.
>
>
>
> Anybody know how to display a combo box in a cell of a spreadsheet 
> query for custom spreadsheet queries?

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Enrique Caballero]

thanks everyone, these are all really useful ideas. i will try them out and
see which one i go with

chris, i remember your eye rig from animal :) i was considering going a
similar route as well!


On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 9:49 AM, Raffaele Fragapane <
raffsxsil...@googlemail.com> wrote:

> If you have no textural detail in the eye and therefore can afford some
> discontinuity in the tension it's easy enough to achieve.
> Use one mesh for the deforming eye, a second one that's a proper sphere
> with the iris centered around the iris, bind it to the stretchy mesh from
> the iris out so the iris receives minimal distortion (that can then be
> trivially made perfectly circular if you want absolutely zero distortion
> with an ICE op), then project the rest on the deformed sphere.
>
> It takes some monstrous extreme before you get collisions (area around the
> Iris crashing into the iris), but if that happens you can still run several
> iterations of smooth and reproject as a final pass.
>
> Alternatively yes, you can do it with a shader and have a representation
> of that on a mesh with an equivalent OGL shader or with a simple
> approximation on a mesh for just the iris for animators and render it
> flawlessly as displacement and geo culling at rendertime (something we also
> have a shader to do here), but it's not really necessary unless you have
> some stringent requirement for surface tension being extremely uniform.
>

RE: xray polygons?

[Matt Lind]

Forgot to mention you may need to adjust image clipping to 'none' in your 
render preferences.  Possibly another setting or two, but start there.


Matt





From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 6:39 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: xray polygons?


The area to be masked is not the entire object, but a single polygon on that 
object. And the polygon itself has to be  a keyhole through any other polygons 
behind it on the source object, as well as any geometry behind the object which 
the poly belongs to. While a matte would be a good analog if I were compositing 
multiple objects together, the primary need is to mask parts of the object 
which the poly belongs to. Will try the surface port disconnect.



Thanks



Joey






From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] on behalf of Matt Lind 
[ml...@carbinestudios.com]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 5:56 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: xray polygons?
Isn't that what a matte is for in a compositor?

An easy way to do that in Softimage is to unplug the 'surface' port of the 
material on the polygon.  Mental ray will render the affected pixels as RGBA = 
(0,0,0,0).


Matt




From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, 
Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 2:54 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: xray polygons?

S..

Can Soft create xray polygons? A material maybe? The idea is that I want to 
have a polygon render invisible but everything behind it render invisible(with 
no alpha) as well. Basically a mask  poly. Maya had the ability to do this but 
can't remember what it was called. In other applications it was xray, allowed 
you to see through things. Can soft do this?

--
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: xray polygons?

[Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]]

The area to be masked is not the entire object, but a single polygon on that 
object. And the polygon itself has to be  a keyhole through any other polygons 
behind it on the source object, as well as any geometry behind the object which 
the poly belongs to. While a matte would be a good analog if I were compositing 
multiple objects together, the primary need is to mask parts of the object 
which the poly belongs to. Will try the surface port disconnect.



Thanks



Joey






From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] on behalf of Matt Lind 
[ml...@carbinestudios.com]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 5:56 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: xray polygons?

Isn’t that what a matte is for in a compositor?

An easy way to do that in Softimage is to unplug the ‘surface’ port of the 
material on the polygon.  Mental ray will render the affected pixels as RGBA = 
(0,0,0,0).


Matt




From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 2:54 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: xray polygons?

S……

Can Soft create xray polygons? A material maybe? The idea is that I want to 
have a polygon render invisible but everything behind it render invisible(with 
no alpha) as well. Basically a mask  poly. Maya had the ability to do this but 
can’t remember what it was called. In other applications it was xray, allowed 
you to see through things. Can soft do this?

--
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: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Raffaele Fragapane]

If you have no textural detail in the eye and therefore can afford some
discontinuity in the tension it's easy enough to achieve.
Use one mesh for the deforming eye, a second one that's a proper sphere
with the iris centered around the iris, bind it to the stretchy mesh from
the iris out so the iris receives minimal distortion (that can then be
trivially made perfectly circular if you want absolutely zero distortion
with an ICE op), then project the rest on the deformed sphere.

It takes some monstrous extreme before you get collisions (area around the
Iris crashing into the iris), but if that happens you can still run several
iterations of smooth and reproject as a final pass.

Alternatively yes, you can do it with a shader and have a representation of
that on a mesh with an equivalent OGL shader or with a simple approximation
on a mesh for just the iris for animators and render it flawlessly as
displacement and geo culling at rendertime (something we also have a shader
to do here), but it's not really necessary unless you have some stringent
requirement for surface tension being extremely uniform.

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Sebastien Sterling]

A, this old chestnut, yes i heard that Pixar use there own custom shadders

Chris's system looks amazing !

I have seen it done one other way,

( DISCLAIMERS: i was only given a very brief break down of this rig, what
follows may not be relied on as instructions but more as pointers, a good
rigger might be able to make something of this. )

You take an object that is half sphere half cylinder (the cylinder part
will be the iris eventually)

Then you apply a lattice to the cylinder part, in a manner that it reforms
a perfect sphere with the rest of the mesh (this can be done
mathematically, for extra precision but i'm not sure exactly how).

The idea is that when you mute the deformers you have a flat surface (on
the cylinder end) to do your blend shapes, which then are easier to balance
and create less distortion.

create an other sphere to act as the transparent membrane.

put the whole thing inside a Lattice, that will be used for rotation, and
another lattice after that that is used for deformations and translation.

Hope this can be of use to someone.


This method was used in this film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTQ7rd8aswg


On 18 November 2013 23:37, Adam Seeley  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Sounds like a job for Booltrace, a mental ray boolean shader.
>
> It's a bit of a head scratch to figure out how to get the geometries to do
> what you want, but it should work fine.
>
> You can get it here, from the treasure trove that is
> http://rray.de/xsi/
>
> I used it to create Gems embedded into Rock some time ago and needed to
> create a similar effect.
>
> Have a google for more info on it.
>
> Adam.
> -
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamseeleyuk
>  https://vimeo.com/adamseeley 
>
>
>
>
>   --
>  *From:* Christopher Crouzet 
> *To:* Softimage Mailing List 
> *Sent:* Monday, 18 November 2013, 11:02
> *Subject:* Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular
>
> Hey Enrique! :)
>
> An idea could be to fit a NURBS sphere to the shape of your outer eye,
> then use it to constrain the deformers onto its surface, and finally slide
> those deformrs using UV coordinates.
>
> I did something like that a whle ago: http://vimeo.com/2466613
> In this video the eyes are spherical but they definitely could be anything
> else.
>
>
>
> On 18 November 2013 11:56, Enrique Caballero 
> wrote:
>
> hey oliver,
>   Thanks for the reply, that would work if the pupil was a separate piece
> of geometry and is exactly how i do it on other characters.
>
> Sorry I should have been more specific.
>
> Basically I'm trying to make the Pixar eyes.  Where the iris is cut into
> the eyewhite, and actually goes inside of it.  This one i have not been
> able to figure out for a while.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
> wrote:
>
> I'm not a specialist in toon, but I would keep the Lattice on the Eye (the
> white deformed sphere) and make a separate Iris object that would be
> "shrinkwarped" on it. So that the Roundness of the Iris wouldn't be
> affected by the stretch of the global eye.
> Maybe a ClosestLocation in Ice would give even more control and speed...
>
>
> Le 18/11/2013 10:58, Enrique Caballero a écrit :
>
>  Hey everyone,
>   Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while
> maintaining a perfectly circular iris?
>
> I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a
> lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing
> effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies
> in the interpolation.
>
> Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.
>
> -E
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Re: xray polygons?

[Daniel Kim]

Try it with incidence + mixed color node or incidence + constant

Daniel

Re: xray polygons?

[Nono]

Hi Joseph,
You can simply use a constant shader, black with *no alpha*, this makes a
hole ;-)

Noël


On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 11:56 PM, Matt Lind wrote:

> Isn’t that what a matte is for in a compositor?
>
>
>
> An easy way to do that in Softimage is to unplug the ‘surface’ port of the
> material on the polygon.  Mental ray will render the affected pixels as
> RGBA = (0,0,0,0).
>
>
>
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Ponthieux, Joseph
> G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
> *Sent:* Monday, November 18, 2013 2:54 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* xray polygons?
>
>
>
> S……
>
>
>
> Can Soft create xray polygons? A material maybe? The idea is that I want
> to have a polygon render invisible but everything behind it render
> invisible(with no alpha) as well. Basically a mask  poly. Maya had the
> ability to do this but can’t remember what it was called. In other
> applications it was xray, allowed you to see through things. Can soft do
> this?
>
>
>
> --
>
> 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: xray polygons?

[Matt Lind]

Isn't that what a matte is for in a compositor?

An easy way to do that in Softimage is to unplug the 'surface' port of the 
material on the polygon.  Mental ray will render the affected pixels as RGBA = 
(0,0,0,0).


Matt




From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 2:54 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: xray polygons?

S..

Can Soft create xray polygons? A material maybe? The idea is that I want to 
have a polygon render invisible but everything behind it render invisible(with 
no alpha) as well. Basically a mask  poly. Maya had the ability to do this but 
can't remember what it was called. In other applications it was xray, allowed 
you to see through things. Can soft do this?

--
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.

xray polygons?

[Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES]]

S..

Can Soft create xray polygons? A material maybe? The idea is that I want to 
have a polygon render invisible but everything behind it render invisible(with 
no alpha) as well. Basically a mask  poly. Maya had the ability to do this but 
can't remember what it was called. In other applications it was xray, allowed 
you to see through things. Can soft do this?

--
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: Catching Softimage Exceptions

[Chris Gardner]

Hey Jeremie,

There was a thread about this a while ago
(https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/xsi_list/lpAw3Gid2gY), but it
didn't come to any solid conclusions, other than wrapping your
functions in a decorator.

there is a COM exception handler (cos, y'know, awesome COM stuff) but
no clear way to overload it.

s, decorators...

cheers,
chrisg




On 19 November 2013 09:17, Jeremie Passerin  wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I'm asking the question here, maybe someone has an idea. One of our
> developer is working on some pipeline tools and needs to catch exceptions
> raised in Softimage.
> Here is message :
>
> Softimage does not appear to pass errors to python's sys.stderr, even when
> they are python related.
> This is a simplified example of the Python Logger we use. It has the useful
> functionality of sending
> error report emails any time a error happens in python. Unfortunately, due
> to Softimage not reporting
> errors to sys.stderr most of these errors go unlogged. We would like to find
> a way to capture these
> errors. Yes, these errors get printed to sys.stdout, but I would like to
> know if there is a way in
> Softimage to monitor for errors without having to parse every print
> statement.
>
> I have attached the code sample to the email. You just need to save it in
> C:\temp\softimage.py and run the following code in the script editor.
>
> import sys
> sys.path.append(r'C:\temp')
> import softimage
> print 'Printed to the pluginlog.log'
> raise Exception('This exception appears in Softimage, but is not logged into
> the pluginerror.log')
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated ;-)
>
> thanks,
> Jeremie

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Adam Seeley]

Hi,

Sounds like a job for Booltrace, a mental ray boolean shader.

It's a bit of a head scratch to figure out how to get the geometries to do what 
you want, but it should work fine.

You can get it here, from the treasure trove that is
http://rray.de/xsi/

I used it to create Gems embedded into Rock some time ago and needed to create 
a similar effect.

Have a google for more info on it.

Adam.

-
http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamseeleyuk

https://vimeo.com/adamseeley






>
> From: Christopher Crouzet 
>To: Softimage Mailing List  
>Sent: Monday, 18 November 2013, 11:02
>Subject: Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular
> 
>
>
>Hey Enrique! :)
>
>An idea could be to fit a NURBS sphere to the shape of your outer eye, then 
>use it to constrain the deformers onto its surface, and finally slide those 
>deformrs using UV coordinates.
>
>
>I did something like that a whle ago: http://vimeo.com/2466613
>In this video the eyes are spherical but they definitely could be anything 
>else.
>
>
>
>
>
>On 18 November 2013 11:56, Enrique Caballero  
>wrote:
>
>hey oliver, 
>>  Thanks for the reply, that would work if the pupil was a separate piece of 
>>geometry and is exactly how i do it on other characters.
>>
>>
>>Sorry I should have been more specific.  
>>
>>
>>Basically I'm trying to make the Pixar eyes.  Where the iris is cut into the 
>>eyewhite, and actually goes inside of it.  This one i have not been able to 
>>figure out for a while.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:51 PM, olivier jeannel  
>>wrote:
>>
>>I'm not a specialist in toon, but I would keep the Lattice on the Eye (the 
>>white deformed sphere) and make a separate Iris object that would be 
>>"shrinkwarped" on it. So that the Roundness of the Iris wouldn't be affected 
>>by the stretch of the global eye.
>>>Maybe a ClosestLocation in Ice would give even more control and speed...
>>>
>>>
>>>Le 18/11/2013 10:58, Enrique Caballero a écrit :
>>>
>>>
>>>Hey everyone,
  Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while 
maintaining a perfectly circular iris?

I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a 
lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing 
effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies 
in the interpolation.

Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.

-E

>>>
>>
>
>
>

Catching Softimage Exceptions

[Jeremie Passerin]

Hey guys,

I'm asking the question here, maybe someone has an idea. One of our
developer is working on some pipeline tools and needs to catch exceptions
raised in Softimage.
Here is message :

*Softimage does not appear to pass errors to python's sys.stderr, even when
they are python related.*
*This is a simplified example of the Python Logger we use. It has the
useful functionality of sending*
*error report emails any time a error happens in python. Unfortunately, due
to Softimage not reporting*
*errors to sys.stderr most of these errors go unlogged. We would like to
find a way to capture these*
*errors. Yes, these errors get printed to sys.stdout, but I would like to
know if there is a way in*
*Softimage to monitor for errors without having to parse every print
statement.*

I have attached the code sample to the email. You just need to save it in
C:\temp\softimage.py and run the following code in the script editor.

import sys
sys.path.append(r'C:\temp')
import softimage
print 'Printed to the pluginlog.log'
raise Exception('This exception appears in Softimage, but is not logged
into the pluginerror.log')

Any help would be greatly appreciated ;-)

thanks,
Jeremie
# Softimage does not appear to pass errors to python's sys.stderr, even when 
they are python related.
# This is a simplified example of the Python Logger we use. It has the useful 
functionality of sending
# error report emails any time a error happens in python. Unfortunately, due to 
Softimage not reporting
# errors to sys.stderr most of these errors go unlogged. We would like to find 
a way to capture these
# errors. Yes, these errors get printed to sys.stdout, but I would like to know 
if there is a way in
# Softimage to monitor for errors without having to parse every print statement.

class Logger:
def __init__( self, stdhandle, logfile, _print = True ):
self._stdhandle = stdhandle
self._logfile = logfile
self._print = _print
# clear the log file
open(logfile, 'w').close()

def flush( self ):
self._stdhandle.flush()

def write( self, msg ):
f = open( self._logfile, 'a' )
f.write( msg )
f.close()
if self._print:
self._stdhandle.write( msg )

import sys, datetime, os
path = os.path.join(os.path.split(__file__)[0], r'pluginlog.log')
sys.stdout = Logger( sys.stdout, path, False )
path = os.path.join(os.path.split(__file__)[0], r'pluginerror.log')
sys.stderr = Logger( sys.stderr, path, False )
print '- Date: %s Version: %s -' % (datetime.datetime.today(), 
sys.version)


code_run_in_softimage_script_editor = """
import sys
sys.path.append(r'C:\temp')
import softimage
print 'Printed to the pluginlog.log'
raise Exception('This exception appears in Softimage, but is not logged into 
the pluginerror.log')
"""

RE: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Matt Lind]

I had to solve this problem on a past project.  The solution was a custom 
mental ray shader as it could mathematically ensure the iris was round via 
projecting the iris texture along the surface taking the camera's point of view 
into account.  Using NURBS Surfaces were helpful in providing precise UV 
texture coordinates to more accurately map the iris to the surface as polygon 
meshes can only be approximated.

Other out of box techniques are approximations at best.  If you try shrink 
wrapping the iris to a surface you run the risk of the iris' edges poking out 
or not completely conforming to the eyeball.  Of course, either case is highly 
dependent on the geometry and rigging technique.  If the eyes do not deform to 
the extreme, then shrink wrapping may be all you need.

It really all boils down to how much and in which way(s) you expect the 
eyeballs to deform.  NURBS surfaces could be really handy for this as they 
provide some options you don't get with polygon meshes.


Matt



From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Enrique Caballero
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 1:59 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

Hey everyone,
  Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while maintaining 
a perfectly circular iris?

I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a lattice 
to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing effect on the 
iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies in the 
interpolation.

Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.

-E

Re: Dynamical creation of clusters?

[Eugen Sares]

... exactly. That's part of the debate for a 'more open SDK'.
Internally, there's a black magic update mechanism for clusters. Even 
when you delete components beneath, they stay 'on target'. This 
mechanism was never exposed for custom operators.
You can hook an operator's output port to a cluster, but you get an 
'access denied' error when trying to update it. In ICE, I think it's not 
possible, either.

Yeah... it sucks. I would need this, too.


Am 18.11.2013 19:10, schrieb Alan Fregtman:

No. :|

It's one of the gotchas.



On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:58 AM, Ognjen Vukovic > wrote:


Is is possible to create clusters or update existing clusters on
some sort of event in soft...

For instance if a mesh is subD'd in ice or whatever the cluster
retains the old ID's and doesn't update the new polygons, is it
possible to somehow have soft create new clusters with some sort
of approximation  or something similar?

Ogi.






---
Diese E-Mail ist frei von Viren und Malware, denn der avast! Antivirus Schutz 
ist aktiv.
http://www.avast.com

Re: Dynamical creation of clusters?

[Alan Fregtman]

No. :|

It's one of the gotchas.



On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:58 AM, Ognjen Vukovic  wrote:

> Is is possible to create clusters or update existing clusters on some sort
> of event in soft...
>
> For instance if a mesh is subD'd in ice or whatever the cluster retains
> the old ID's and doesn't update the new polygons, is it possible to somehow
> have soft create new clusters with some sort of approximation  or something
> similar?
>
> Ogi.
>

Re: SPEEDTree and Alembic Import - Softimage + 3DMax

[Ben Houston]

Hi David,

Exocortex Crate ( http://exocortex.com/alembic ) , which is what
Helge's project became, supports SpeedTree Alembic files, we worked
with SpeedTree specifically to ensure that this worked.  It should
import correctly into Softimage and if there are any issues, just give
us a shout.

Best regards,
Ben Houston

On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 8:01 PM, David Rivera
 wrote:
> Hi, I´ve come across Helge Matee alembic import workgroup for softimage on
> google docs. It called to my attention, there´s a
> software named SpeedTree which specializes in making trees grow and export
> them as .abc files (alembic files).
>
> Alembic looks really good regarding point cloud animation and it´s setup
> seems quite simple for such danting tasks.
>
> Has anyone had experience with SpeedTree? Gi-joe, and other movies seem to
> have used this software to develop foliage for their
> scenes. What´s the workflow with alembic like? Does it import correctly to
> softimage? Does it carry textures with it?
>
> On the vimeo video, Helge shows how to export the animated model and the
> camera, and thus opens it up on Max, Maya, and XSI.
>
> Thanks.
> David.



-- 
Best regards,
Ben Houston
Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom
http://Clara.io - Professional-Grade WebGL-based 3D Content Creation

Re: Python cross platform problem

[Alan Fregtman]

The animation caching pipeline I wrote at work looks at the construction
history stack and if it's operator-free it plots that item's global
kinematics, else pointcaches. This way we don't have to really think about
it if it's an insane asset.

Actionclips are very light in my experience. On top of that, you can choose
to work with referenced actions, and then you can just keep updating a
particular filepath with the latest animation and when the scene is
reloaded, it's there.





On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Oscar Juarez wrote:

> Alembic can save transforms and point caches, you could try with Exocortex
> Crate, that would help on the file size front.
> You could also script saving plotted global transforms on geometries which
> don't have and envelope or deformer and save them to a clip which you load
> in your rendering scene, you would need to assume that if it has an
> operator on the animation section of the stack then its being deformed, if
> its clear then it's transforming. Just be sure you keep the centers in the
> same place between your rigged version and your rendering version of the
> asset.
>
> All of that is scriptable, with Crate I think you get that behavior out of
> the box.
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Jean-Louis Billard <
> jean-lo...@photon3.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes that’s what we did previously on a model that had just a few surfaces
>> to cache (a mouse).
>> Here however we have a robot with hundreds of elements, some rigid and
>> some deformed, with a pretty huge geometry count. Things risk getting big
>> pretty quickly, so I was hoping to avoid caching unless it was strictly
>> necessary.
>>
>> Incidentally, what would be the best practice to cache rigid elements
>> (i.e. transforms only, no geometry) to avoid having large amounts of data
>> written out?
>>
>>
>> Jean-Louis
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 16 Nov 2013, at 02:57, Cesar Saez  wrote:
>>
>> > Or you can just cache the rigs (en everything else) before send them to
>> the farm... just saying :-)
>>
>>
>> Jean-Louis Billard
>>
>> Digital Golem
>> BE: +32 (0) 484 263 563
>> UK: +44 (0) 7973 660 119
>> jean-lo...@digitalgolem.com
>> http://www.digitalgolem.com/
>> 53 Rue Gustave Huberti
>> 1030 Brussels
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Re: [Inspiration] Tron Legacy's screens. Motion graphics at its best

[Sergio Mucino]

  
  
Joe was doing some amazing work back when KDLab was running. Mostly
architectural visualization and then some advertising. I had the
pleasure of meeting him at Siggraph a long time ago, at one of our
User Advisory Council meetings. Really nice guy, and very talented
3ds max user. I was really glad when I heard he was directing Tron.
Both Tron and Oblivion really show his personal design mark. I
really like his approach at geometry.
It appears some of the work they did is till up there for viewing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM0tnA8M6zI


  

On 18/11/2013 11:53 AM, Oscar Juarez wrote:

  He was the founder of a studio called KDLab which
back in the day was doing some nice stuff on the visualization
side of things.
  

On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 10:42 PM,
  Sebastien Sterling 
  wrote:
  
Any softies on this ?


  

  
  
On 17 November 2013 18:33, Sven Constable 
wrote:
wouldn't
  have thought, so much was done in-camera.
  Impressive...
  
-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
On Behalf Of olivier
jeannel
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 4:13 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: [Inspiration] Tron Legacy's
screens. Motion graphics at its
best

  
  
[Oblivion]
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiG0dz45mQ
  
  Now listen what Joseph Kosinski says at
  exactly 6'40''
  
  :)
  

  

  
  

  

  


  

  

Re: [Inspiration] Tron Legacy's screens. Motion graphics at its best

[Oscar Juarez]

He was the founder of a studio called KDLab which back in the day was doing
some nice stuff on the visualization side of things.


On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 10:42 PM, Sebastien Sterling <
sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Any softies on this ?
>
>
> On 17 November 2013 18:33, Sven Constable wrote:
>
>> wouldn't have thought, so much was done in-camera. Impressive...
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
>> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of olivier
>> jeannel
>> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 4:13 PM
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> Subject: Re: [Inspiration] Tron Legacy's screens. Motion graphics at its
>> best
>>
>> [Oblivion]
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiG0dz45mQ
>>
>> Now listen what Joseph Kosinski says at exactly 6'40''
>>
>> :)
>>
>>
>

Re: Python cross platform problem

[Oscar Juarez]

Alembic can save transforms and point caches, you could try with Exocortex
Crate, that would help on the file size front.
You could also script saving plotted global transforms on geometries which
don't have and envelope or deformer and save them to a clip which you load
in your rendering scene, you would need to assume that if it has an
operator on the animation section of the stack then its being deformed, if
its clear then it's transforming. Just be sure you keep the centers in the
same place between your rigged version and your rendering version of the
asset.

All of that is scriptable, with Crate I think you get that behavior out of
the box.


On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Jean-Louis Billard
wrote:

> Yes that’s what we did previously on a model that had just a few surfaces
> to cache (a mouse).
> Here however we have a robot with hundreds of elements, some rigid and
> some deformed, with a pretty huge geometry count. Things risk getting big
> pretty quickly, so I was hoping to avoid caching unless it was strictly
> necessary.
>
> Incidentally, what would be the best practice to cache rigid elements
> (i.e. transforms only, no geometry) to avoid having large amounts of data
> written out?
>
>
> Jean-Louis
>
>
>
>
> On 16 Nov 2013, at 02:57, Cesar Saez  wrote:
>
> > Or you can just cache the rigs (en everything else) before send them to
> the farm... just saying :-)
>
>
> Jean-Louis Billard
>
> Digital Golem
> BE: +32 (0) 484 263 563
> UK: +44 (0) 7973 660 119
> jean-lo...@digitalgolem.com
> http://www.digitalgolem.com/
> 53 Rue Gustave Huberti
> 1030 Brussels
>
>
>
>

Re: Python cross platform problem

[Jean-Louis Billard]

Yes that’s what we did previously on a model that had just a few surfaces to 
cache (a mouse).
Here however we have a robot with hundreds of elements, some rigid and some 
deformed, with a pretty huge geometry count. Things risk getting big pretty 
quickly, so I was hoping to avoid caching unless it was strictly necessary.

Incidentally, what would be the best practice to cache rigid elements (i.e. 
transforms only, no geometry) to avoid having large amounts of data written out?


Jean-Louis




On 16 Nov 2013, at 02:57, Cesar Saez  wrote:

> Or you can just cache the rigs (en everything else) before send them to the 
> farm... just saying :-)


Jean-Louis Billard

Digital Golem
BE: +32 (0) 484 263 563
UK: +44 (0) 7973 660 119
jean-lo...@digitalgolem.com
http://www.digitalgolem.com/
53 Rue Gustave Huberti
1030 Brussels

Re: OT: lovely

[Chris Marshall]

very cool!!



On 18 November 2013 12:55, Ognjen Vukovic  wrote:

> Awesome stuff :)
>
> Has a nice Autechre vibe.
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 1:43 PM, adrian wyer <
> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com> wrote:
>
>>   https://vimeo.com/78716671
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>
>


-- 

Chris Marshall
Mint Motion Limited
029 20 37 27 57
07730 533 115
www.mintmotion.co.uk

Re: Rendering Vector

[patrick nethercoat]

You can do it with viewport capture.


On 18 November 2013 14:01, olivier jeannel  wrote:

> I'd like to render the vector (Arrow) that is shown in 3Dport view when
> "show value" is on in an icetree.
> Do we have something already setup ? or should I make mine ?
>

Rendering Vector

[olivier jeannel]

I'd like to render the vector (Arrow) that is shown in 3Dport view when 
"show value" is on in an icetree.

Do we have something already setup ? or should I make mine ?

Re: Python cross platform problem

[Eric Thivierge]

I agree with Cesar on that point. It's best practice to not send live 
rigs to render and have caching an essential part of the pipeline.


On Friday, November 15, 2013 8:57:20 PM, Cesar Saez wrote:

Or you can just cache the rigs (en everything else) before send them
to the farm... just saying :-)

Re: OT: lovely

[Ognjen Vukovic]

Awesome stuff :)

Has a nice Autechre vibe.


On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 1:43 PM, adrian wyer  wrote:

>   https://vimeo.com/78716671
>
>
>
> 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
>
>
>

OT: lovely

[adrian wyer]

https://vimeo.com/78716671

 

a

 

Adrian Wyer
Fluid Pictures
75-77 Margaret St.
London
W1W 8SY 
++44(0) 207 580 0829 


adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com
mailto:adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com> 

www.fluid-pictures.com
http://www.fluid-pictures.com/>  

 

Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
Company number:5657815
VAT number: 872 6893 71

 

Dynamical creation of clusters?

[Ognjen Vukovic]

Is is possible to create clusters or update existing clusters on some sort
of event in soft...

For instance if a mesh is subD'd in ice or whatever the cluster retains the
old ID's and doesn't update the new polygons, is it possible to somehow
have soft create new clusters with some sort of approximation  or something
similar?

Ogi.

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Christopher Crouzet]

Hey Enrique! :)

An idea could be to fit a NURBS sphere to the shape of your outer eye, then
use it to constrain the deformers onto its surface, and finally slide those
deformrs using UV coordinates.

I did something like that a whle ago: http://vimeo.com/2466613
In this video the eyes are spherical but they definitely could be anything
else.



On 18 November 2013 11:56, Enrique Caballero wrote:

> hey oliver,
>   Thanks for the reply, that would work if the pupil was a separate piece
> of geometry and is exactly how i do it on other characters.
>
> Sorry I should have been more specific.
>
> Basically I'm trying to make the Pixar eyes.  Where the iris is cut into
> the eyewhite, and actually goes inside of it.  This one i have not been
> able to figure out for a while.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
> wrote:
>
>> I'm not a specialist in toon, but I would keep the Lattice on the Eye
>> (the white deformed sphere) and make a separate Iris object that would be
>> "shrinkwarped" on it. So that the Roundness of the Iris wouldn't be
>> affected by the stretch of the global eye.
>> Maybe a ClosestLocation in Ice would give even more control and speed...
>>
>>
>> Le 18/11/2013 10:58, Enrique Caballero a écrit :
>>
>>  Hey everyone,
>>>   Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while
>>> maintaining a perfectly circular iris?
>>>
>>> I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a
>>> lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing
>>> effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies
>>> in the interpolation.
>>>
>>> Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.
>>>
>>> -E
>>>
>>
>>
>

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Enrique Caballero]

hey oliver,
  Thanks for the reply, that would work if the pupil was a separate piece
of geometry and is exactly how i do it on other characters.

Sorry I should have been more specific.

Basically I'm trying to make the Pixar eyes.  Where the iris is cut into
the eyewhite, and actually goes inside of it.  This one i have not been
able to figure out for a while.



On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:51 PM, olivier jeannel wrote:

> I'm not a specialist in toon, but I would keep the Lattice on the Eye (the
> white deformed sphere) and make a separate Iris object that would be
> "shrinkwarped" on it. So that the Roundness of the Iris wouldn't be
> affected by the stretch of the global eye.
> Maybe a ClosestLocation in Ice would give even more control and speed...
>
>
> Le 18/11/2013 10:58, Enrique Caballero a écrit :
>
>  Hey everyone,
>>   Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while
>> maintaining a perfectly circular iris?
>>
>> I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a
>> lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing
>> effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies
>> in the interpolation.
>>
>> Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.
>>
>> -E
>>
>
>

Re: Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[olivier jeannel]

I'm not a specialist in toon, but I would keep the Lattice on the Eye 
(the white deformed sphere) and make a separate Iris object that would 
be "shrinkwarped" on it. So that the Roundness of the Iris wouldn't be 
affected by the stretch of the global eye.

Maybe a ClosestLocation in Ice would give even more control and speed...


Le 18/11/2013 10:58, Enrique Caballero a écrit :

Hey everyone,
  Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while 
maintaining a perfectly circular iris?


I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a 
lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the 
squashing effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can 
see discrepancies in the interpolation.


Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.

-E

Non-spherical eye while keeping iris circular

[Enrique Caballero]

Hey everyone,
  Does anyone have any tips on how to rig a non spherical eye while
maintaining a perfectly circular iris?

I have done it in the past with starting with a spherical eye, using a
lattice to deform it and then using blendshapes to counter the squashing
effect on the iris. But this method is clunky and you can see discrepancies
in the interpolation.

Any tips would be welcome, this question has bothered me for some time.

-E