Alembic is essentially point caching, no? May work for crowds and particles, but for us what we really need access to is shader parameters, partition settings, which models are referenced, custom properties/operators deployed in the scene, animation data, etc... Alembic wouldn't address that stuff.
Matt -----Original Message----- From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ben Houston Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:51 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help Is there any room for an Alembic based solution? It isn't text but it is great at storing deforming meshes or animated bone hierarchies and we can write any type of importer or direct rendering solution. -ben On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Matt Lind <ml...@carbinestudios.com> wrote: > Basically what’s needed is an ASCII/text scene file format so we can > modify not just crowds, but anything in the scene as long as the edits > conform to specs. Need the same for models and other data types. > > > > Sorely needed and is more than long overdue. > > > > > > Matt > > > > > > > > > > > > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven > Caron > Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:42 PM > > > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help > > > > its not a current feature, its a suggestion i have sent to softimage > but also was going to be the basis for my own customizations to > crowdfx to get around these issues. > > > > one could explore caching the action sources to icecache and loading > them back in but thats only part of the problem from what i understand. > > > > s > > On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM, Luc Girard <l...@shedmtl.com> wrote: > > Thx for your input.. I'm having fun with the tool so far so I would be > bummed to have to find another solution. > > > > Your said this earlier "being able to use a external format to store > data like this and so it can be updated without interacting with a > live simulation is key." Can you expand more about this with a little > more details plz ? I'm not quite sure which data and which external > format you are referring to... sorry newb here ;) > > > > thx a lot ! > > > > > > Luc Girard // SHED > artiste 3D > > 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555 > F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM > > > > prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com > > > > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven > Caron > Sent: August-01-12 3:08 PM > > > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help > > > > i finished all my shots with crowdfx even with the issues. your actor > geo and rig might be more complex then the pedestrian so i would get > those in there asap to get an idea of the speed. > > > > s > > > > On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Luc Girard <l...@shedmtl.com> wrote: > > Hey Guys ! > > > > I've been following your discussion and now I'm scared ! I just > started a Crowd sim last Monday for a project, using CrowdFX on 2013 Sp1. > > > > Everything is going fine for the moment as I am using the Default > pedestrian to test and build my sim. I plan to replace the pedestrian > with our own actors as soon as they are ready. Will I be able to get > a result in a reasonable amount of time with the tricks you described > earlier (which for the moment I'm not sure I understand all but I > guess I will, as I get more accustomed to the tool) ? Or is it simply a NO > GO because of the issues ? > I don't want to get too deep in the process and discover I have to > find another solution altogether. > > > > Your opinions would be appreciated, > > > > Thx ! > > > > > > > > > > Luc Girard // SHED > artiste 3D > > 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8 T 514 849-1555 > F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM > > > > prenez note que mon nouveau courriel est le: l...@shedmtl.com > > > > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com > [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Steven > Caron > Sent: August-01-12 2:21 PM > > > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > Subject: Re: Crowd FX Help > > > > i got various errors that i can't remember but that error i definitely > haven't seen before. animations getting broken like you mentioned i > did encounter but it was usually just an error i had where my > animations were being improperly loaded in the ice graph. sometimes i > just ran get actions again and it re wires them. others i realized my > graph was using actorID to set data which no longer is correct since i > removed added the actor and the IDs changed. > > > > i haven't used crowdfx in a bit so my memory is a big foggy, please > hammer on it and log all the issues you can. i hope to get back to > crowdfx in the future and see it has improved :) > > > > s > > > > On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Julian Johnson > <jul...@exch.demon.co.uk> > wrote: > > On 01/08/2012 18:09, Steven Caron wrote: > > i dont recall this bug being addressed in 2013 SP1, but i may be wrong... > > @julian, i got to the point where i was adding all the characters i > needed to an empty scene and updating this, then copy pasting graphs > to rebuild the scene. but even in a simple scene eventually screeches to a > halt. > > being able to use a external format to store data like this and so it > can be updated without interacting with a live simulation is key. > > Thanks Steven, > > I think I'd need to do the same as you. Did you find you had problems > simply adding new Actors to an established crowd? I not only get the > ultra long load times but it quite often ends with: > > # ERROR : CrowdSkinningNode: 428$Access to a custom ICE node input > port failed. > > Again, this only happens if I reload an existing crowd scene. The same > model adds fine provided I don't close and reload the scene. It also > works properly in a neutral scene on it's own... > > Cheers, > Julian > > > > > > -- Best regards, Ben Houston Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom http://Exocortex.com - Passionate CG Software Professionals.
