Deltas are indeed stored modifications to referenced models.
(which can actually be external or shared themselves)
Can store all sorts of things including clusters
(though I dont know how some of these things react to different model
resolutions/topology)
But I didn't think that materials (overrides) would be covered by
deltas, but it seems that they are.
I remember a thread that was asking if it was possible to have external
shared reference materials,
so that people could make new shading iterations that could update
everywhere.
I Never tried it, but perhaps could that be a way?
Otherwise, I also know that the reliability of the overall referencing
system to be a main strength of SI.
(typically very shaky/difficult)
On 21/04/2013 9:43 AM, Christopher wrote:
I got it working, a big thanks to those who helped :)
::Christopher
Christopher wrote:
pete...@skynet.be wrote:
the model does not “include” the delta.
think of the reference model as a placeholder for the
emdl-file written on disk – each resolution can be the path to another
file.
The delta contains the differences, or additions, on top of
that model, in the scene. They are part of the scene.
when the scene is opened, the model is read from disk, and
the deltas get applied on top.
(I’m sure all of this is explained in the manuals better
than I could)
The model is the asset, the deltas are the shot based
modifications to the asset.
Normally you should not be doing changes on a reference
model that you want to propagate elsewhere than the current scene/shot.
A proper workflow is to keep a scene with the model local (=not
referenced) and make modifications in that scene, and export the model
from there. It will properly propagate to the scenes which use the
model as referenced. I would keep that scene in the production library,
and name it according to the asset and _edit as a suffix – and always
use that scene for modifications. (and keep versions of it, as well as
of the exported models )
The workflow you mentioned is the
workflow that I was doing. Except I wasn't doing the changes to the
model in the scene with only the model local in a scene then saving the
model local (EMDL) so when I loaded the original scene the referenced
model would be updated. I did follow what you mentioned in the second
half of your message (below) except I may have done things a little
differerent and this is what I have run into.
I loaded my EMDL into a clean scene, clean as in there is nothing else
in the scene except for the EMDL model. I apply a new material to one
of the objects of the EMDL model. Saved the EMDL model overriding the
existing EMDL model file name. From this point there were two routes I
tried, one of the routes was to double click the active resolution
within the Model PPG, which I found very clever as is updated the
model. The downside, after checking one of the objects that is part of
the EMDL model, the material wasn't updated, as I had changed in the
clean scene.
I decied to proceed with route two, which simply was to reload the
Softimage scene, since it has to load the EMDL object that I had
overwrittin, it had to work, it just had to. I was wrong again. If
there are blanks I'm missing I'd really like to know, I loaded my EMDL
model, edited it in a 'edit scene' or 'clean scene' did the changes
then did one of the two routes mentioned above.
::Christopher
Agreed, sometimes you end up doing something you shouldn’t
have – such as making modifications on top of a referenced model rather
than in the original, _edit scene. (really, think about this. You’re
saying here that the tools don’t behave as they should, but you are not
using them the way they were designed to work... )
You can make the reference model local to the scene - at
which point it is no longer linked to the file on disk, and the delta
gets applied to the model. If you export that model it will include all
the changes you made.
Now, to do things properly I would export this model as a
temporary model, import it in the _edit scene, and bring over the
changes you made onto the model in there and export from this scene.
Mostly for keeping a proper history of the changes you did, but also
for being more precise about what changes I would like to be included
in the model and what I would like to keep as delta in the shot.
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2013 2:14 AM
Subject: Re: Saving Delta Objects as EMDL - Updated
Reference
Model
|_ Delta (target: <model name>
I want to export the model which obviously includes the Delta, the
problem the reference model does not have the updated materials and the
updated UV maps that I applied to the reference object, when I export
the the Reference model to the EMDL format into a 'clean scene' and by
a clean scene I mean a fresh Softimage scene with nothing in the scene,
and I load the EMDL in the clean scene checked the objects UV and
material there not the same as the reference model in my original
scene, how come ?
::Christopher
Friday, April 19,
2013 7:39 PM
Filter acquired.
Applying filter.
*Wooosh*
Friday, April 19,
2013 6:47 PM
That I understand about
reference models. What is different about Deltas ?
::Christopher
Friday, April 19,
2013 5:35 PM
I can’t grasp what you are saying – there’s no such thing
as a “delta model”, “delta object”, “reference object” nor “reference
model object”.
you are confusing different terms and concepts - it’s hard
to reply anything other than duh.
add uv’s to objects in a model.
export the model as an emdl-file (= model).
any reference model pointing to this emdl-file will
automatically have the uv’s (upon the next reload) – you can import a
new reference model or modify an existing one.
no need to mess about with deltas. just give it the proper
path to the emdl file.
this is the very basic functioning of reference models:
save a model to disk as an emdl file - it contains all
things you put inside the model. (objects, properties,..)
import the emdl file as a reference model in a scene
make changes to the file on disk – any changes.
the reference model in the scene will get the changes you
made, next time you update it - either manually by reloading, or simply
next time you open the scene.
if you grok this you can move up one level, to try and
understand deltas.
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: Saving Delta Objects as EMDL ?
The
reference model is loaded into my scene as a reference object. I have
applied UV's to the reference model object, I want to edit the delta
model, outside of the original scene and into a clean scene then save
it as a delta then load my original scene and the delta is updated.
::Christopher
Friday, April 19,
2013 2:52 PM
The reference model is loaded
into my scene as a reference object. I have applied UV's to the
reference model object, I want to edit the delta model, outside of the
original scene and into a clean scene then save it as a delta then load
my original scene and the delta is updated.
::Christopher
Thursday, April 18,
2013 9:30 PM
How do you unload a Delta as a EMDL object for
editing in a clean scene?You can open the preset from the manager and
refresh.I have updated the reference object model with UV.On my side I
have updated the compound with a reference.I can't save the reference
object I can't animate this object - model as a EMDL object without
saving it as a model,- bone is an X3DObject without the IK,I hope there
is a workaround for this ?I hope it will help ?
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