Re: ot: visual scripting

[Vincent Fortin]

That frenetic stabbing in the belly & neck heightened my excitement really.
Had I been a game director, I'd have called for some more BLOOD!


On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 7:42 AM, Nicolas Esposito <3dv...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Francisco,
>
> Yes, material editor is very familiar if you use Softimage, and you have
> the ability to manipulate lots of values in order to change the material
> during runtime, and so on...very very very helpfull
>
> Regarding blueprints yes, you can generate/modify geometry ( UE4 Tools
> Demonstration  @7.22 ), but
> regarding the same functionalities as ICE, as it is right now it'll be more
> understanding how to combine functions in order to get the desired result,
> rather then script your own...
> Basically I'll do the same way I use ICE, start small, then add stuff to
> the tree in order to achieve the goal.
>
> I'm doing some experiments with tension maps, I already have a solution to
> simulate that in UE4 ( not the same way I did in ICE but something similar
> ) but I would love to apply the same concept using Blueprints, but first I
> need to check if I can access easily mesh components attributes.
>
> Main problem that I see right now is that if you want to access mesh
> properties and change them in realtime I think that is going to have a huge
> impact on performance, while in Softimage ( and any other DCC ) you don't
> need to worry about FPS dropping :)
>
>
> 2014-03-26 11:56 GMT+01:00 Francisco Criado :
>
> Nicolas,
>> exactly what i thought when i saw it, would it be posible to use it for
>> procedural modeling or geo deformers for example? i never used udk just
>> learning unity, but i' ll begin to put more attention on unreal since this
>> blueprint stuff and the cleaner ui. Found that the material editor was very
>> similar to softimage workflow too :)
>> If you could briefly explain what is possible with blueprint current
>> tools compared to ice would be nice!
>> thanks,
>> F.
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, March 26, 2014, Nicolas Esposito <3dv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> They improved the good old Kismet A LOT!
>>>
>>> I'm "porting" some of my stuff from UDK to UE4 and stuff that you
>>> previously had to script are available through nodes, which is great!
>>>
>>> I'm currently checking how much geometry "manipulation" is possible
>>> using Blueprint nodes ( vertex editing, clusters, polys, ala ICE ), but
>>> right now there aren't so many options...
>>> Anyway its really fun to use :)
>>>
>>>
>>> 2014-03-26 4:12 GMT+01:00 Francisco Criado :
>>>
 Guys have you checked blueprint on unreal engine 4? very interesting
 for realtime!
 thay have cleaned the awfull ui udk used to have.

 F.



>>>
>

Re: Everything's being said.

[Vincent Fortin]

And a big thanks to the devs in Singapore for this final release.


On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 10:40 AM, Emilio Hernandez wrote:

> Well, everything's being said.
>
> Thank you Maurice and Chris for taking the time to response all of our
> question, doubts, conspiracy theories, etc.
>
> Thanks to the people of Autodesk that came in to bring some light to the
> users that are in the need or feel to migrate to MAX/Maya option, and took
> flak.
>
> Thanks also everyone else in the list for trying.
>
> At least we tried.
>
> Thank you all for sharing the knowledge, the fights, the struggle and the
> laughs.
>
> Special thanks to the members that started in this mayhem an alternative
> to do the migration easier, or raised theri voices to demonstrate Autodesk
> how fool this decision is.
>
> I apologize for any damage I have caused or inflicted to any member of
> this list in any way.  Never was my intention, but passions arose.  This is
> not an excuse, but I believe that evene, we all were expecting this at some
> point since the Autodesk acquisition, we never were mental nor heart
> prepared to face this.
>
> I owe so much to this list, I don't know how to payback all the good
> things this community has brought into my personal and professional life.
>
> I hope that Autodesk reconsiders this abrupt decision of not selling more
> Softimage seats, and bring back Softimage until there is a viable option
> for a Softimage substitute.
>
> I wish you all success in your endeavours, health and a good life.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Sincerely with all my respect
>
> Emilio Hernández
>
> ---
> Emilio Hernández   VFX & 3D animation.
>

Re: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-))))

[Vincent Fortin]

I only skimmed through the video last year. I'm not really into rigging.

You better ask Cristopher Tedin directly, he used to be on this list.

I hope you find the courage to look into Houdini, it will open your eyes on
concepts that you may be able to reproduce in other apps too.
You could also go here  <http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/>and search
for rigging.

Some DT videos look quite interesting actually (but more advanced)
http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/552-Creating-Procedural-Rigs-and-Controlling-Motion-in-Houdini

On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:41 PM, Oscar Juarez wrote:

> Isn't the rigging fundamentals using mostly the guide and auto-rig system
> though? Or goes through all the things under the hood.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 8:38 PM, Vincent Fortin  wrote:
>
>> There's also
>> http://www.digitaltutors.com/software/Houdini-Rigging-tutorials
>> I've never watched it though.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:36 PM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>>
>>> https://cmivfx.com/store/533-houdini+rigging+animation+fundamentals
>>> There a 40% off rebate right now using the coupon code "HotStuff40"
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Oscar Juarez >> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Is there a good reference somewhere about practices in rigging in
>>>> Houdini? General not necessarily the character stuff, but more general
>>>> approaches. Hierarchies, control creation, constraints, matrix
>>>> transformations etc. Most of the stuff I've been watching is on SOPs which
>>>> I guess it's not the correct approach.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 8:13 PM, Sebastien Sterling <
>>>> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I remember my first experience with rigging in maya:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 20 March 2014 18:24, Jordi Bares  wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Wait once you realise is better rigging system..
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2193&Itemid=68
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Jordi Bares
>>>>>> jordiba...@gmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 20 Mar 2014, at 15:52, Max Evgrafov  wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> nr.Brent, thank you a lot. But I see that Hudini can  do something ;-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I-cKnahxkUo
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rE9UrjYBLo
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2014-03-20 17:06 GMT+04:00 Brent McPherson <
>>>>>> brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Damn, I wish you had posted this. ;-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZ2Sh5-XuM
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>>>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Max Evgrafov
>>>>>>> Sent: 20 March 2014 09:30
>>>>>>> To: softimage
>>>>>>> Subject: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkdQyet1EN4#t=24
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Max aka Summatr
>>>>>>> https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
>>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Евграфов Максим.(Summatr)
>>>>>> https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>> Хорошего Вам настроения !!! :-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-))))

[Vincent Fortin]

There's also http://www.digitaltutors.com/software/Houdini-Rigging-tutorials
I've never watched it though.


On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:36 PM, Vincent Fortin  wrote:

> https://cmivfx.com/store/533-houdini+rigging+animation+fundamentals
> There a 40% off rebate right now using the coupon code "HotStuff40"
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Oscar Juarez 
> wrote:
>
>> Is there a good reference somewhere about practices in rigging in
>> Houdini? General not necessarily the character stuff, but more general
>> approaches. Hierarchies, control creation, constraints, matrix
>> transformations etc. Most of the stuff I've been watching is on SOPs which
>> I guess it's not the correct approach.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 8:13 PM, Sebastien Sterling <
>> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I remember my first experience with rigging in maya:
>>>
>>> [image: Inline images 1]
>>>
>>>
>>> On 20 March 2014 18:24, Jordi Bares  wrote:
>>>
>>>> Wait once you realise is better rigging system..
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2193&Itemid=68
>>>>
>>>>  Jordi Bares
>>>> jordiba...@gmail.com
>>>>
>>>> On 20 Mar 2014, at 15:52, Max Evgrafov  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> nr.Brent, thank you a lot. But I see that Hudini can  do something ;-)
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I-cKnahxkUo
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rE9UrjYBLo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 2014-03-20 17:06 GMT+04:00 Brent McPherson <
>>>> brent.mcpher...@autodesk.com>:
>>>>
>>>>> Damn, I wish you had posted this. ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZ2Sh5-XuM
>>>>>
>>>>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Max Evgrafov
>>>>> Sent: 20 March 2014 09:30
>>>>> To: softimage
>>>>> Subject: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkdQyet1EN4#t=24
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Max aka Summatr
>>>>> https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
>>>>> ---
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Евграфов Максим.(Summatr)
>>>> https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
>>>> ---
>>>> Хорошего Вам настроения !!! :-)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-))))

[Vincent Fortin]

https://cmivfx.com/store/533-houdini+rigging+animation+fundamentals
There a 40% off rebate right now using the coupon code "HotStuff40"


On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Oscar Juarez wrote:

> Is there a good reference somewhere about practices in rigging in Houdini?
> General not necessarily the character stuff, but more general approaches.
> Hierarchies, control creation, constraints, matrix transformations etc.
> Most of the stuff I've been watching is on SOPs which I guess it's not the
> correct approach.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 8:13 PM, Sebastien Sterling <
> sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I remember my first experience with rigging in maya:
>>
>> [image: Inline images 1]
>>
>>
>> On 20 March 2014 18:24, Jordi Bares  wrote:
>>
>>> Wait once you realise is better rigging system..
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2193&Itemid=68
>>>
>>>  Jordi Bares
>>> jordiba...@gmail.com
>>>
>>> On 20 Mar 2014, at 15:52, Max Evgrafov  wrote:
>>>
>>> nr.Brent, thank you a lot. But I see that Hudini can  do something ;-)
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I-cKnahxkUo
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rE9UrjYBLo
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2014-03-20 17:06 GMT+04:00 Brent McPherson >> >:
>>>
 Damn, I wish you had posted this. ;-)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZ2Sh5-XuM

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Max Evgrafov
 Sent: 20 March 2014 09:30
 To: softimage
 Subject: my first experiment with rigging in Houdini :-

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkdQyet1EN4#t=24

 --
 Max aka Summatr
 https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
 ---

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Евграфов Максим.(Summatr)
>>> https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
>>> ---
>>> Хорошего Вам настроения !!! :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: Digital Golem : Brillant and beautiful

[Vincent Fortin]

Cool work!

I'd like to comment on Jean-Louis' idea...

There clearly are benefits for studios to keep Softimage in their tool box
a few more years, as expressed by many users here.
And I hope to see it happen instead of watching this community burst.

But for those willing to go that route, *collaboration* must play its part
in order to

- stop the whining.
- gather numbers: how many active seats? Can we borrow/buy licenses from
other studios? Share assets.
- define what's needed to keep SI up-to-date in the market as long as
possible.
- and like Jean-Louis suggests, gather money and put developers under
contract.

I have no idea if 750,000$/year is possible (i doubt) but I'd put it all in
the hands of *Fabric Engine*.
They represent your best way to extend the functionality of your beloved
software as well as make your investment fructify beyond Softimage's
*real*lifespan. Because it
*will* become obsolete one day or the other.
If Fabric Engine are interested in the amount brought to the table, then
you can figure-out a plan that will be beneficial to both parties for the
upcoming years. Imagine hiring someone like Eric Mootz full time to develop
both FE and SI.

But in order for this to work properly, people will need to organize even
if this means adopting some minimally legal convention, obviously depending
how far you want the collaboration to go.

This tightly knit community has always played a major role in the success
of Softimage and the studios exploiting it. For me, the only way for those
studios to continue to excel (read survive) despite the circumstances is to
build stronger links between each other and make clever moves.

my 0.02c


On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 7:57 PM, Jean-Louis Billard
wrote:

> Hi Peter,
>
> No - subscription hasn't gotten us much in the past few years.
> I would, however, be happy to put the subscription money into funding a
> dev team, as was suggested in another thread.
>
> For the sake of argument: if there were just the equivalent of 1000
> Softimage licenses worldwide for which individuals or companies were
> prepared, like me, to pay their subscription money to keep developing
> Softimage addons/tools/plugins, you would have (assuming $750/year/seat)
> $75/year, which is 7 or 8 full time developers + administrative costs.
>
> Makes you think...
>
>
>
> Jean-Louis
>
>
>
> On 20 Mar 2014, at 00:18, pete...@skynet.be wrote:
>
> It's a good lesson for the future - if paying subscription does not
> guarantee the survival and future of a software - do you really want to pay
> subscription?
>
>
>
>
>

Re: Softimage transition webinar is starting in 10 minutes

[Vincent Fortin]

>> Middle-click drag to move branches around
Shift-drag for upstream
Ctrl-drag for downstream
you're welcome ;-)


On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 7:53 AM, Dan Yargici  wrote:

> Thanks Ciaran, seems quite nice so far!  I guess it's really the hundreds
> of little things I'll miss in the end.
>
> For instance I've been doing some tutorials on material editing this
> morning and sorely missed the ability to Middle-click drag to move branches
> around the SHOP editor.
>
> Just one of many little things...
>
> I'm committed to Houdini for the long haul though in one shape or another,
> for sure.
>
> DAN
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Ciaran Moloney 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 6:50 PM, Dan Yargici wrote:
>>
>>>  I'm starting to think Houdini-land might be where I build my new home -
>>> or at least a holiday home...
>>
>>
>>
>> Come on in, the water's fine!
>>
>
>

Re: More XSI Monkey business by The Mill

[Vincent Fortin]

Fantastic work!
Kudos to the actor too, I can't imagine myself coming to work in the
morning and deliver that kind of performance ;-)


On Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 10:33 AM, Morten Bartholdy wrote:

> While we are talking about why we want to keep using XSI, here goes
> another very good reason:
>
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQo0Qtr5iU8
>
>
>
>
>
> Morten
>
>
>
>
>

Re: Softimage transition audience poll

[Vincent Fortin]

This is just my 0.02c regarding Houdini pricing...

You can always negociate with SideFX. They are a very open company driven
by passion.
Studios interested in making a transition should discuss with Janet Fraser
ja...@sidefx.com

Yes the extra $$$ for the floating license is weird. IMHO they should
revise that pricing. But otherwise, workstation license is 4,495$. Autodesk
users are often hesitant to pay for upgrades because they don't feel like
they're getting much in return. With Houdini you get blown away every
release. And your studio can have its say in the development roadmap.

Mantra is a very solid renderer, actively developed by SideFX. I wonder how
much studios pay for their rendering needs? Mantra rendering is FREE (aka
unlimited). It's both REYES and Physical.
How much do studios pay for FumeFX (and Max and Vray when you don't wan't
to render in scanline), render layers that don't match and need to be fixed
in comp, cloth in Maya and issues related to supporting multiple
softwares/plugins, licenses or upgrades that IT needs to keep track of. Yes
ICE is an awesome little creation platform but has never reached maturity.
It can all be done in Houdini + more.

Man time is often wasted in studios, Houdini has that philosophy that
everything can be offloaded to the farm, easily, without any or very little
development. How much time wasted with finding the right format for storing
your things on disk? XSI Models, pc2, collada, point oven, fbx, realflow
.bin. I'm sure you too have tried them all! Houdini's .bgeo stores
everything from points to volumes, nurbs, metaballs, custom attributes and
has always supported geometry with changing topology. Can be compressed, or
not. Can be made ascii. They have a standalone geometry viewer that is
pretty cool. Any data stored in a .bgeo can be used as rendering proxies.
But if you prefer Alembic, it is also fully integrated in the
software/renderer as well as out of the box Open VDB, Open Subdivs, EXR2
and DEEP COMPOSITING (hello modernity!).

How much time wasted opening 2GB scene files in Softimage or Maya? A
Houdini scene is always lightweight because of its referencing philosophy.
In fact , a Houdini scene is based on the UNIX file system. You can unpack
a full scene on your hard drive as a directory structure. It is true when
they say Houdini is a pipeline on its own. With built-in environment
variables, you can set up a small pipeline very easily. Often times I find
myself doing a full project within the same scene. Never had any
instabilities in years with Houdini. Never needed to "merge in an empty
scene" to fix some random scene corruption.

They support every Linux flavors or Windows, or Mac. They have daily builds
and a 100% free learning edition with no time limitation. I see a lot of
potential in Houdini Engine for games or even for film if Bifrost fails to
deliver in a reasonable time frame.

In fact I have become such a Houdini fanboy that every time I finish a
project I'm tempted to send flowers and chocolate to Toronto.

Of course your mileage may vary but overall I don't think Houdini is so
overpriced considering all the problems you'll skip with it. I choose to
stick with the real passionate people, not the greedy blood suckers. All
the insecurity Autodesks generates regarding its development roadmap and
licensing schemes has been doing too much damage in its user base (includes
Maya for the last 10 years). Incidentally, if you visit the Houdini forums,
you'll find a community that is very mature, positive and helpful.

Vincent


On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 12:59 PM, Angus Davidson
wrote:

>  Mostly a lack of respect.
>
>
>  --
> *From:* Ben Rogall [xsi_l...@shaders.moederogall.com]
> *Sent:* 04 March 2014 07:42 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: Softimage transition audience poll
>
>   Yep. Or $4495 for a workstation license and then $2495 per year. For a
> minute there it looked like Autodesk was doing something half reasonable
> with the free transition offer to Softimage + Maya. But then I saw that
> accepting that means that I would not be allowed to use Softimage at all
> after February 2016. I'm not even sure what Autodesk gains from that.
>
> Ben
>
> On 3/4/2014 11:00 AM, Francois Lord wrote:
>
> What I find interesting in the fact that people want to jump the Autodesk
> boat is that they seem to forget they have to buy a new software.
> For a company that relies entirely on Softimage, that decision is not a
> cheap one. Houdini is 7000$ for a floating license plus 4000$ per year!
>
> http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=385&Itemid=190
>
> In two years when Bifrost will be nearing maturity, Maya will become a lot
> more appealing if you stay on subscription. Be kind with your bean counter.
>
> just sayin.
>
> On 04-Mar-14 11:37, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>
> I've set up a poll out of curiosity...
>
>  *Where will you transition to when Softimage falls?* Vote!
>
> 

Re: Best online resources to help with a Maya migration.

[Vincent Fortin]

SideFX's Masterclasses
CMIVFX
Odforce.net
http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/

There's enough information there to make your head explode :-)


On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 4:10 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> Anyone have recommendations for great Houdini tutorials? I know SideFx
> have some, but besides those?
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 4:04 PM, Mirko Jankovic  > wrote:
>
>> trust me there is no tutorial that can help with frustration that you
>> will have to deal with  good luck. I know that I'm staying with SI for
>> years to come.
>> Zombies are popular anyway so why not SI Zombie edition too :)
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 9:38 PM, Nicolas Esposito <3dv...@gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Oh my god, its started!
>>>
>>> I guess Digital Tutors would be a good starting point ;)
>>>
>>>
>>> 2014-02-27 21:33 GMT+01:00 Tim Crowson :
>>>
>>>  sigh Is it that time already?

 -Tim


 On 2/27/2014 2:20 PM, Lawrence Nimrichter wrote:

 I'm separating this out from the "upgrade policy" thread and would like
 to keep it some what on topic as I am sure there will be plenty of artists
 in the coming months asking the same questions. Please start a new thread
 to talk about the politics.

  What are the best resources for migration, especially to Maya, for
 long time Softimage users. Has anyone done the Maya training from Digital
 Tutors, Lynda, Gnome, fxphd? Which is considered better for those of us
 with years of production experience? Does anyone know of any gem video's
 (for example: a Softimage video I always recommend for anyone wanting to
 learn ICE is the Brad's Ice: An Artist Tour). What are the best training
 resources out there?

  Lawrence




  Lawrence Nimrichter  |  Associate Creative Director/Director of
 Animation  |  Spontaneous  |  575 Lexington Avenue  |  New York  |  NY
  |  10022  |  o 212.317.0077






 --





>>>
>>
>

Re: Upgrade Policy VS Life after Pi

[Vincent Fortin]

My plan is to hire kids with the ability to model, texture, rig, animate
and light using python scripts and suckle on xsibatch -processing license
model forever.



On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 8:38 AM,  wrote:

>   Kind of ominous reading those two threads today.
>
>  Better have a long term plan (i
> f it involves CG, get a backup)
> , because chances are that whatever you are doing today, it's just not
> going to be an option in 5-10 years.
>
>  I hope someone sends me a mail at that time, and we'll be laughing about
> how far off this was.
>
>
>
>

Re: new upgrade policy

[Vincent Fortin]

Why?


On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 7:43 PM, Sebastian Kowalski  wrote:

>
>
>
>
>
>
> i think the whole discussion will be irrelevant in a couple of weeks...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Am 27.02.2014 um 01:35 schrieb James De Colling  >:
>
> it's a crap policy to be sure,  however,  given the last couple of
> releases,  maybe 2015 isn't worth the bother,  and we all save money :)
> On 27/02/2014 11:18 AM, "Scott Parrish"  wrote:
>
>> I'm actually confused why Autodesk even thinks this is a good idea from a
>> monetization and customer retention standpoint.
>> It might sound like a good way to make more money by forcing most users
>> to stay on subscription or pay a penalty for a lapse in coverage.
>> In practice however, it might give smaller shops and individuals who are
>> less married to a pipeline built around a particular piece of software an
>> opportunity to change to another software package when they're coverage
>> lapses.
>>
>> Let's see, would I like to pay MSRP for Soft or Maya again because I
>> didnt feel like paying subscription this past year? Or should I evaluate
>> other options that I can buy for about the same price and with better terms
>> for maintenance or future upgrades?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 4:12 PM, Matt Morris  wrote:
>>
>>> Inclined to agree.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 27 February 2014 00:10, Scott Parrish  wrote:
>>>
 Again, I know!

 I just think the new upgrade policy is bullsh*%.



 On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 2:50 PM, Graham Bell 
 wrote:

> Well of course it's limited, because the upgrade policy itself is
> changing next year.
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Scott Parrish
> Sent: 26 February 2014 22:39
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: new upgrade policy
>
> It's not news, no. But it is a pretty anti-consumer change in policy.
> The 70% discount is for a limited time only.
>
> It says right there in the FAQ:
> How can a customer get current if they have an older version of
> software after February 1, 2015?
> Customers who wish to use the latest release after February 1, 2015
> will have the option to purchase the latest version at SRP (Suggested
> Retail Price).
>
> As a customer I'd like to be on paid maintenance because there is some
> sort of benefit that it provides. Not because there is a gun to my head
> that I lose my investment in purchasing the software and risk paying full
> price for upgrades in the future otherwise.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 2:34 PM, Graham Bell  > wrote:
> This isn't anything new, this has already been announced last year and
> discussed here and on other forums.
> Also currently, upgrade pricing is 70% of the price of a new seat.
>
> G
>
> 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 Kris Rivel
> Sent: 26 February 2014 22:15
> To: Softimage List
> Subject: Re: new upgrade policy
>
> I'm looking at Modo, Houdini and anything else with some drive,
> passion and inspiration behind it.  I'll use Soft till it doesn't run
> anymore and just gives me a blue screen or something.
>
> But this aggressive tactic just comes off as greedy and is poorly
> planned.  I wonder how many other holes they can put in their boat.
>
> Kris
> On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 4:19 PM, Daniel Sweeney <
> dan...@northforge.co.uk dan...@northforge.co.uk>> wrote:
>
> I am as quick as I can off the autodesk rollercoaster. A few things
> have made my choice I will always love soft and use the tool when its
> needed but I think I need to look for another avenue. Looking at modo?
> Thoughts??
>
> Autodesk bollocks.
> On Feb 26, 2014 8:52 PM, "Kris Rivel"  krisri...@gmail.com>>> wrote:
> I read it and couldn't help but say WTH?!
>
> Kris
> On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 3:36 PM, Emilio Hernandez  >> wrote:
> Seems they need to fill the vault...
> [http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8965/erojamailpleca.jpg]
>
> 2014-02-26 14:29 GMT-06:00 Kris Rivel  krisri...@gmail.com>>>:
>
> So...what's everyone's take on this gem?  So if I don't upgrade to
> latest version  now...then when I want that version I have to pay full
> price?
>
>
> http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Frequently-As

Re: Houdini to Softimage

[Vincent Fortin]

If you're on H13, use the Alembic ROP and make sure you're not using the
default format. Use HDF5 instead.


On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Sylvain Lebeau  wrote:

> Hi Paulo,
>
> Have you tried to post on the Exocortex alembic list?  I am sure Marshall
> and Ben can help you out with this.
> You should enroll  ... exocortex-alem...@googlegroups.com
>
> cheers!
>
> sly
>
> *Sylvain Lebeau // SHED*
>  V-P/Visual effects supervisor
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM  <
> http://WWW.SHEDMTL.COM >
>
>
> VFX Curriculum 03: Compositing Basics
> mail to: s...@shedmtl.com
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 11, 2014, at 4:34 PM, Paulo César Duarte 
> wrote:
>
> Hello.
> I created a Flip simulation in Houdini and I'm trying to bring the
> Particles to Softimage, I'm exporting Alembic in Houdini, but I can't
> import in Softimage, I'm using Exocortex Alembic 1.1 in Softimage.
>
> ' ERROR : Alembic: [alembic] Error reading file: IArchive::IArchive(
> iFileName )
>
> I search in internet a solution with the realflow plugin .bin, but it
> would be much better to have a control with Alembic
>
> Any help?
>
> Cheers.
> Paulo Duarte
>
> --
> www.pauloduarte.ws
>
>
>
<>

Re: Advanced water caustics

[Vincent Fortin]

This is quite impressive! Are they built in SI?
I've made a similar setup in ICE but don't have the same accuracy as you in
the chromatic dispersion yet.
Looks awesome, congrats (maybe you should sell the tool?)


On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 4:47 PM, Sven Constable wrote:

> Hello list,
>
> in case you will need highest quality water caustics (for the one out of 50
> projects)... I made a bunch of them.
> I started working on it over a year ago when I needed high quality caustics
> for a project and I didn't find anything that would give me really nice
> results. So I built them by myself and they were so useful that I decided
> to
> make more variations and make it also more versatile und useful for others.
>
> Yes, there are caustic sequences already available on stock footage
> websites
> (filmed and CG) and there are also caustic generators out there, but they
> are often in low res, or LDR or not loopable and have no chromatic
> dispersion (what is very important to have a realistic look). Filmed
> caustics are obviously not useful in general and most of the CG versions
> look very artificial. To my knowledge, there is no caustic sequence that
> has
> all these features combined and looking decent at the same time.
>
> I spend a lot of time to make them as realistic and versatile as possible.
> I
> made them commercially available and they might be useful for your upcoming
> underwater shots. Even it is quite a niche product.
> They comes as 200 frames loopable sequences in 2k exr, with chromatic
> dispersion and are suited for different water depths. Four sets are
> available: For pool scenes, fishtanks, ocean scenes and 'Miniature'. Each
> set contains two versions and each of these contains four depth versions
> (1,2,4 and 8m). So you will get eight sequences for each scenario or 32
> sequences in total with all four sets. They can be easily combined to get
> even more variety. Maybe also useful for comp and motiongraphics stuff, but
> I designed them primarily for use in 3D scenes.
>
> You can watch them in action here and you can also download a few samples:
>
> http://advcaustics.imagefront.de/
>
> Best regards,
> Sven
>
> 
>
> Sven Constable
> Imagefront 3D & VFX
> Ottobrunnerstr.2a
> 81737 München
> Germany
> phone (0)89 442 327 93
> fax  (0)89 442 327 94
>
> www.imagefront.de
>

Re: skin lots of cubes

[Vincent Fortin]

This is looking very promising, Steven. Hope you'll find the time to expand
the toolset!

I'll be happy to test. And in case you need inspiration:
http://pages.citebite.com/n2g3k8p3p1pak

:-)


On Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 3:19 PM, Chris Marshall
wrote:

> Thanks Steven,
> Well I'm going to try getting some 3d prints made and will try both
> methods. Your way is quickest, but the files are big if I try and keep
> sharper detail. The alternative which I now have working is to break the
> 3000 cube model into its individual pieces using Joeys plugin, then Boolean
> them all back together using a script supplied by Peter B. This is a much
> slower method when dealing with so many cubes, but it works and generates
> files that are much smaller.
> Thanks again for your input.
>
>
>
>
> On 28 November 2013 19:20, Steven Caron  wrote:
>
>> if you need those perfect edges from the original cube then booleans will
>> probably be your best bet. otherwise using my custom ice nodes you can
>> decrease the voxel size a lot (increasing total voxels) and use the
>> 'adaptivity' parameter on the volume to mesh node to reduce the density to
>> something manageable.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 5:29 AM, Chris Marshall <
>> chrismarshal...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks Peter, much appreciated. I shall give it a go and report back.
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 28 November 2013 12:49,  wrote:
>>>
   as matt said, first separate each polygon island.
 there are some scripts out there that do this, but worst case: select
 with polygon island filter, then extract and so on.

 then boolean all of them one at a time - in the top right of the image
 I attached, was the line of vbscript I used for this:

 for i = 1 to 71
 ApplyGenOp “BooleanGenUnion”, , “polymsh” & i – 1 & “;cube” & i, 3,
 siPersistentOperation, siKeepGenOpInputs
 next

 It expects there to be a series of objects named cube1, cube2,...
 (select all your extracted meshes, alt+enter for a multippg and rename them
 – they should now have sequential names) and a series of objects polymsh0,
 polymsh1,... which are the results of each boolean.
 it’s not very smart for naming, so create the first boolean by hand,
 duplicate it and name it polymsh0.
 Now it should find all subsequent booleans which will be named
 polymsh1,polymsh2 and so on - that get created by the script.

 it runs a few seconds and the very last polymsh should be the result of
 all booleans, *if nothing went wrong*.

 If it has only part of the objects, that’s because somewhere along the
 line a boolean didn’t work – and resulted in an empty mesh. So find the
 last one before the empty one, and boolean them by hand.




  *From:* Chris Marshall 
 *Sent:* Thursday, November 28, 2013 12:30 PM
 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: skin lots of cubes

  OK I accept that, it's not ideal but it's a solution. I'd rather get
 the result you have with the multiple booleans / hard edges, which is what
 I was after, but how are you doing it?



 On 28 November 2013 11:26,  wrote:

>   I’m kind of with Matt on this.
> If it’s simple cubes and no rounded corners you’re after, booleans
> would do.
>
> see the attached, the middle one is a scripted boolean between 70
> cubes.
> Nothing so fancy as what Matt suggests – just a boolean between two
> cubes, then a boolean between the result and a third cube and so on.
>
> I was surprised to see that you can get something acceptable with
> rounded corners even, depending on how demanding you are.
> the one on top has the rounded corners shader - which unfortunately
> only considers the convex angles.
> the one below has a rounded bevel on all edges – so concavities are
> treated as well – but there are some nasty spikes.
>
> Booleans generate less than ideal topologies for working with – doing
> smooth deformations on top of all of this will be troublesome.
>
>  *From:* Matt Lind 
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 27, 2013 7:25 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: skin lots of cubes
>
>
> Couldn’t you separate by polygon island, Boolean, then re-merge?
>
>
>
> That much could be scripted without too much trouble as you could do a
> distance search between cubes to know which cubes should be Booleaned with
> each other.  You could script it to Boolean while merged, but that would
> require a little more work in the form of the algorithm.
>
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Chris Marshall
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 27, 2013 7:01 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com

Re: Softimage+Clara.io animation example (Luxo Jr.) + Open beta announcement

[Vincent Fortin]

Very nice indeed. Curious how big is the animation once baked/optimized for
the web?


On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 10:01 AM, Renato Polimeno wrote:

> Nice!!
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Ben Houston  wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Jason Shoumar, our resident artist (formerly of ModusFX), worked with
>> us recently to create a Luxo Jr. animation using both Softimage and
>> Clara.io as a homage to Pixar.  The rig was created in Softimage.  The
>> animation was done in both Softimage and in Clara.io.  The materials,
>> lighting and camera were done in Clara.io.  You can play the resulting
>> animation in your browser if your browser is WebGL compatible (you can
>> rotate it or click "Edit" to start editing any part of the scene or
>> animation):
>>
>> http://clara.io/player/5f61d02a-71d7-4099-90c1-f214a90c0b4a?autoplay=true
>>
>> We are also quite happy to finally announce the start of our open
>> beta.  Our full open beta announcement is here (and includes all the
>> new features):
>>
>> http://exocortex.com/blog/claraio_open_beta
>>
>> Also, some coverage of Clara.io from an industry perspective is
>> available from Ian Failes of FX Guide:
>>
>> http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/the-future-of-3d-creation-on-the-web/
>>
>> --
>> Best regards,
>> Ben Houston
>> Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom
>> http://Clara.io - Professional-Grade WebGL-based 3D Content Creation
>>
>
>
>
> --
> __
>
> -> Renato Polimeno
> +55 11 9 7539 3615 (VIVO)
> fb renato.polimeno 
> twt @renatopolimeno 
> G+ gplus/renatopolimeno 
> skype. renatopolimeno
>

Re: Shameless Plug | New blog little article

[Vincent Fortin]

Well done Olivier!
On 2013-10-30 12:42 PM, "olivier jeannel"  wrote:

>  I made this little exercise this morning and decided to share it.
> *It's long and difficult to share a simple concept, double kudos and hugs
> to every tutorial makers !*
> I'm not sure it's clear, but it's rather simple.
>
> Honestly if you're a serious TD, jump to the next message, nothing to read
> here...
>
> I put it on my old and quiet since 2010 blog...
> http://facialdeluxe.blogspot.fr/
>
> It's about circles and arrays.
> Oh, and I tried to mention the name of people I took things from, hope
> they won't mind, appologies if I forgot someone.
>
> Olivier
>

Re: If Tim Borgmann doesn't love this, I hang myself ;)

[Vincent Fortin]

I'm not sure if all the images are the work of Christopher Bader but I know
he uses Houdini.
Lovely indeed! Also check out www.field.io



On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Cristobal Infante wrote:

> lovely reference, thanks for sharing!
>
>
> On 23 October 2013 15:09, Eric Lampi  wrote:
>
>> Wow, very cool work.. Can someone translate the titles?
>>
>> Eric
>>
>> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>>
>> http://vimeopro.com/user7979713/3d-work
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Stefan Kubicek 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Cool stuff, I believe there was an article about them in one of the
>>> latest "Digital Production" issues.
>>>
>>>
>>>  http://www.deskriptiv.de/form


>>>
>>> --
>>> --**-
>>>Stefan Kubicek
>>> --**-
>>>keyvis digital imagery
>>>   Alfred Feierfeilstraße 3
>>>A-2380 Perchtoldsdorf bei Wien
>>>  Phone:+43/699/12614231
>>>   www.keyvis.at  ste...@keyvis.at
>>> --  This email and its attachments are   --
>>> --confidential and for the recipient only--
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: Reading per-point attributes from Houdini into ICE?

[Vincent Fortin]

Isn't Crate supposed to support that? You might need to promote your
attributes from points to vertex.
But if you're going to PIY (parse it yourself), alembic and .geo (ascii)
are both formats that worked well for me in the past.

The alembic rop has a nice feature that allows you to split the mesh in
arbitrary shape nodes (in case it makes you life easier!)

Rick Fuentealba is the one who had icecache I/O implemented in SOP but it
needs to be updated to account changes in the HDK (H12+). Maybe he's still
on this list?

Good luck!

On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 8:32 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> We're talking geometry actually. A procedurally generated mesh with some
> per-point IDs (like per island, sort of) and some per-point scalar values
> (weights along the object) that I want to bring in.
>
> The writing to UVs idea might work for the scalar values. Quite the hack
> though. :p
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 5:43 PM, Ciaran Moloney 
> wrote:
>
>> Oh, are we talking about particles? Never mind then...
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 10:40 PM, Rob Chapman wrote:
>>
>>> and about now would be where the partio library compiled for softimage
>>> would very handy indeed!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 21 October 2013 22:17, Ciaran Moloney wrote:
>>>
 You can possibly hack your way through it by stamping the attributes
 into UVW channels and export to OBJ. I've done that on a few occasions, but
 of course you'll run out of channels pretty quickly.
 But, do you have access to alembic in XSI?

 I remember an icecache to Houdini exporter, but not the other way
 round...


 On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 8:31 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:

> someone was making a houdini to icecache exporter... can't remember
> who though.
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 12:16 PM, Alan Fregtman <
> alan.fregt...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey guys,
>>
>> Has anyone loaded attributes from Houdini into ICE? I don't even need
>> a whole sim, just the current state.
>>
>> I saw Houdini's JSON output which had all the info I needed neatly
>> organized, but before I go the route of parsing that, is there a better /
>> more direct approach I'm perhaps overlooking?
>>
>> Any tips appreciated.
>> Cheers,
>>
>>-- Alan
>>
>>
>

>>>
>>
>

Re: Friday Flashback #142

[Vincent Fortin]

Hehehe I remember loosing all animation curves every time I exited the
program!


On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 3:38 PM, Eric Lampi  wrote:

> The other thing about it that was awesome was the fact that if you stopped
> the render and started it again where you left off, the simulation would
> not be the same. You had to render start to finish in one go.
>
> Eric
>
> Freelance 3D and VFX animator
>
> http://vimeopro.com/user7979713/3d-work
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 3:23 PM, Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES] <
> j.ponthi...@nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>>  There was a fatal flaw in the way that the particle scene was saved.
>> Even on SGI. You could start a new scene, build something and it would work
>> perfectly until you saved it and closed it. The next time you reopened it,
>> it became buggy and unstable. I can’t recall what the specifics of the flaw
>> was anymore, I just know that I got so good at hacking the saved files to
>> correct the flaw it became a routine activity. For its day, it was quite
>> useful and it holds a nostalgic appeal. But looking at it in retrospect to
>> ICE, I’d never want to go back to using it.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> --
>>
>> 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:* Friday, October 18, 2013 2:59 PM
>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> *Subject:* RE: Friday Flashback #142
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> It started on SGI with Softimage|3D v3.0 (1995) and was later ported to
>> Windows NT along with Softimage|3D v3.51 (1996)
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> The SGI version was pretty stable.  I personally didn’t have issues with
>> crashes on windows NT, but I also had a good Intergraph and/or 3DLabs
>> Oxygen series card at the time.  Intergraph was the king of the windows
>> field until Intel screwed them over.  3DLabs worked really hard at
>> providing good drivers and/or frequent updates.  Maxon, Elsa, Matrox, ATI,
>> and the other brands didn’t do a very good job with drivers and seemed to
>> focus more on the texture fill aspect for video and games.  Anybody that
>> made good cards back then usually had to do some proprietary hardware and
>> drivers to get around windows’ lack of graphics infrastructure.  Anybody
>> remember the SGI windows workstations?
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
>> *On Behalf Of *Sven Constable
>> *Sent:* Friday, October 18, 2013 11:47 AM
>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> *Subject:* RE: Friday Flashback #142
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Fast and interactive yes, but it crashed a lot, didn't it? I'm curious,
>> in 1998 I was a student learning Softimage|3D and the standalone particle
>> system was really hard to use because of that. I remember saving my
>> particle scene every 5 minutes. Maybe it was a driver/system/graphics cards
>> issue back then. I was on NT back then. Did the particle standalone also
>> exists on SGI?   
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
>> *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
>> *Sent:* Friday, October 18, 2013 8:33 PM
>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> *Subject:* RE: Friday Flashback #142
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I remember the system being very fast and interactive compared to
>> softimage|3D, but yeah, PITA to have to composite everything.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> The manipulators for SI Particle were actually pretty nice and
>> intuitive.  They needed to be as the software lacked the mouse driven
>> manipulation found in most 3d packages.  
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
>> *On Behalf Of *Jeff McFall
>> *Sent:* Friday, October 18, 2013 11:29 AM
>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> *Subject:* RE: Friday Flashback #142
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I remember that.  I was sooo looking forward to having a particle system
>> again after moving from a Wavefront system.
>>
>> It wasn’t quite what I had hoped for but way better than nothing and I
>> was able to make a lot of use it.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Kind of ironic about how Soft was NOT known for its “Particle System”
>> capabilities back then.
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I like this quote 
>>
>> Render the particle animation. Then composite the particle animation
>> using the depth information from the z-channel of the SOFTIMAGE 

Re: align particles on deformed surface by tangent?

[Vincent Fortin]

Do you want the axis perpendicular to the normal? If so use a cross
product, plug the normal in the first input and try something like 0,1,0
for the second input.


On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 4:05 PM, Kris Rivel  wrote:

> I'm trying to make a simple setup where I can align particles along a
> deformed/animated surface based on another vector.  No problem aligning
> them on their normal but I want them to all flow in the same direction
> along their other axis...all point forward.  Is there anyway to do this
> with a polymesh?  Maybe through UV data?
>
> Kris
>
> --
> 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.

Re: OT: How low can you go (Hardware)

[Vincent Fortin]

A few ideas:
I have a 30$ geforce in one of my boxes and even though I don't work with
it full time it does the job.
If you want performance for your main hdd you can go for a 10,000 rpm
instead of a ssd. WD Velociraptors are great. Basically you're trading
space for better speed.
8 gigs of RAM is very little nowadays, especially if you're going to do
rendering.
That i5 along with ASRock H61MV-ITX is a good deal IMO.
If I was to build such a machine here in Canada it'd cost ~700$ plus
monitor, plus backup drive + taxes.
I think your best bet if you're on a tight budget is to carefully pick
second hand parts or look for a package deal.
Sometimes studios give away their older machines for different reasons.
They can still be okay for simple work and you know they're configured for
3d.
my 0.02c,
Good luck!


On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Johan Forsgren  wrote:

> Hey all, I'm currently hold a permanent position i small studio, but I'm
> starting to wonder if freelancing isn't the way to go for me, This brings
> me to the question of hardware, and I'm wondering if any of you freelancers
> can't give your input on what the minimum spec for a workstation should be.
>
> I cant afford anything beyond basic, really the no 1 reason that I'm
> thinking about freelancing is the complete lack of zero's on my bank
> statement. But it also limits my options equipment-wise quite a bit. I'm
> thinking something-ish like this:
>
> intel i5-3350P
> 8 gig ram
> geforce 640 gtm
> no ssd :(
>
> So I guess my question here is if there's possible to do simpler 3d work
> on a personal workstation like this? I understand that its POSSIBLE but how
> badly will I want to chew my arm of after say 6 months of freelancing doing
> product viz and motion graphics?
>
> --
> JOHAN FORSGREN CG ARTISTPhone + 46 31 752 20 00
> johan.forsg...@edithouse.se Direct  + 46 31 752 20 07 Follow Edithouse at
> at twitter.com/edithouse  [image:
> example's logo]  Edit house Film Works
> www.edithouse.se Lilla Bommen 4a, S-411 04 Göteborg, Sweden
> www.twitter.com/edithouse
>

CacheObjectsIntoFile Standard Output?

[Vincent Fortin]

Hi,

I'm looking for a way to retrieve basic information from a running ICE sim.
File written, memory, etc.
I don't think CacheObjectsIntoFile has any kind of verbose?

I'm a bit clueless so my next step was to wrap my caching tools in a script
that makes system calls and log to the console.

In your opinion, what would be the sleekest way to implement something like
this?

Thanks!

Vincent

Re: Rant: Caching tools still suck

[Vincent Fortin]

Perhaps I should write some tool to "refresh" caches automatically and
append it to the unnecessary_babysitting module.
The reason I'd like to be able to duplicate is quite often I have icetrees
on top of the mixerOp and other dependencies in the scene that all need to
be rebuilt.

But it's good to know that this might just be a "refresh" issue. Perhaps
there's an easy fix...
Feel free to provide more repro steps to the problem. Hopefully Chris and
the team are reading and can have a stab at it. It's quite easy to
reproduce!!


On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 2:41 AM, Rob Chapman  wrote:

> for point A I always assumed it a was refresh issue of the operator
> stack... because reloading the scene would also bring back the
> duplicated point clouds attributes.
>
> instead of duplicating a pointcloud with a cache attached, creating a
> new empty pointcloud and loading the cache would always work.
>
> and yes for changing attributes on B is a workaround I use - reloading
> the clip or repointing it to the same file 'refreshes' its attribute
> list.
>
>
> On 11 September 2013 07:01, Vincent Fortin  wrote:
> >>+1 for better mixer integration Vincent :)
> > I'm curious to know what kind of issues people are having with the mixer.
> > On my side the main problem is that the pointcloud hosting the MixerOp
> > looses all attributes. I end up with a bunch of black dots moving around.
> > It happens pretty randomly but I've managed to isolate a few problematic
> > scenarios:
> >
> > A) load a cache on an empty pointcloud. Duplicate that point cloud. The
> new
> > pointcloud is either empty (no particles) or displays as black dots. Not
> > sure what is going on here: the mixer clip gets duplicated and apparently
> > assigned to the new pointcloud but fails to display. Worse, if you delete
> > the new pointcloud, then the original one goes black dots. Only way to
> fix
> > that is to clear the source path and paste it back. But I noticed that
> from
> > that point on the problem will come back more often as if the mixer was
> > "corrupted".
> >
> > B) If the attribute description of a cache file changes, the mixer will
> crap
> > out. That means that if you overwrite a cache file on your hard drive
> with a
> > newer version that doesn't have exactly the same content, any pointcloud
> in
> > any scene reading that cache will go "black dots".
> >
> > C) Mixer applied on top of a reference model: bad idea. It's not 100%
> > reproducible but happens a lot. Same black dots issue. I don't think it
> > comes from the delta as this is not stored in there, right? Nonetheless
> it's
> > a reference model issue for sure.
> >
> > Somehow I get the feeling that this kind of problem happens more
> frequently
> > as the scene grows in complexity. Moving pointclouds around from a Model
> to
> > another suddenly becomes unreliable as the mixer doesn't alway get
> > copied/updated properly.
> >
> > I hope people can share their experiences so we can get this thing
> working
> > properly ONE DAY ;-)
> > Or maybe I should try using the CacheOnFile node for reading only.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:04 PM, Morten Bartholdy 
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> I would definately vote for a reworked centralized cacheing tool which
> >> left no doubt what is being done. I agree with Eric that the current
> >> implementation is a mess.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> +1 for better mixer integration Vincent :)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Morten
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Den 10. september 2013 kl. 18:06 skrev Vincent Fortin <
> vfor...@gmail.com>:
> >>
> >> The best way I've found to work around the custom attribute issue is to
> >> lay down a Log Value node with "Log" actually turned off. I find the
> usual
> >> "Attribute Display" trick unreliable especially in batch mode.
> >>
> >> I always use the CacheObjectsIntoFile method (aka Cache Manage). Frankly
> >> for an "out of the box" tool I wouldn't say the Cache Manager sucks. Do
> you
> >> have any particular issues other than the custom attribute caching bug?
> >>
> >> What really drives me nuts is the total unreliability of the mixer when
> it
> >> comes to reading icecaches. I have noticed many scenarios where
> attributes
> >> simply vanish for no reason. Only way to bring them back is to clear the
> >> Source path and paste it back in. Using the mixer for caches is a great
> >> feature IMHO, too bad it's so unreliable :-(
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Eric Thivierge <
> ethivie...@hybride.com
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> You're welcome. :)
> >>
> >> http://exocortex.com/products/ crate
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>

Re: Rant: Caching tools still suck

[Vincent Fortin]

>+1 for better mixer integration Vincent :)
I'm curious to know what kind of issues people are having with the mixer.
On my side the main problem is that the pointcloud hosting the MixerOp
looses all attributes. I end up with a bunch of black dots moving around.
It happens pretty randomly but I've managed to isolate a few problematic
scenarios:

A) load a cache on an empty pointcloud. Duplicate that point cloud. The new
pointcloud is either empty (no particles) or displays as black dots. Not
sure what is going on here: the mixer clip gets duplicated and apparently
assigned to the new pointcloud but fails to display. Worse, if you delete
the new pointcloud, then the original one goes black dots. Only way to fix
that is to clear the source path and paste it back. But I noticed that from
that point on the problem will come back more often as if the mixer was
"corrupted".

B) If the attribute description of a cache file changes, the mixer will
crap out. That means that if you overwrite a cache file on your hard drive
with a newer version that doesn't have exactly the same content, any
pointcloud in any scene reading that cache will go "black dots".

C) Mixer applied on top of a reference model: bad idea. It's not
100% reproducible but happens a lot. Same black dots issue. I don't think
it comes from the delta as this is not stored in there, right? Nonetheless
it's a reference model issue for sure.

Somehow I get the feeling that this kind of problem happens more frequently
as the scene grows in complexity. Moving pointclouds around from a Model to
another suddenly becomes unreliable as the mixer doesn't alway get
copied/updated properly.

I hope people can share their experiences so we can get this thing working
properly ONE DAY ;-)
Or maybe I should try using the CacheOnFile node for reading only.


On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:04 PM, Morten Bartholdy wrote:

> **
>
> I would definately vote for a reworked centralized cacheing tool which
> left no doubt what is being done. I agree with Eric that the current
> implementation is a mess.
>
>
>
> +1 for better mixer integration Vincent :)
>
>
>
> Morten
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Den 10. september 2013 kl. 18:06 skrev Vincent Fortin :
>
>
>   The best way I've found to work around the custom attribute issue is to
> lay down a Log Value node with "Log" actually turned off. I find the usual
> "Attribute Display" trick unreliable especially in batch mode.
>
> I always use the CacheObjectsIntoFile method (aka Cache Manage). Frankly
> for an "out of the box" tool I wouldn't say the Cache Manager sucks. Do you
> have any particular issues other than the custom attribute caching bug?
>
> What really drives me nuts is the total unreliability of the mixer when it
> comes to reading icecaches. I have noticed many scenarios where attributes
> simply vanish for no reason. Only way to bring them back is to clear the
> Source path and paste it back in. Using the mixer for caches is a great
> feature IMHO, too bad it's so unreliable :-(
>
>
>  On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Eric Thivierge < ethivie...@hybride.com> 
> wrote:
>
>
> You're welcome. :)
>
>  http://exocortex.com/products/ crate
> <http://exocortex.com/products/crate>
>
>
>
>

Re: Rant: Caching tools still suck

[Vincent Fortin]

Anyone doing any regular particle work in Softimage should spend some time
(or money) on a command-line caching system. It gets rid of all custom
attribute related issues and gives you unlimited processing licenses. Even
if you don't have a farm it's just simpler and faster to run sims in a dos
prompt.
The programming hooks are all available for it and it's a matter of about a
day of work to implement a batch version of the Cache Manager. If you
absolutely want to stay within Softimage, remember that the Cache Manager
is an addon, so fairly easy to customize.
The rest is just fine-tuning depending on your preferred workflow. Everyone
has different needs and methodology. I think the Cache Manager inside
Softimage is pretty decent for the average user. It's got a clear listing
of all the caches in your scene (although I'm not always clear on which
objects they're assigned to). It uses tokens which help keeping things
somewhat generic. Also the Cachelist feature is very nice and underrated
but quite limited on a customization level. I ended-up replacing it
completely but it's still enjoyable out of the box. You don't find that
level of polishing in other softwares.
When I think about all the great development made on ICE since its
inception that makes it so easy and fun to work with, no wonder artists are
so emotive about its future.

...that said someone really needs to fix that goddamn custom attribute bug.
And the caching of locations while you're there!



On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:04 PM, Morten Bartholdy wrote:

> **
>
> I would definately vote for a reworked centralized cacheing tool which
> left no doubt what is being done. I agree with Eric that the current
> implementation is a mess.
>
>
>
> +1 for better mixer integration Vincent :)
>
>
>
> Morten
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Den 10. september 2013 kl. 18:06 skrev Vincent Fortin :
>
>
>   The best way I've found to work around the custom attribute issue is to
> lay down a Log Value node with "Log" actually turned off. I find the usual
> "Attribute Display" trick unreliable especially in batch mode.
>
> I always use the CacheObjectsIntoFile method (aka Cache Manage). Frankly
> for an "out of the box" tool I wouldn't say the Cache Manager sucks. Do you
> have any particular issues other than the custom attribute caching bug?
>
> What really drives me nuts is the total unreliability of the mixer when it
> comes to reading icecaches. I have noticed many scenarios where attributes
> simply vanish for no reason. Only way to bring them back is to clear the
> Source path and paste it back in. Using the mixer for caches is a great
> feature IMHO, too bad it's so unreliable :-(
>
>
>  On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Eric Thivierge < ethivie...@hybride.com> 
> wrote:
>
>
> You're welcome. :)
>
>  http://exocortex.com/products/ crate
> <http://exocortex.com/products/crate>
>
>
>
>

Re: Rant: Caching tools still suck

[Vincent Fortin]

The best way I've found to work around the custom attribute issue is to lay
down a Log Value node with "Log" actually turned off. I find the usual
"Attribute Display" trick unreliable especially in batch mode.

I always use the CacheObjectsIntoFile method (aka Cache Manage). Frankly
for an "out of the box" tool I wouldn't say the Cache Manager sucks. Do you
have any particular issues other than the custom attribute caching bug?

What really drives me nuts is the total unreliability of the mixer when it
comes to reading icecaches. I have noticed many scenarios where attributes
simply vanish for no reason. Only way to bring them back is to clear the
Source path and paste it back in. Using the mixer for caches is a great
feature IMHO, too bad it's so unreliable :-(


On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

> You're welcome. :)
>
> http://exocortex.com/products/**crate
>
>

Re: turbulence on polygonizer issue..

[Vincent Fortin]

Indeed, maybe the problem has to do with how polygonizer works. But I don't
have it here.
Maybe send a simple scene to the list so we can have a look at it?


On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 3:48 PM, Debdas Mohanty  wrote:

> Thanks for the reply...
>
> But I dont think that is the issue here...turbulize working fine with any
> kind of animated object except polygonizer object... On polygonizer object,
> on every frame poly count changes.. that may be the reason.(just my guess).
>
> i tried the way Vincent suggested but not working...
>
> @Vladimir: there is no turbulance animation on underlying object then why
> it will change on polygonizer. its just translation animation. I guess I am
> missing some thing here...
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 12:49 AM, Vladimir Jankijevic <
> vladi...@elefantstudios.ch> wrote:
>
>> turbulence depends on the pointpositions of the underlying object. That's
>> why it changes.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Debdas Mohanty  wrote:
>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>> Hopefully this time someone reply my question..
>>>
>>>  I created a simple animated sphere and added ICE turbulence (Animated
>>> Off) on modeling stag .
>>> its working  perfectly as expected ..
>>>
>>> Next I created a polygonizer on top of the same animated turbulized
>>> sphere. and added turbulence on it (Animated Off).
>>>
>>> Here i have problem... even though animated off inside the "Turbulize
>>> around value" node why the surface is animating.
>>>
>>> I could not find any solution to stop turbulence on it...
>>>
>>> If anyone has any solution please share..
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Debadas Mohanty
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Debdas Mohanty
>>> Fx Artist
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Debdas Mohanty
> Fx Artist
>

Re: turbulence on polygonizer issue..

[Vincent Fortin]

If the polygonizer moves points around, yes. If the polygonizer is not
simulated then I'm afraid this is a case for the infamous
duplicate-freeze-and-reinterpret-location trick.



On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 4:31 PM, Renaud Bousquet <
rbousq...@digitaldimension.com> wrote:

>  **
>
>  The polygonizer is evaluated every frame so his PointPosition change
> every frame. The turbulence seems to be animated because the PointPosition
> used in the turbulence node is changing every frame.
>
> ** **
>
> best regards,
>
> RB
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Debdas Mohanty [mailto:devj...@gmail.com]
> *Sent:* September-04-13 3:50 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: turbulence on polygonizer issue..
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for the reply...
>
> ** **
>
> But I dont think that is the issue here...turbulize working fine with any
> kind of animated object except polygonizer object... On polygonizer object,
> on every frame poly count changes.. that may be the reason.(just my guess).
> 
>
> ** **
>
> i tried the way Vincent suggested but not working...
>
> ** **
>
> *@Vladimir: *there is no turbulance animation on underlying object then
> why it will change on polygonizer. its just translation animation. I guess
> I am missing some thing here...
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 12:49 AM, Vladimir Jankijevic <
> vladi...@elefantstudios.ch> wrote:
>
> turbulence depends on the pointpositions of the underlying object. That's
> why it changes.
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Debdas Mohanty  wrote:*
> ***
>
>  Hello everyone,
>
> ** **
>
> Hopefully this time someone reply my question..
>
> ** **
>
> I created a simple animated sphere and added ICE turbulence (Animated Off)
> on modeling stag .
>
> its working  perfectly as expected ..
>
> ** **
>
> Next I created a polygonizer on top of the same animated turbulized
> sphere. and added turbulence on it (Animated Off).
>
> ** **
>
> Here i have problem... even though animated off inside the "Turbulize
> around value" node why the surface is animating.
>
> ** **
>
> I could not find any solution to stop turbulence on it...
>
> ** **
>
> If anyone has any solution please share..
>
> ** **
>
> Regards
>
> ** **
>
> Debadas Mohanty
>
>
> 
>
> ** **
>
> -- 
>
> Regards,
>
> ** **
>
> Debdas Mohanty
> Fx Artist 
>
>   ** **
>
>
>
> 
>
> ** **
>
> -- 
>
> Regards,
>
> ** **
>
> Debdas Mohanty
> Fx Artist 
>
> *
>
> Renaud
> *Bousquet | *Production TD* | *Digital Dimension* | *Meduzarts
> *rbousq...@digitaldimension.com | 
> digitaldimension.com|
> meduzarts.com 
> , Ave Casgrain, Suite 301, Montreal (Quebec) Canada H2T 1Y1
>
>
> [image: Linkedin to Digital 
> Dimension]
>  [image: Digital Dimension Facebook 
> page]
>
> Meduzarts, a Digital Dimension Company.
>
> This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
> information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the
> sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any
> copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than
> the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal. Unless otherwise
> stated, opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the author and are
> not endorsed by the author's employer.
> **
>
>  **
>
<><>

Re: turbulence on polygonizer issue..

[Vincent Fortin]

That's because the Turbulize node is being fed with a point position that's
moving (animated sphere).
You must dive inside the Turbulize node and replace the PointPosition by
another attribute that represent the point positions of the sphere at a
rest (non-moving) frame.

But since there is no way in ICE to get data at an arbitrary frame, the
workaround is to create an ICETree in the modeling stack, get the
PointPosition and set it under a different name (rest_PointPosition for
example).
Then go and hack the Turbulize node by replacing the PointPosition by
rest_PointPosition.

Hope this makes sense...



On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Debdas Mohanty  wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> Hopefully this time someone reply my question..
>
> I created a simple animated sphere and added ICE turbulence (Animated Off)
> on modeling stag .
> its working  perfectly as expected ..
>
> Next I created a polygonizer on top of the same animated turbulized
> sphere. and added turbulence on it (Animated Off).
>
> Here i have problem... even though animated off inside the "Turbulize
> around value" node why the surface is animating.
>
> I could not find any solution to stop turbulence on it...
>
> If anyone has any solution please share..
>
> Regards
>
> Debadas Mohanty
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Debdas Mohanty
> Fx Artist
>

Re: Softimage Scene crashing when Opening.

[Vincent Fortin]

Rename don't delete
C:\Users\xxx\Autodesk\Softimage_2013_SP1\Data\Preferences\

You can try the Scene Debugging options in the "Data Management"
preferences to turn off certain features on load.

Or offload references (if any) using the scntoc.


On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:25 AM, olivier jeannel wrote:

>  It's not working anymore...
>
> If I maximize and mute frame, it loads and freeze a few seconds once the
> scene is opened. Merging seems ok still.
>
> Where is the softimage user folder ? The on I should delete ?
>
> Thank's !
>
>
>
>
> Le 04/09/2013 12:10, olivier jeannel a écrit :
>
> that's ... Incredibel ! The Muted Maximized frame does the trick !
>
> Oscar you saved my day ! I owe you beer or a croissant if you come to
> Paris !
>
> Le 04/09/2013 12:04, Oscar Juarez a écrit :
>
> You can try renaming your softimage user folder and opening the scene to
> see if any preference is breaking havoc.
> Also you can try muting viewports or opening the scene with a explorer in
> a viewport maximized
> disconnect from workgroup containing momentum?
>
>  I would start with this things.
> Hope it helps
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:57 AM, olivier jeannel 
> wrote:
>
>> SI,2013
>> That's killing me...
>> It's been 2 or 3 days I'm working on a scene that has some Momentum RBD
>> in it (I think it's  Mom3)
>>
>> I've noticed the scene tend to crash on opening from time to time.
>> I've even found that it opens "better" If I first do a "Merge Scene" and
>> then just after do a "Load Scene".
>> The scene then just loaded normaly (as if softimage was magicly turned
>> into a mood that would make it open)
>>
>> When I save a scene, I just reload it immediatly to check if it is still
>> functionnal. Scenes are saved at frame Zero.
>> I made incremental saves.
>> I'm aware of duplicated environment.
>>
>> I think I took all sort of mystical precautions that made me loose time
>> and loose track of what I was doing.
>>
>> Well, this morning none of my scene open anymore. It opens, do nothing
>> for 2seconds and freeze softimage (cease to function).
>> I still can merge the scene but then the sims are fucked up. And then
>> where do I go if I have to merge instead of load ??
>>
>> Is it possible there is a "preference" file on startup that is corrupt ?
>> Isn't it possible to load a scene in a "do nothing" mode ?
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

Re: softimage.tv - Hello World!

[Vincent Fortin]

Very nice website, congrats!


On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 8:40 AM, Mario Domingos 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 an amazing tool,  have a  showreel to show off,
>> finished a good looking job help us by submitting it.
>>
>>
>>
>>  You can directly submit your videos via very simple form in the website
>> (Submit video). All you need to send is a title, vimeo/youtube url, and
>> description. The wordpress will look after the thumbnails, then all we have
>> to do is approve it. Ideally you will be logged in when submitting, so the
>> system will put all videos under your profile.
>>
>>
>>
>>  The website was created by myself with the help of Cesar Saez . Would
>> love to know what you guys think about it, and how we can move things
>> foward.
>>
>>
>>
>>  Best,
>>
>>  Cris
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>   --
>>
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3222/6636 - Release Date: 09/03/13
>>
>>
>

Re: Offloaded references hangs Softimage

[Vincent Fortin]

Interesting list of gotchas, thanks for sharing!

To my surprise ICE and reference models seem to play nicely. I have close
to a thousand referenced pointclouds that are dependent on each others and
so far it's stable. I don't think I could keep up with the complexity of
the shots without a way to update all my setups simultaneously. All GetData
and GetTopo nodes are open to change on each setup individually and the
delta keeps track of that.

My only issue is the speed. With scenes taking up to an hour to save/load
it's almost a deal breaker. I try my best to optimize but
loading/offloading assets takes way too long and consumes memory more than
it should.

I can't wait to have something like ICE in a modern architecture software!


On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 7:35 PM, Mario Domingos wrote:

> Great info Alan! Tks for that!
> —
> Sent from Mailbox <https://www.dropbox.com/mailbox> for iPhone
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 11:12 PM, Alan Fregtman 
> wrote:
>
>>  
>>
>> I have a good article on Delta hygiene with a script to clean a lot of
>> common issues in my blog:
>>  http://darkvertex.com/wp/2010/02/21/clean-softimage-deltas/
>>
>> 
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 5:55 PM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>>
>>> I think you hit the nail on the head there. Will do more testing. If I
>>> can repro this should probably be logged as a bug.
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:57 PM, Matt Lind wrote:
>>>
>>>> On occasion, yes, but usually when the offloaded model is a dependency
>>>> of something else going on in the scene.  Eg: the loaded scene content
>>>> needs the offloaded model for something.
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Matt
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:55 PM
>>>> *To:* softimage
>>>> *Subject:* Re: Offloaded references hangs Softimage
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Matt, that's good to know.
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> To describe my problem more simply:
>>>>
>>>> Offloaded references hang Softimage. Loaded references don't. That
>>>> doesn't make much sense does it?
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Did you experience something similar?
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:41 PM, Matt Lind 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> You mean besides the large amount of data you’re trying to load into
>>>> memory?
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Models have additional metadata which force additional validation
>>>> checks and processing of deltas.  You’re experiencing normal behavior. We
>>>> have the same issues.  
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> The best I can suggest is to keep your edits lean on the referenced
>>>> models and remove any unnecessary crap such as construction history.  Above
>>>> all, don’t put lights in models.  For some reason they bring Softimage to
>>>> it’s knees.
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Matt
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:34 PM
>>>> *To:* softimage
>>>> *Subject:* Offloaded references hangs Softimage
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Hi list,
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> I have a scene with ~200 reference models offloaded via the scntoc.
>>>>
>>>> The scene opens relatively quick but as soon as I unroll the hierachy
>>>> containing all the reference models (in the explorer), Softimage stops
>>>> responding.
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> If I open the same scene without modifying the scntoc, the scene takes
>>>> more than an hour to load but once it's open everything is fine.
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone know what could be causing this?
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>> Vincent
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: Offloaded references hangs Softimage

[Vincent Fortin]

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Will do more testing. If I can
repro this should probably be logged as a bug.
Thanks!


On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:57 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> On occasion, yes, but usually when the offloaded model is a dependency of
> something else going on in the scene.  Eg: the loaded scene content needs
> the offloaded model for something.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:55 PM
> *To:* softimage
> *Subject:* Re: Offloaded references hangs Softimage
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks Matt, that's good to know.
>
> ** **
>
> To describe my problem more simply:
>
> Offloaded references hang Softimage. Loaded references don't. That doesn't
> make much sense does it?
>
> ** **
>
> Did you experience something similar?
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:41 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
>
> You mean besides the large amount of data you’re trying to load into
> memory?
>
>  
>
> Models have additional metadata which force additional validation checks
> and processing of deltas.  You’re experiencing normal behavior. We have the
> same issues.  
>
>  
>
> The best I can suggest is to keep your edits lean on the referenced models
> and remove any unnecessary crap such as construction history.  Above all,
> don’t put lights in models.  For some reason they bring Softimage to it’s
> knees.
>
>  ****
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:34 PM
> *To:* softimage
> *Subject:* Offloaded references hangs Softimage
>
>  
>
> Hi list,
>
>  
>
> I have a scene with ~200 reference models offloaded via the scntoc.
>
> The scene opens relatively quick but as soon as I unroll the hierachy
> containing all the reference models (in the explorer), Softimage stops
> responding.
>
>  
>
> If I open the same scene without modifying the scntoc, the scene takes
> more than an hour to load but once it's open everything is fine.
>
>  
>
> Does anyone know what could be causing this?
>
>  
>
> Thanks!
>
>  
>
> Vincent
>
> ** **
>

Re: Offloaded references hangs Softimage

[Vincent Fortin]

Thanks Matt, that's good to know.

To describe my problem more simply:
Offloaded references hang Softimage. Loaded references don't. That doesn't
make much sense does it?

Did you experience something similar?


On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:41 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> You mean besides the large amount of data you’re trying to load into
> memory?
>
> ** **
>
> Models have additional metadata which force additional validation checks
> and processing of deltas.  You’re experiencing normal behavior. We have the
> same issues.  
>
> ** **
>
> The best I can suggest is to keep your edits lean on the referenced models
> and remove any unnecessary crap such as construction history.  Above all,
> don’t put lights in models.  For some reason they bring Softimage to it’s
> knees.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:34 PM
> *To:* softimage
> *Subject:* Offloaded references hangs Softimage
>
> ** **
>
> Hi list,
>
> ** **
>
> I have a scene with ~200 reference models offloaded via the scntoc.
>
> The scene opens relatively quick but as soon as I unroll the hierachy
> containing all the reference models (in the explorer), Softimage stops
> responding.
>
> ** **
>
> If I open the same scene without modifying the scntoc, the scene takes
> more than an hour to load but once it's open everything is fine.
>
> ** **
>
> Does anyone know what could be causing this?
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks!
>
> ** **
>
> Vincent
>

Offloaded references hangs Softimage

[Vincent Fortin]

Hi list,

I have a scene with ~200 reference models offloaded via the scntoc.
The scene opens relatively quick but as soon as I unroll the hierachy
containing all the reference models (in the explorer), Softimage stops
responding.

If I open the same scene without modifying the scntoc, the scene takes more
than an hour to load but once it's open everything is fine.

Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Thanks!

Vincent

Re: Dx11?

[Vincent Fortin]

These are pretty impressive as well (both artisically and technically)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lekeZPYCnYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnza8uSo6hE


On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 2:31 PM, Tim Crowson  wrote:

>  But the problem with the current display options is that it forces you
> into specific workflows for animating characters with displacement. Namely,
> that you have to avoid generating any large-form surface changes via
> displacement (and sometimes even medium-to-small-scale features as well),
> for fear that animation will create surface intersections. If the animators
> don't know where the final limit surface is, how will they know if meshes
> are intersecting? Not everything can be a sim.
>
> IMHO, Softimage is a weird creature: it is so elegant and powerful, but
> has these frankly rudimentary display options... Even Modo has had GL
> displacement, bump, and spec for several years now, without having to
> create any realtime shaders. And as politely as I can put it, "High
> Quality" viewport is anything but.
>
> -Tim
>
>
>
> On 8/28/2013 1:14 PM, Francois Lord wrote:
>
> I tend to agree with Luc-Eric.
> It sure is nice to see the displacement in the viewport, but it wouldn't
> be as nearly as impressive if it were a sphere with a fractal texture on
> it. The design, modeling and texture work are very impressive.
> Besides, the video is a little misleading because we have the impression
> that the frame rate is very high.
>
> On 28-Aug-13 14:00, Sebastien Sterling wrote:
>
> 5%, sure eric, :) this guy is so good he can make Maya show viewport
> displacement by shear force of will.
>
>
> On 28 August 2013 16:46, sue jang  wrote:
>
>> really nice character design!
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 10:37 AM, Mirko Jankovic <
>> mirkoj.anima...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> in that case why did any software move from version 1.0 at first place ;)
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 4:22 PM, Luc-Eric Rousseau 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 95% hard work, talent and taste, 5% viewport technology, imho :)

 On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 8:17 AM, Szabolcs Matefy 
 wrote:

>  I’m droolin’ on this :
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5fOwSmSaW8&feature=youtu.be
>
>
>


>>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> *Tim Crowson
> **Lead CG Artist*
>
> *Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
> *2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. 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: Future of Naiad

[Vincent Fortin]

Looks like Duncan's corner has made a come back! I love his work, he's got
to be one of the most hands-on developer in the industry.


On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 10:40 AM, Luc-Eric Rousseau wrote:

> ho right, thanks Outlook ; )
> Le 2013-08-15 10:21, "Rob Chapman"  a écrit :
>
> here is the text link Luc Eric posted (which works without a login)
>> http://area.autodesk.com/Anaheim2013
>>
>> here is where it was actually linked to in html - and *does* require a
>> login
>>
>> https://connect.autodesk.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=bK-GRTdfLUiXi2n0RgTMcYqHgi28bNAIpkHDsL63ZwuMDdYAFdDXoVTVWcZLNdA1fgkawqvC1gw.&URL=http%3a%2f%2farea.autodesk.com%2fAnaheim2013
>>
>> which looks like someones computer at autodesk... do you have the
>> password for this Luc?  ;)
>>
>>
>> On 15 August 2013 15:44, Adam Seeley  wrote:
>> > Try to Copy & paste the link instead of clicking on it...
>> >
>> > A.
>> >
>> > -
>> > Yoyo Digital Ltd.
>> > 07956 976 245
>> > http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamseeleyuk
>> > https://vimeo.com/adamseeley
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > 
>> > From: Luc-Eric Rousseau 
>> > To: Morten Bartholdy ;
>> > "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" 
>> > Sent: Thursday, 15 August 2013, 14:38
>> >
>> > Subject: Re: Future of Naiad
>> >
>> > i can watch those video even on my ipad without logging in?
>> >
>> > On Thursday, August 15, 2013, Morten Bartholdy wrote:
>> >
>> > Thanks for posting Luc!
>> >
>> > Is AD ever going to get rid of the mega annoying requirement for
>> logging in
>> > to The Area..??
>> >
>> >
>> > Morten
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Den 14. august 2013 kl. 21:33 skrev Luc-Eric Rousseau <
>> luceri...@gmail.com>:
>> >
>> > The siggraph user group meeting videos were posted.  The one with
>> bifrost is
>> > called "  Behind the curtain of RD "
>> > http://area.autodesk.com/Anaheim2013
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>

Re: RE: bin format from soft to maya

[Vincent Fortin]

Have you tried velocityPP?
It would be nice if Exocortex had more up-to-date docs explaining this. If
I remember well, the Crate importer in Maya will convert any attribute by
appending "PP" at the end.
I hope you can find an alternative to Realflow. The SI plugin is known to
be buggy and the format is order of magnitude heavier and slower than any
other format!


On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 10:16 AM, Nick Angus  wrote:

>  Thanks Leo, but I am using the attributes already in Maya, point
> velocity should be a pretty standard one.  I am now considering using Steve
> Caron skies PRT exporter if I can just figure out how to use the export
> function (I can’t find the dang thing in the menus now I have installed it
> ; )
>
> ** **
>
> N
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Leo Quensel
> *Sent:* Saturday, 17 August 2013 12:13 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Aw: RE: bin format from soft to maya
>
> ** **
>
> Just a guess:
>
> Did you try creating a custom per particle attribute in Maya BEFORE (!)
> assigning your cache?
>
> I had no trouble getting my custom attributes over this way.
>
>   
>
> *Gesendet:* Freitag, 16. August 2013 um 15:51 Uhr
> *Von:* "Nick Angus" 
> *An:* "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" 
> *Betreff:* RE: bin format from soft to maya
>
> Oh dear, seems it isn’t the answer, looks like .bin is my only hope…
> anyone, anyone, bueller…
>
>  
>
> N
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Nick Angus
> *Sent:* Friday, 16 August 2013 5:35 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: bin format from soft to maya
>
>  
>
> Never mind gang, Exocortex crate seems to be the answer! 
>
>  
>
> N
>  --
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] on behalf of Nick Angus [
> n...@altvfx.com]
> *Sent:* 16 August 2013 16:16
> *To:* 
> *Subject:* bin format from soft to maya
>
> Hi folks, this is a strange one, I need to get particles from ICE to maya
> via the realflow bin format.  This is because this seems to be the only
> format that the Naiad emp converter works with from ICE. 
>
>  
>
> All works fine but I don't seem to be able to get point velocity into
> Maya, which is the whole purpose of the exercise...
>
> I have tried adding velocity in the tree, even using names that Maya would
> recognise (like WorldVelocity and AngularVelocityPP)
>
>  
>
> Any help greatly appreciated.
>
>  
>
> N
>

Re: Pacific Rim - familiar names on the credits

[Vincent Fortin]

Thanks Morten!
Watching work being reviewed live between the different ILM pods and other
studios is amazing. When you think about the amount of data that's squeezed
across the world through an internet pipe to keep facilities in sync, it's
so far out. Yet that's where we are today. The 3d technology is ready for
this as well. As an FX artist being able to simulate decent looking
explosions and destruction on a single computer overnight is a dream come
true. I am extremely optimistic about the future, things are so much easier
than 10 years ago. The rest is just team spirit and passion :-)

On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 4:42 AM, Morten Bartholdy wrote:

> **
>
>  I eventually got to see Pacific Rim yesterday and just want to mention
> here it was great to see some familiar names on the credits.
>
>
>I saw Florian Witzel, Vincent Fortin and Alan Fregtman on it - the
> list was too long and moved too fast for me to catch them all so I have
> probably missed others, but I want to say congrats with the credit and work
> well done to you guys!
>
>
>   Morten
>
>
>
>
>

Re: Latest work from Whiskytree -- Elysium

[Vincent Fortin]

Studios sharing the same directory structure... I like it :-)
Great work guys! I can't wait to watch it on big screen.




On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 12:58 AM, Chris Chia wrote:

> Nice Work Whiskytree!
> If you have a publicity video with Softimage involved, do let us know...
> Need to show to A marketing ;)
>
>
> On 14 Aug, 2013, at 5:12 AM, "Votch"  megavo...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Now that Elysium is out I can mention the project publicly!
>
> Here is an article on some of the work we did for Elysium.
>
> http://library.creativecow.net/kaufman_debra/VFX_Elysium-Whiskytree/1
>
> When I was a kid I wanted to work in VFX so that I could build space ships
> and work on SCI-FI films. Elysium is my first SCI-FI project and personally
> it was totally worth the wait.
>
> Votch Levi
> Whiskytree
>

Re: Nike Evolution and a community thank you

[Vincent Fortin]

Well done guys, great team =)


On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 3:50 AM, Morten Bartholdy wrote:

> **
>
> Your story brings a little sunshine into the picture, given all the gloom
> and doom lately - thanks Andy!
>
>
>
> Great work on the spots - cool execution!
>
>
>
> Morten
>
>
>
>
> Den 2. august 2013 kl. 06:05 skrev Andy Moorer :
>
>  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: I can't believe there is no tutorial for Softimage on Autodesk webiste

[Vincent Fortin]

I'd point them to ICE User Guide > ICE Fundamentals > Working with ICE >
first sentence: "*ICE is the Interactive Creative Environment*".
If they don't get it, they may not be suited for the job.


On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 8:40 PM, Luc-Eric Rousseau wrote:

> in addition to looking at the front page of the user guide, and
> area.autodesk.com, which is where all the tutorials are,
> http://www.autodesk.com/softimage-tutorials for the collection of
> first party and third party stuff
>
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 5:11 PM, Andy Moorer  wrote:
> > Since this thread has turned into a defacto follection of latest
> softimage
> > learning resources... some already mentioned but for completeness I'll
> add
> > them as a single post...
>

Re: Cinefex

[Vincent Fortin]

The best use for them IMO is in studios, scattered here and there in the
lounge, kitchen or on desks so more people can enjoy them.

I think that at one point they've lost some notoriety when various
resources went online providing in-depth articles and interviews for free.
Now they've got an iPad edition that's basically the same thing as the
printed one but with more content (before/after, videos and links).
At 4,75$ per issue vs. 12,00$ I started enjoying Cinefex again. The app
layout is nice, the pictures are sharp and the built in video player works
well.

Vincent


On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 7:36 PM, David Gallagher <
davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Does anyone want about 17 old Cinefex's from early 2000s and late 1990s?
>
> Hate to just toss them, but...
>
> BTW, I haven't been seeing Cinefex around. Anyone reading it out there?
> Dave G
>

Re: OT: Pacific Rim

[Vincent Fortin]

Congrats guys, top notch work!
I also enjoyed the film very much, it was a lot more entertaining than the
average Marvel that try to be so serious. IMHO Del Toro did a good job, you
can feel his personality throughout the humor, colors and ubiquitous
geekiness :-)


On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 3:59 PM, Tim Crowson  wrote:

>  Alan, I saw Pacific Rim in Imax 3D and was absolutely blown away! In my
> opinion, it's the film that is best suited for Imax 3D projection. Other
> films may be fun to watch like that, but Pacific Rim really steps it up.
> Major ass was kicked in the making of this film.
>
> Congrats to you Alan, and everyone else at Rodeo! Impressive stuff, and
> glad to know Soft was used!
>
> I don't really understand the naysayers complaining of thin plots. Who
> would possibly be naive enough to go see this film for any other reason
> than to satisfy the 10-yr old kid in you? It's all over the previews! Don't
> fool yourself... you know why you're there! :-D
>
> -Tim
>
>
>
> On 7/15/2013 2:41 PM, David Gallagher wrote:
>
> Congratulations!
>
> On 7/15/2013 3:07 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:
>
>  Hey guys,
>
>  A lot of people say Softimage doesn't get used much in movies, so I
> personally love to hear stories when it does happen. Therefore, I wanted to
> share some details with you. :)
>
>  I'm the lead rigger at *Rodeo FX* http://rodeofx.com and we did all of
> the interiors of the control pods (the cockpits, that is), including the
> visors, foot actuators & mechanical stilts, some digidoubles, etc.
> (except the holograms/UI graphics that were done by the folks at Hybride.)
> We also had the chance of doing our first organic creature, the brain in
> the lab (which involved a lot of "gross" ICE deformations), as well as many
> beautiful matte paintings and a couple of helicopters.
>
>  Overall, we did over a hundred shots. CG was done in Softimage and as
> far as I know it was all rendered in our favourite renderer, Arnold! We'd
> still be rendering today if Mentalray had been used. :p We threw countless
> ~8k textures with displacement and stupid amounts of topology, and good ol'
> Arnie performed like a champ.
>
>  The stilts (the leg controls in the cockpit) had anything from 1500 to
> 2500 separate meshes and on average about 150 segments (solid groups of
> parts that moved as one.) Once we identified the "segments" by the end we
> had a rig of Arnold stand-ins with each segment saved as one ass file, and
> low-res geo representing that segment constrained to some part of the rig.
> It then became relatively "light" to have the standins rigged instead of
> the full raw geo, and it made it quite easy to replace parts or textures
> later in the pipeline during or after animation. (Also caching was a piece
> of cake in this scenario, as we only needed to plot the segment nulls
> instead of thousands of meshes or pointcaching anything.)
>
>  On the brain there was procedural pulsing animation driven by ICE
> deformers. Globules would "breathe", a heart-like organ would pump its
> ventricles intermittently and an intestine-like organ flowed with bulges
> travelling along its tract. It was gross and (in my opinion) kind of
> awesome. lol Speaking of ICE, there was a kind of lettuce behind the brain
> that was also moving a bit. The modeling was done with strips that were
> procedurally curled and then if I remember correctly the whole thing was
> driven via Syflex as the brain gently floated. This lettuce thing was
> handled by another guy on this mailing list, my  coworker and friend
> Jonathan Laborde. Maybe if he's reading this he can give more details of
> how he used ICE in a few other shots.
>
>  It was crazy fun project to work on. Fingers crossed that Pacific Rim 2
> becomes a reality. :) Anyway, did you guys go see it? What'd you think?
>
>  Oh and speaking of other movies, we did a ton of work in "Now You See
> Me" as well, including hundreds of stadium dudes with our propietary ICE
> static crowd system, falling/flying money, cg bubbles, an art-directed
> liquid, lockpicking, flying cards, many vehicles, the projected
> motiongraphics near the end and a few invisible fx. (I feel like I probably
> missed something, but anyway, we did a lot.) We were the main vfx vendor on
> that film, delivering just over 20 minutes worth of vfx "magic" (pun
> intended.) Again, Soft & Arnold and lots of effects in ICE all throughout.
>
>  Cheers,
>
> -- Alan
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>

Re: congrats to Jellyfish

[Vincent Fortin]

Great work in every aspect!
That explosion looks too good to be fake, or is it?


On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 1:52 PM, Sam Cuttriss  wrote:

> really like it.
> congrats.
>
> _sam
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 8:30 AM, Stefan Kubicek wrote:
>
>> **
>> ** ** ** ** ** **
>> ** Flawless, and...irritating.
>> **
>> Thanks for posting!
>>
>> **
>>
>>  great short by Shynola that Jellyfish worked on
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> http://www.created-to-help-you.com/
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> 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
>>
>> ** **
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ---
>> Stefan Kubicek
>> ---
>> keyvis digital imagery
>> Alfred Feierfeilstraße 3
>> A-2380 Perchtoldsdorf bei Wien
>> Phone: +43/699/12614231
>> www.keyvis.at ste...@keyvis.at
>> -- This email and its attachments are --
>> --confidential and for the recipient only--
>> **
>>
>
>

Re: PointLocators in ICE

[Vincent Fortin]

Gustavo, are you saying the compound is available somewhere for me to dive
into, update my brain with latest firmware and waste another night of
sleep? please sign me up


On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM, Gustavo Eggert Boehs
wrote:

> It is pretty much Helge's pixel particles but implemented through (slower)
> ICE implementation. Basically it uses barycentric coordinates to get the
> equivalent position in a 2d (uv) and 3d (xyz) triangle.
>
> I remember some bottlenecks like:
>
>
>- Having to create a triangulated clone of the geometry, because it
>makes difference to how stuff works in 2d. I rember trying to avoid it with
>all my efforts, but it was useless...
>- Outputing locations instead of positions was a problem, but now
>thinking about it I cant remember why. It should be quite possible with
>reinterpret location on geo, right? I dont know...
>
> It should be fairly documented if you want to dive into it (at least that
> is how I recall it).
>
>

Re: PointLocators in ICE

[Vincent Fortin]

Oh nice.. thanks a lot for pointing that out!


On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Alan Fregtman wrote:

> >> ... to be able to use texturing UVs to drive the location. Kinda like
> a UV to Location but for polygons. Beating a dead horse for sure but this
> stuff is so mysterious I can't help wondering...
>
> Maybe ask Gustavo how he approached his UV to Position ICE magic?
> https://vimeo.com/36464429
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 11:52 AM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>
>> Thanks guys for your answers. That pretty much confirms my suspicions
>> about locations in ICE. Oh well, hopefully I can make it to the next beta
>> and make a few suggestions.
>>
>> Another approach that would serve the same purpose in some cases is to be
>> able to use texturing UVs to drive the location. Kinda like a UV to
>> Location but for polygons. Beating a dead horse for sure but this stuff is
>> so mysterious I can't help wondering...
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 4:18 AM, Ahmidou Lyazidi 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Being able to store them as static ice atttribute and eventuallycache
>>> them would be usefull too !
>>> I'm also curious about why we don't have a deeper access to locations,
>>> could some SI dev elaborate about that?
>>> Is there still rooms for improvement?
>>>
>>> Cheers.
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Ahmidou Lyazidi
>>> Director | TD | CG artist
>>> http://vimeo.com/ahmidou/videos
>>> http://www.cappuccino-films.com
>>>
>>>
>>> 2013/6/12 Vladimir Jankijevic 
>>>
>>>> +100
>>>> It would be great to have access to this data. The ability to build my
>>>> own locations would be useful sometimes :)
>>>> It's a shame we haven't seen any development in that area :(
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:37 AM, Raffaele Fragapane <
>>>> raffsxsil...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> locators are more or less that, barycentric coordinates coupled with a
>>>>> facet index kinda thing.
>>>>> Why they are not exposed atomically isn't 100% clear. It might be some
>>>>> eval issues with those atoms if they were to be exposed, just lack of
>>>>> foresight in the implementation somewhere back then, simply something
>>>>> missing that might one day come, or they might look up additional data of
>>>>> sorts (accelstruct?) and can't be decoupled from that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regardless, they can't be cracked open that I know of, not to read
>>>>> from them more granular-ly, nor to write directly into or over one.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Figured I'd start a new thread. This has been arousing my curiosity
>>>>>> for a while and I need your wisdom :-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In Houdini I build locations by providing a polygon index and what is
>>>>>> called a "uv parametric location". The term uv is misleading here. All it
>>>>>> is, is a coordinate on each polygon plane.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Softimage's sdk calls it "subtriangle barycentric weights". So along
>>>>>> with the polygon index and the vertex indices I managed to build my
>>>>>> location in python. I didn't test this thoroughly but I seem to be 
>>>>>> getting
>>>>>> an equivalent to what I'm used to in Houdini.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> With regard to recreate this in ICE:
>>>>>> 1) Do we have access to the necessary data? (that is, polygon index,
>>>>>> subtriangle indices and the normalized weights on the triangle?)
>>>>>> 2) How would we go about assembling it?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I understand this all sounds a bit abstract. Like everyone I use
>>>>>> locations a lot in ICE, they're amazing and manipulating them is easy.
>>>>>> Maybe there is no need for exposing lower-level functionalities.
>>>>>> I'm merely experimenting here to see how far I can push them. An
>>>>>> example would be to access those barycentric coordinates and, say, slide 
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> particle on a polygon without having to resort to the Get Closest 
>>>>>> Location
>>>>>> node.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship
>>>>> it and let them flee like the dogs they are!
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ---
>>>> Vladimir Jankijevic
>>>> Technical Direction
>>>>
>>>> Elefant Studios AG
>>>> Lessingstrasse 15
>>>> CH-8002 Zürich
>>>>
>>>> +41 44 500 48 20
>>>>
>>>> www.elefantstudios.ch
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: PointLocators in ICE

[Vincent Fortin]

Thanks guys for your answers. That pretty much confirms my suspicions about
locations in ICE. Oh well, hopefully I can make it to the next beta and
make a few suggestions.

Another approach that would serve the same purpose in some cases is to be
able to use texturing UVs to drive the location. Kinda like a UV to
Location but for polygons. Beating a dead horse for sure but this stuff is
so mysterious I can't help wondering...


On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 4:18 AM, Ahmidou Lyazidi wrote:

> Being able to store them as static ice atttribute and eventuallycache them
> would be usefull too !
> I'm also curious about why we don't have a deeper access to locations,
> could some SI dev elaborate about that?
> Is there still rooms for improvement?
>
> Cheers.
>
> ---
> Ahmidou Lyazidi
> Director | TD | CG artist
> http://vimeo.com/ahmidou/videos
> http://www.cappuccino-films.com
>
>
> 2013/6/12 Vladimir Jankijevic 
>
>> +100
>> It would be great to have access to this data. The ability to build my
>> own locations would be useful sometimes :)
>> It's a shame we haven't seen any development in that area :(
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:37 AM, Raffaele Fragapane <
>> raffsxsil...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> locators are more or less that, barycentric coordinates coupled with a
>>> facet index kinda thing.
>>> Why they are not exposed atomically isn't 100% clear. It might be some
>>> eval issues with those atoms if they were to be exposed, just lack of
>>> foresight in the implementation somewhere back then, simply something
>>> missing that might one day come, or they might look up additional data of
>>> sorts (accelstruct?) and can't be decoupled from that.
>>>
>>> Regardless, they can't be cracked open that I know of, not to read from
>>> them more granular-ly, nor to write directly into or over one.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>>>
>>>> Figured I'd start a new thread. This has been arousing my curiosity for
>>>> a while and I need your wisdom :-)
>>>>
>>>> In Houdini I build locations by providing a polygon index and what is
>>>> called a "uv parametric location". The term uv is misleading here. All it
>>>> is, is a coordinate on each polygon plane.
>>>>
>>>> Softimage's sdk calls it "subtriangle barycentric weights". So along
>>>> with the polygon index and the vertex indices I managed to build my
>>>> location in python. I didn't test this thoroughly but I seem to be getting
>>>> an equivalent to what I'm used to in Houdini.
>>>>
>>>> With regard to recreate this in ICE:
>>>> 1) Do we have access to the necessary data? (that is, polygon index,
>>>> subtriangle indices and the normalized weights on the triangle?)
>>>> 2) How would we go about assembling it?
>>>>
>>>> I understand this all sounds a bit abstract. Like everyone I use
>>>> locations a lot in ICE, they're amazing and manipulating them is easy.
>>>> Maybe there is no need for exposing lower-level functionalities.
>>>> I'm merely experimenting here to see how far I can push them. An
>>>> example would be to access those barycentric coordinates and, say, slide a
>>>> particle on a polygon without having to resort to the Get Closest Location
>>>> node.
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it
>>> and let them flee like the dogs they are!
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ---
>> Vladimir Jankijevic
>> Technical Direction
>>
>> Elefant Studios AG
>> Lessingstrasse 15
>> CH-8002 Zürich
>>
>> +41 44 500 48 20
>>
>> www.elefantstudios.ch
>> ---
>>
>
>

PointLocators in ICE

[Vincent Fortin]

Figured I'd start a new thread. This has been arousing my curiosity for a
while and I need your wisdom :-)

In Houdini I build locations by providing a polygon index and what is
called a "uv parametric location". The term uv is misleading here. All it
is, is a coordinate on each polygon plane.

Softimage's sdk calls it "subtriangle barycentric weights". So along with
the polygon index and the vertex indices I managed to build my location in
python. I didn't test this thoroughly but I seem to be getting an
equivalent to what I'm used to in Houdini.

With regard to recreate this in ICE:
1) Do we have access to the necessary data? (that is, polygon index,
subtriangle indices and the normalized weights on the triangle?)
2) How would we go about assembling it?

I understand this all sounds a bit abstract. Like everyone I use locations
a lot in ICE, they're amazing and manipulating them is easy. Maybe there is
no need for exposing lower-level functionalities.
I'm merely experimenting here to see how far I can push them. An example
would be to access those barycentric coordinates and, say, slide a particle
on a polygon without having to resort to the Get Closest Location node.

Thoughts?

Re: getting subsurface index

[Vincent Fortin]

I understand the problem, I had to work with combined curves and found
difficult (impossible?) to access subcurves. Looks like an area of ICE that
could be improved a lot by exposing the right attribute.
Good luck and keep us posted with your discoveries.


On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:10 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> You only need that method when comparing PointLocators across multiple
> subsurfaces to make decisions.  In my case I only need the nearest location
> on the surface mesh.  NURBSSurfaceMesh.GetClosestSurfacePosition2() returns
> the subsurface index as part of the PointLocator object.
>
> ** **
>
> In the case of ICE, the subsurface index can be specified in the UV to
> Location node to apply a location on a surface mesh, but there is no way to
> read the subsurface index from a PointLocator on a surface mesh – that is
> the problem.  I spent most of last night at home scratching my head on
> various ways to determine the subsurface index.  I tried using group
> geometry, metadata in weightmaps and so forth.  Bottom line is no matter
> what workaround I attempted, I needed the subsurface index to be delivered
> from the PointLocator.  The only option in ICE is to use the Reinterpret
> Location node, but it doesn’t expose the subsurface index which makes it
> impossible to apply a UV offset as I need to do.
>
> ** **
>
> Since the ICE SDK doesn’t expose locators, looks like I’ll have to use C++
> or a scripted operator.
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Vincent Fortin
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 11, 2013 12:48 PM
> *To:* softimage
> *Subject:* Re: getting subsurface index
>
> ** **
>
> Looks like this 
> method<http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=si_om/NurbsSurfaceMesh.GetSubSurfaceIndexArray.html,topicNumber=si_om_NurbsSurfaceMesh_GetSubSurfaceIndexArray_html>would
>  be useful to you if it was implemented in ICE. It'd be perfect with
> the UV to Location node.
>
> ** **
>
> It's the opposite issue with polygons. You can extract the polygon index
> from the location but it's missing the polygon UV.
>
> I was hoping to be able to build a location from scratch using those two
> attributes. But I couldn't find anything about polygon UVs, even in the sdk.
> 
>
> ** **
>
> Maybe Grahame knows?
>
> ** **
>
> On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 7:22 PM, Matt Lind 
> wrote:
>
> And to follow – I wish the subsurface index wasn’t encapsulated in the
> location.  It should be exposed as a port on the reinterpret location and
> UV to location nodes so you can perform one-to-many and many-to-one
> remappings.  Reinterpret location should expose a UV coordinate port as
> well.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 3:16 PM
>
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: getting subsurface index
>
>  
>
> I need to remap with an offset in the UV coordinate.  Reinterpret doesn’t
> allow for that.
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
> *On Behalf Of *Grahame Fuller
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 12:53 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: getting subsurface index
>
>  
>
> An ICE  location on a surface mesh essentially consists of the subsurface
> index and the UV parameters on that subsurface, in other words, the
> subsurface index is built in to the location. So, you should be able to
> simply use Reinterpret Location to New Geometry. Is that not working?  ***
> *
>
>  
>
> gray
>
>  
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
> *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 03:03 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* ICE: getting subsurface index
>
>  
>
> I have to write a tool which remaps a position from a surface mesh onto
> another surface mesh.  I am hoping to use ICE, but am running into a
> barrier – how to obtain the subsurface index of a surface mesh which a
> location was found.
>
>  
>
> Anybody?
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Matt
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ** **
>

Re: getting subsurface index

[Vincent Fortin]

Looks like this
methodwould
be useful to you if it was implemented in ICE. It'd be perfect with
the UV to Location node.

It's the opposite issue with polygons. You can extract the polygon index
from the location but it's missing the polygon UV.
I was hoping to be able to build a location from scratch using those two
attributes. But I couldn't find anything about polygon UVs, even in the sdk.

Maybe Grahame knows?


On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 7:22 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> And to follow – I wish the subsurface index wasn’t encapsulated in the
> location.  It should be exposed as a port on the reinterpret location and
> UV to location nodes so you can perform one-to-many and many-to-one
> remappings.  Reinterpret location should expose a UV coordinate port as
> well.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 3:16 PM
>
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: getting subsurface index
>
> ** **
>
> I need to remap with an offset in the UV coordinate.  Reinterpret doesn’t
> allow for that.
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
> *On Behalf Of *Grahame Fuller
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 12:53 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* RE: getting subsurface index
>
> ** **
>
> An ICE  location on a surface mesh essentially consists of the subsurface
> index and the UV parameters on that subsurface, in other words, the
> subsurface index is built in to the location. So, you should be able to
> simply use Reinterpret Location to New Geometry. Is that not working?  ***
> *
>
> ** **
>
> gray
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
> *On Behalf Of *Matt Lind
> *Sent:* Monday, June 10, 2013 03:03 PM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* ICE: getting subsurface index
>
> ** **
>
> I have to write a tool which remaps a position from a surface mesh onto
> another surface mesh.  I am hoping to use ICE, but am running into a
> barrier – how to obtain the subsurface index of a surface mesh which a
> location was found.
>
> ** **
>
> Anybody?
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>

Re: rotate vector field by envelope

[Vincent Fortin]

True in the context of this thread. But it's a workaround that has a
limited scope. On more complex setups or simulations like I do it falls
appart as a solution. Freezing is buggy, you loose attributes. It was a
weird move to base Initial States on it instead of, say, cache files.
On the bigger picture, managing frozen pointclouds and duplicates
everywhere breaks proceduralism and leads to scene files growing and
overall scalability issues.
I'm sure you're aware of that anyways and just wanted to provide a
workaround.
But I wanted to express my little point of view because I think ICE
deserves better. I find it hard to live without
this<http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini12.5/nodes/sop/timeshift>and
this <http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini12.5/nodes/sop/timeblend> these
days :-)



On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Steven Caron  wrote:

> you can also store a custom attribute in the modeling region and use it
> later in animation. then freeze the modeling stack as long as the attribute
> is being pulled it won't get removed. this has been used before on an ice
> based cage deformer i have used.
>
>
> On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 10:25 AM, Vincent Fortin wrote:
>
>> ICE would benefit so much from being able to evaluate the graph at any
>> given time!
>> It's partly possible via 
>> scripting<http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2013/en_us/sdkguide/index.html?url=si_om/ICENodeInputPort.GetValueAtFrame.html,topicNumber=si_om_ICENodeInputPort_GetValueAtFrame_html>,
>> makes me wonder why it's not yet available directly in ICE.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Sandy Sutherland <
>> sandy.mailli...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  Cool stuff!
>>>
>>> S.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 29/05/2013 12:15, Gerbrand Nel wrote:
>>>
>>> Good news guys!! Paul's trick works if you pay attention to how he does
>>> it and connect the multiplies the right way around :)
>>> Sandy: My fur is mostly based on the triggerfish/melena fur you guys
>>> shared, but the store groom didn't hold up for my stuff for some reason.
>>> Thanks for the input guys.
>>> Once again my ass is saved :)
>>> G
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Re: rotate vector field by envelope

[Vincent Fortin]

ICE would benefit so much from being able to evaluate the graph at any
given time!
It's partly possible via
scripting,
makes me wonder why it's not yet available directly in ICE.


On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Sandy Sutherland  wrote:

>  Cool stuff!
>
> S.
>
>
> On 29/05/2013 12:15, Gerbrand Nel wrote:
>
> Good news guys!! Paul's trick works if you pay attention to how he does it
> and connect the multiplies the right way around :)
> Sandy: My fur is mostly based on the triggerfish/melena fur you guys
> shared, but the store groom didn't hold up for my stuff for some reason.
> Thanks for the input guys.
> Once again my ass is saved :)
> G
>
>
>

Re: Re: heavy ice operation flaws

[Vincent Fortin]

I didn't know it was called the graph validation but this problem happens
to me as soon as the scene grows over a certain number of point
clouds/nodes. The evaluation of the graph itself is *super fast* but
dropping a new node or even selecting one takes forever with screen turning
white. In extreme cases the problem seems to extend to other basic
operations in the application such as accessing menus or changing
camera, which is weird.
With everything hidden and viewports muted, you'd think you could at least
lay down all new nodes before getting anything to evaluate.
+1 for what Guillaume said!


On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 7:28 AM, Leo Quensel  wrote:

>  Oh yes the graph validation becomes a huge pain after a certain number
> of nodes. I had projects where it took 30 seconds just to
> connect a single node. No fun :(
>
> *Gesendet:* Mittwoch, 15. Mai 2013 um 13:08 Uhr
> *Von:* "Guillaume Laforge" 
> *An:* "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" 
> *Betreff:* Re: Aw: heavy ice operation flaws
>  +1 for:
>
> - Various Graph evaluation modes : Mute, On demand, Always (some examples
> here: https://vimeo.com/48242379)
> - Faster evaluation of the graph validation (as it would still be needed
> if you are editing a "mutted" ICETree)
> - Fixing "Hidden but still evaluating ICETree bugs"
>
> On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 6:47 AM, Andreas Böinghoff 
> wrote:
>>
>>  b:
>>
>> I'm a bit double-minded when it comes to evaluation of hidden ICE trees.
>> Sometimes it's nice to have, sometimes not. Personally I would love to see
>> two this.
>>
>> First: The possibility to turn of the evaluation of all ICE trees in the
>> Scene (Like in Maya -> Evaluate Notes). That would also be nice for
>> Deformers, Envelopes, Contraints...
>> Second: The possibility to Mute ICE trees. The Disable from here option
>> helps from time to time, but a hard Mute switch would be nice.
>>
>>
>> On 5/15/2013 12:02 PM, Leo Quensel wrote:
>>
>>  To b:
>>
>> I once tried to cast rays from a camera to points in a pointcloud to
>> determine visibility.
>> It was enough to have the camera connected to a raycast node and it was
>> evaluated all the time - even if the raycast node was completely
>> disconnected from
>> anything else.
>> This was on 2012 (without SP) - haven't tried since.
>>
>> *Gesendet:* Mittwoch, 15. Mai 2013 um 11:33 Uhr
>> *Von:* "Sebastian Kowalski"  
>> *An:* 
>> "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com"
>> 
>> *Betreff:* heavy ice operation flaws
>> hey list,
>>
>> i am feeling a bit bad because of complaining every time i am writing to
>> this beloved list.
>> sorry, but…
>>
>> a) load a heavy cache, generate a shitload of points, build up huge
>> arrays and the ram consumption raises to max. well thats not the problem,
>> but delete that cloud, plug off the cache reader the memory wont flush..
>> its stays that high.
>> seems to be reserving the ram, cause it wont rise higher when doing the
>> operation again. ok i understand. but then setup a second cloud, do
>> something similiar, and goodbye softimage.
>>
>> b) having an hidden pointcloud in the scene does not say that that tree
>> wont be evaluated when some param outside the tree is feeding it. like
>> doing some cam frustum calculation.
>>
>> c) similar to b), save a scene with an hidden object, simulated by an ice
>> tree. its gonna evaluate, progress bar is up (and on win 7, its gonna hide
>> itself behind the main application).
>> on occasions it also gonna ramp up on ram, and wont flush after saving is
>> done. (when you got an HIDDEN pointcloud reading a cache )
>>
>> thats all on 2013.
>>
>> -sebastian
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

Re: WWD the 3D movie

[Vincent Fortin]

Great job Animals!


On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:22 AM, Matt Morris  wrote:

> I love the style of those dinos - that must have been a really hard line
> to walk. Great job Raff and all the guys who worked on it - will be
> interested to see the credits list!
>
>
>
>
> On 2 May 2013 16:14, Chris Covelli  wrote:
>
>> Amazing work! Great job Eric, Raf and everyone from Animal Logic.  Cant
>> wait to see the whole thing!
>>
>> Chris Covelli
>> http://www.polygonpusherinc.com/
>> http://exocortex.com/products/species
>> TurboSquid 
>> Models
>>
>>
>> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Tim Crowson <
>> tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  Nice work guys!
>>> Raf, I think creationists are a bit more rational than you might expect
>>> though. I see some very thorough thinkers among them.
>>> -Tim
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/1/2013 10:12 PM, Raffaele Fragapane wrote:
>>>
>>>  Whatever you do, don't let him become a paleontologist or a
>>> paleoartist.
>>>  The shit they peddle makes creationists look positively rational and
>>> thorough thinkers in comparison :p
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Andre De Angelis <
>>> andre.deange...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
 Looks stunning Raf,

  I made the mistake of watching the trailer in front of my son and now
 he has is looping.


  On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Raffaele Fragapane <
 raffsxsil...@googlemail.com> wrote:

>  Thought I'd plug it here since all rigging and animation (not to
> mention a considerable amount of topology work) is Softimage, and some
> familiar names from the list worked on it:
>
>
> http://io9.com/walking-with-dinosaurs-3d-trailer-is-simply-stunning-486248262
>
>


  --
 Andre De Angelis


>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it
>>> and let them flee like the dogs they are!
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> www.matinai.com
>

Re: Centre NAD - end of semester project

[Vincent Fortin]

Well done guys... and great choise of beer :)


On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:37 AM, Maxime Philippon <
mphilippon.mailingl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey folks,
>
> My team and I did a project for our end of semester and we wanted to share
> it with you!
>
> feedbacks are welcome
>
> have fun and enjoy! :)
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8tKS-Ax5eM&feature=share
>
> --
> Max
>

Re: cloning points with attributes

[Vincent Fortin]

In case you are wondering, there is no step #2 :-)


On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:29 PM, Vincent Fortin  wrote:

> Adrian, the frozen pointcloud is the culprit. I had issues cloning and
> rendering them.
>
> repro:
> 1) create an empty pointcloud and load a cache on it
> 3) freeze the pointcloud
> 4) reload a cache on the pointcloud
> 5) create a new empty pointcloud
> 6) clone from the first pointcloud to the second (it doesn't matter on
> which pointcloud the ICETree is)
> 7) Points are cloned but color is gone.
>
> Avoid if possible!
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:03 PM, Grahame Fuller <
> grahame.ful...@autodesk.com> wrote:
>
>> I agree it should have been documented, and it's partly my fault that it
>> isn't. I simply wasn't aware of the issue (there was no item called
>> "truncate array data for groups" in our database) and never stumbled across
>> it until later.
>>
>> I don't work on the Softimage docs anymore, but you should log a bug for
>> the current writers to add something to the docs.
>>
>> gray
>>
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Christian
>> Freisleder
>> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 02:45 PM
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> Subject: Re: cloning points with attributes
>>
>> Well, that might not be possible for all of us, as Autodesk might not
>> need that much staff ;)
>> AND there might be the minor problem that not all of us speak c++ .
>>
>> But seriously, I think this kind of info should be documented in the
>> specific area of the help.
>>
>> Christian
>> On 29.04.2013 20:34, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
>> > Where do you pull this sort of info?
>>
>> Just ask Autodesk to work in the Softimage team, this way you will be
>> able to learn ICE nodes from the source code ;).
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 2:15 PM, Christian Freisleder > <mailto:m...@buntepixel.eu>> wrote:
>> Thanks for the 2d array hint anyway, that explains some problems I had on
>> a previous project.
>> Where do you pull this sort of info?
>> can't find it in the manual even specifically looking for it!
>>
>> christian
>>
>> On 29.04.2013 19:03, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
>> That make sense as arrays data is not accessed from the Group Geometry
>> node in this case. Thanks for the precision Grahame :).
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Grahame Fuller <
>> grahame.ful...@autodesk.com<mailto:grahame.ful...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
>> The issue with arrays occurs only when you try to get attributes directly
>> off the group, e.g., emit particles at Group.PointPosition.
>>
>> In the case below, where you are reading attributes at locations on the
>> group geometry, there is no problem.
>>
>> gray
>>
>> 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 adrian wyer
>> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 12:16 PM
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
>> Subject: RE: cloning points with attributes
>>
>> not a problem, i am merging 7 LIDAR scans, each of which has over 10
>> million points... a few thousand missing ones won't make a dent!
>>
>> and surprisingly, Soft is coping with 70million+ points quite well!
>>
>> a
>>
>> 
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>> [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] On Behalf Of Guillaume Laforge
>> Sent: 29 April 2013 17:11
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage@listproc.autodesk.com><mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> <mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>>
>> Subject: Re: cloning points with attributes
>>
>> If I remember correctly, the Group Geometry node will re-size any 2D
>> arrays to the smallest on in the group. So the new point cloud could will
>> miss some data (incomplete strand positions for example). I didn't double
>> check it, but just in case :).
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Guillaume
>> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Christian Freisleder > <mailto:m...@buntepixel.eu><mailto:m...@buntepixel.eu<mail

Re: cloning points with attributes

[Vincent Fortin]

Adrian, the frozen pointcloud is the culprit. I had issues cloning and
rendering them.

repro:
1) create an empty pointcloud and load a cache on it
3) freeze the pointcloud
4) reload a cache on the pointcloud
5) create a new empty pointcloud
6) clone from the first pointcloud to the second (it doesn't matter on
which pointcloud the ICETree is)
7) Points are cloned but color is gone.

Avoid if possible!


On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:03 PM, Grahame Fuller  wrote:

> I agree it should have been documented, and it's partly my fault that it
> isn't. I simply wasn't aware of the issue (there was no item called
> "truncate array data for groups" in our database) and never stumbled across
> it until later.
>
> I don't work on the Softimage docs anymore, but you should log a bug for
> the current writers to add something to the docs.
>
> gray
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Christian Freisleder
> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 02:45 PM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: cloning points with attributes
>
> Well, that might not be possible for all of us, as Autodesk might not need
> that much staff ;)
> AND there might be the minor problem that not all of us speak c++ .
>
> But seriously, I think this kind of info should be documented in the
> specific area of the help.
>
> Christian
> On 29.04.2013 20:34, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
> > Where do you pull this sort of info?
>
> Just ask Autodesk to work in the Softimage team, this way you will be able
> to learn ICE nodes from the source code ;).
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 2:15 PM, Christian Freisleder  > wrote:
> Thanks for the 2d array hint anyway, that explains some problems I had on
> a previous project.
> Where do you pull this sort of info?
> can't find it in the manual even specifically looking for it!
>
> christian
>
> On 29.04.2013 19:03, Guillaume Laforge wrote:
> That make sense as arrays data is not accessed from the Group Geometry
> node in this case. Thanks for the precision Grahame :).
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Grahame Fuller <
> grahame.ful...@autodesk.com> wrote:
> The issue with arrays occurs only when you try to get attributes directly
> off the group, e.g., emit particles at Group.PointPosition.
>
> In the case below, where you are reading attributes at locations on the
> group geometry, there is no problem.
>
> gray
>
> 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 adrian wyer
> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 12:16 PM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >
> Subject: RE: cloning points with attributes
>
> not a problem, i am merging 7 LIDAR scans, each of which has over 10
> million points... a few thousand missing ones won't make a dent!
>
> and surprisingly, Soft is coping with 70million+ points quite well!
>
> a
>
> 
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>> [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] On Behalf Of Guillaume Laforge
> Sent: 29 April 2013 17:11
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>
> Subject: Re: cloning points with attributes
>
> If I remember correctly, the Group Geometry node will re-size any 2D
> arrays to the smallest on in the group. So the new point cloud could will
> miss some data (incomplete strand positions for example). I didn't double
> check it, but just in case :).
>
> Cheers,
> Guillaume
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Christian Freisleder  >>
> wrote:
> Hey Adrian,
>
> I would recommend to collect all your pointclouds with a group Geometry
> node and plug it into a "Generate Sample Set" with emission type set to
> "Point" and Rate type to "all Points" Rate should be set to 1.
> then you can get whatever data is in the pointclouds via a
> "self.emitlocation" and pull the data you need from this Location.
> you will get a red node if there are custom attributes that are not valid
> for all clouds. You can avoid that by setting fake values on the clouds
> that miss them.
>
> hope that works for you!
>
> Christian
>
>
> [cid:image001.jpg@01CE44D9.78316C60]
>
> On 29.04.2013 15:49, Leonard Koch wrote:
> I had some quick fun with it. Hope it helps.
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:41 PM, adrian wyer <
> adrian.w...@fluid-pictures.com >>> wrote:
> ahhh that's enligh

Re: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?

[Vincent Fortin]

Ah... I'm not interested in the stylus-in-the-head experience, so thanks
for the advice!

@Alan:
Thanks, that's what I meant!
Goes without saying that the DeleteComponent op (and any geometry-changing
operators for that matter) are also on the no-no list.



On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 3:47 PM, Vladimir Jankijevic <
vladi...@elefantstudios.ch> wrote:

> Don't get me started with this. Copying topology from references to local
> scene objects :) HA it sounded nice to me at first too. But then the
> hell brakes loose and you start banging your head against your wacom stylus
> :)
>
> Actually it would be a really powerful thing if it's stable. but as I
> said, crashes all over the place
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 3:36 PM, Vincent Fortin  wrote:
>
>> Matt, I think that's the intention indeed. Unfortunately users keep
>> coming across limitations in their workflow (see first post) and after
>> spending time chasing bugs and workarounds, they end up making the damn
>> file local.
>>
>> I'd be interested in discussing how they could be made more useful to
>> everyone. What about references to other objects in the scene? Why do we
>> have to duplicate geometry all the time when all you really need is to
>> branch off a source geometry?
>>
>> I think I found the answer in ICE but I'm no Topo expert. By creating an
>> empty mesh and copying a reference model's topology over, I have full
>> control over my mesh. That's a good start. I'll have to find how I can
>> easily transfer other properties that I might need later on. And also make
>> sure the scene weight doesn't sky rocket as I'm about to "duplicate"
>> hundreds of referenced characters that way.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Matt Lind wrote:
>>
>>> Referenced models support data being applied atop of the model and
>>> retained between saves.  This data is local to the scene and stored in the
>>> model’s delta.
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Matt
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Alok
>>> *Sent:* Thursday, April 18, 2013 6:32 AM
>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>>> *Subject:* Re: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Maybe I am completely off the track but isn't it that Referenced Model
>>> are locked for any manipulations including ICE Trees. I mean, you would the
>>> ICE Tree on the Local Model before referencing it.
>>>
>>> ALOK
>>>
>>> GANDHI
>>>
>>> / chef directeur technique - lead technical director
>>>
>>>
>>> alok.gan...@modusfx.com
>>>
>>> T: 
>>>
>>> *450 430-0010 x225*
>>>
>>> *F: *
>>>
>>> *450 430-0009
>>> www.modusfx.com*
>>>
>>> *
>>> -
>>> *
>>>
>>> * *
>>>
>>> *MODUS*
>>>
>>> *FX*
>>>
>>> * *
>>>
>>> *120 Rue Turgeon,*
>>>
>>> * *
>>>
>>> *Sainte-Therese (Quebec) CANADA J7E 3J1*
>>>
>>> * *
>>>
>>> *Follow us on*
>>>
>>> *Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/ModusFX> *
>>>
>>> *&*
>>>
>>> *Twitter <https://twitter.com/Modusfx>*
>>>
>>> On 18/04/2013 2:45 AM, ivan tay wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Vincent,
>>>
>>> I have repro-ed this and this is tagged under SOFT-8906 for further
>>> investigation.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> -Ivan
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Chris Chia 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Vincent,
>>> Thanks for the info.
>>> I have forwarded this issue to the team for further investigation.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Vincent Fortin
>>> Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:38 PM
>>> To: softimage
>>> Subject: ICE Tree on reference model, what gi

Re: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?

[Vincent Fortin]

Matt, I think that's the intention indeed. Unfortunately users keep coming
across limitations in their workflow (see first post) and after spending
time chasing bugs and workarounds, they end up making the damn file local.

I'd be interested in discussing how they could be made more useful to
everyone. What about references to other objects in the scene? Why do we
have to duplicate geometry all the time when all you really need is to
branch off a source geometry?

I think I found the answer in ICE but I'm no Topo expert. By creating an
empty mesh and copying a reference model's topology over, I have full
control over my mesh. That's a good start. I'll have to find how I can
easily transfer other properties that I might need later on. And also make
sure the scene weight doesn't sky rocket as I'm about to "duplicate"
hundreds of referenced characters that way.

Cheers

On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Matt Lind  wrote:

> Referenced models support data being applied atop of the model and
> retained between saves.  This data is local to the scene and stored in the
> model’s delta.
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Matt
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Alok
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 18, 2013 6:32 AM
> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> *Subject:* Re: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?
>
> ** **
>
> Maybe I am completely off the track but isn't it that Referenced Model are
> locked for any manipulations including ICE Trees. I mean, you would the ICE
> Tree on the Local Model before referencing it.
>
> ALOK
>
> GANDHI
>
> / chef directeur technique - lead technical director
>
>
> alok.gan...@modusfx.com
>
> T: 
>
> *450 430-0010 x225*
>
> *F: *
>
> *450 430-0009
> www.modusfx.com*
>
> *
> -
> *
>
> * *
>
> *MODUS*
>
> *FX*
>
> * *
>
> *120 Rue Turgeon,*
>
> * *
>
> *Sainte-Therese (Quebec) CANADA J7E 3J1*
>
> * *
>
> *Follow us on*
>
> *Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/ModusFX> *
>
> *&*
>
> *Twitter <https://twitter.com/Modusfx>*
>
> On 18/04/2013 2:45 AM, ivan tay wrote:
>
> Hi Vincent,
>
> I have repro-ed this and this is tagged under SOFT-8906 for further
> investigation.
>
> Regards
>
> -Ivan
>
> ** **
>
> On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Chris Chia 
> wrote:
>
> Hi Vincent,
> Thanks for the info.
> I have forwarded this issue to the team for further investigation.
>
> Regards,
> Chris
>
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Vincent Fortin
> Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:38 PM
> To: softimage
> Subject: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?
>
>
> Hi List, long time no see :-)
>
> I read this in the Softimage 2013 SP1 fix list<
> http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Softimage_2013_SP1.pdf>:***
> *
>
>
> SOFT-  Saving a scene with an ICE tree on a referenced model and
> loading it back up and you lose the ICE Tree completely.
> However, when doing the following I lose the ICE Tree completely:
> 1) Get Primitive > Character > Biped
> 2) Right-Click > Convert to Reference
> 3) Create an ICE Tree on the character mesh
> 4) Save and reopen the scene
> 5) ICE Tree has disappeared!
> Looks like it may be related to the enveloppe since everything works if
> the character is frozen or if I test against a simple sphere.
> Someone confirmed to me that the same happens in 2014.
> Any ideas?
>
> Vincent
>
> ** **
>
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2012.0.2241 / Virus Database: 3162/5751 - Release Date: 04/17/13*
> ***
>
> ** **
>

Matt,

Re: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?

[Vincent Fortin]

That's just the way we've been accustomed to. But a reference is (or should
be) as simple as pulling data from disk. New properties, ICE Trees,
deleting polys? I don't see any reason to prohibit such things, as long as
the integrity of the file on disk remains.


On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 9:32 AM, Alok  wrote:

>  Maybe I am completely off the track but isn't it that Referenced Model
> are locked for any manipulations including ICE Trees. I mean, you would the
> ICE Tree on the Local Model before referencing it.
>
>  ALOK
>
> GANDHI
>
> / chef directeur technique - lead technical director
>
> alok.gan...@modusfx.com
>
> T:
> *450 430-0010 x225
>
> F:
> 450 430-0009
> www.modusfx.com
>
>
> -
>
> MODUS
>
> FX
>
> 120 Rue Turgeon,
>
> Sainte-Therese (Quebec) CANADA J7E 3J1
>
> Follow us on
> Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/ModusFX>
>
> &
> Twitter <https://twitter.com/Modusfx>
> *
> On 18/04/2013 2:45 AM, ivan tay wrote:
>
>  Hi Vincent,
>
>  I have repro-ed this and this is tagged under SOFT-8906 for further
> investigation.
>
>  Regards
>  -Ivan
>
>
>  On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Chris Chia wrote:
>
>> Hi Vincent,
>> Thanks for the info.
>> I have forwarded this issue to the team for further investigation.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Chris
>>
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Vincent Fortin
>> Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:38 PM
>> To: softimage
>> Subject: ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?
>>
>> Hi List, long time no see :-)
>>
>>  I read this in the Softimage 2013 SP1 fix list<
>> http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Softimage_2013_SP1.pdf>:
>>
>> SOFT-  Saving a scene with an ICE tree on a referenced model and
>> loading it back up and you lose the ICE Tree completely.
>> However, when doing the following I lose the ICE Tree completely:
>> 1) Get Primitive > Character > Biped
>> 2) Right-Click > Convert to Reference
>> 3) Create an ICE Tree on the character mesh
>> 4) Save and reopen the scene
>> 5) ICE Tree has disappeared!
>> Looks like it may be related to the enveloppe since everything works if
>> the character is frozen or if I test against a simple sphere.
>> Someone confirmed to me that the same happens in 2014.
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> Vincent
>>
>
>  No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2012.0.2241 / Virus Database: 3162/5751 - Release Date: 04/17/13
>
>
>

ICE Tree on reference model, what gives?

[Vincent Fortin]

Hi List, long time no see :-)

I read this in the Softimage 2013 SP1 fix
list
:

*SOFT-  Saving a scene with an ICE tree on a referenced model and
loading it back up and you lose the ICE Tree completely.

*
However, when doing the following I lose the ICE Tree completely:

1) Get Primitive > Character > Biped
2) Right-Click > Convert to Reference
3) Create an ICE Tree on the character mesh
4) Save and reopen the scene
5) ICE Tree has disappeared!

Looks like it may be related to the enveloppe since everything works if the
character is frozen or if I test against a simple sphere.

Someone confirmed to me that the same happens in 2014.

Any ideas?

Vincent

Re: Intro to the new team (was RE: Softimage development)

[Vincent Fortin]

Epic swearing, thanks for the laugh, Sylvain 8-)

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 11:25 PM, Sylvain Lebeau  wrote:

> Sorry for the french swearing...
>
> Sacrament de tabarnak ...
>
> Welcome to you guys Chung-Pong!!
> i have mixed up feelings of course. I really must admit this is major in
> terms of seeing Softimage finally vanish but i cant do anything except to
> hope for the best for all of us softimage underdogs. Taking all the devs
> out to Maya is a sign we cannot put our heads under the sand.
>
> Chung-Pong, you guys seem's to come from a gaming background mostly...
> Could you tell us about your plans for the futur? .. i mean what was asked
> to you? probably you cannot say anything...  But i really hope you guys
> are going to bring something new and refreshing so we can still hope for a
> futur You guys have a great challenge under hands. Millions of code
> lines to delve into. I wonder how the SP1 will look like. Good luck
> from the bottom of my heart! Hat's off for the undertaking.. :-)
>
> caliss de siboire
>
> btw: anyone can tell me how to plug textures in the hypershade plz??  I
> middle click and drag onto the shader then a pop up connection editor
> come's across and nothing i can do in there.. any tips?  Ohh
> almebic is already there?? wow nice!!. ...  i' ll still install Helge's
> version.
> and how do i do render layers exactly? . membership something? Where
> are the partitions?  overrides? ...
>
> ... chu en tabarnak  sacrament.. ...Dans l'cul Autodesk de marde avec
> ma grosse graine.
>
> sly
>
>
> --
>
> *Sylvain Lebeau // SHED**
> *V-P/Visual effects supervisor
> 1410, RUE STANLEY, 11E ÉTAGE MONTRÉAL (QUÉBEC) H3A 1P8
> T 514 849-1555 F 514 849-5025 WWW.SHEDMTL.COM  <
> http://WWW.SHEDMTL.COM >
>
>
>
>
>   Raffaele Fragapane 
>  Thursday, April 19, 2012 7:56 PM
> We welcome the new overhead overlord and his minions!
> More seriously, good to hear from, or at least about, you guys. Please do
> make sure you pick up the torch of mailing list interactions where the old
> guard left it, even if at the cost of a feature or two per release :)
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it
> and let them flee like the dogs they are!
>
>   Chun-Pong Yu 
>  Thursday, April 19, 2012 6:14 AM
> Luc-Eric's comments are a good segway for me to introduce some members of
> the new team and what they're working on. We've been lurking on the list so
> far, and have been amazed by the passion of most in the community for
> Softimage and will support it as best as we can. Now that Luc-Eric,
> Guillaume LaForge, Guillaume Laferriere, etc. have moved to the Maya team,
> we'll be participating more actively especially when there're technical
> issues reported.
>
> We're all based in Singapore btw (so the comments on durians were apt)
> where the cost of labour isn't that much different from Montreal and
> certainly much higher (3x?) than in China. And there're more people in the
> team than there were in Montreal two years ago. Moreover, folks like JF,
> Francis, David, Manny, Graham, etc. are still around (the first 3 are in
> fact still developing enhancements and bug fixes for customers). Hence
> Autodesk is still investing in the Softimage since guess what? Soft still
> makes money for the company.
>
> It's true that the team doesn't know the code as well as Luc-Eric and team
> but that's not to say that we're newbies to software development, 3D
> graphics, simulations, rendering, etc. either. Sure, we don't have the
> 10-15 year histories with Soft that the "old" team had, but we're happy to
> say that they're still around (even many from the acquisition who
> eventually moved to other Autodesk teams) and still helping out when
> there's a need. But that should go down as we become more familiar with the
> code.
>
> So here goes:
>
> Hsiao Ming Chia - Core, Ref Models. From NVIDIA, worked on games
> middleware and runtime engines for 8 yrs.
> Yury Khmel - Core, ICE, FaceRobot. 12+ years, last 5 as an architect in
> games development.
> John Tensuan - Rendering, Data Management. Last in Ubisoft doing rendering
> and engine systems.
> Ho Chung Nguyen - ICE, Simulation. Wrote core libraries for math, physics
> simulation, rendering while at LucasArts.
> Joany Yang - UI, SDK. Mainly engaged in UI projects using COM, MFC, C++,
> etc while at another team at Autodesk.
>
> Me? I just manage the team so am the "overhead" :-)
>
> If you're ever in Singapore, we'd love to meet you.
>
> Regards,
> Chun Pong
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
> On Behalf Of Luc-Eric Rousseau
> Sent: Wednesday, 18 April, 2012 10:38 PM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Softimage development
>
> Actually, you're getting a lot of official information right here in this
> thread.
>