Octane Render question

daz3dsuniel_1558d9c71b

Hi everyone. I wanna know if i can use octane with daz studio 3.1 advanced. I am not fond of the newer versions like daz studio 4.5/4.6.
Please answer my question as i am planning to invest into octane as it is awesome.

Regards
suniel

MarkM

I would think the stand alone version would . It uses the wavefront object format to import so as long as ds 3 can export " .obj " you should be set . I doubt the daz studio plugin version would work for 3 but you would need to buy the stand alone version anyway to get the plugin to work . I use the stand alone version and it works just fine , you just have to do a little more work to setup textures and all .

Lindsey

The Octane DAZ plugin is compatible with DS4.5.0.114 or higher.

There is a demo of the Daz2Octane exporter available that works with Daz 3.1 Advanced. Some features are disabled, but it will export a Daz Scene and launch Octane Render standalone with the exported scene. Click on the imported .obj scene on the lower window to start the render. In order to move around within the scene, unlock the lock icon on the lower right under the render viewport. All you will need is a CUDA enabled NVIDIA video card.

The exporter will work with the demo version of Octane Render. The only limitation is the render size, the ability to save scenes, images and access to the live materials database. You can do a screen save to save a rendered image though.

Here's a link to the Otoy.com forum thread: http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=11712

Look for these download links in the thread above:

Page 1 - Daz2OctaneDemo.rar
Page 3 - Daz2OctaneDoc.rar
Page 5 - Blank.rar

There are instructions in the thread on how to install and use it. Daz2Octane exporter had not been released as a finished product as development efforts has been diverted to the integrated Octane Render plugin for Daz Studio from what I can tell.

Edit: MarkM's method posted above works also.

daz3dsuniel_1558d9c71b

Thanks Lindsey. I would surely love to test a demo version first, thanks alot for the detailed answer to my question. Yet i will like to ask you one more question. i have ATI graphics card, will it work for octane or i'll have to buy a new graphics card?

And thanks MarkM i'll give it a shot, i have seen alot of renders done in octane and i am amazed when people say it took them 5 minutes to render the scene when it looks like 3delight would take eternity to render the same.

Regards
Suniel

SimonJM

Octane requires a CUDA-compatible graphics card - usually that means nVidia. There is a demo version of Octane available from their site which you could try out and see if things will work for you.

MarkM

It's a great program . I just got it myself so I don't really know all the tricks , but it's amazing what it does just with the default lights and diffuse textures . I'm trying to figure out mesh lights , the idea is simple enough but I haven't got it yet to where I can predict what the shadows and all will look like . Also , I would pop for a nvidia card ( maybe 2 ) . It works entirely off of the video card .

linvanchene

MarkM said:

I'm trying to figure out mesh lights , the idea is simple enough but I haven't got it yet to where I can predict what the shadows and all will look like .

It took me a while to figure out what we can do with OctaneRender mesh lights.

Let me point out some things that might get overlooked to get started:

- You can transform not only any object but also any surface into a light emitter.

- "Blackbody emssion" lets you select light temperatures in Kelvin. (There are several presets for "candle light" to Krypton Bulp")

- "Texture emission" lets you emmit light from any texture applied.

- If you change "Distribution" from "float texture" to "image" you can then choose from many different IES light presets.
IES light presets change the way the light is emitted into the scene. It is in a way similar to light gels but uses realistic values of real light bulps.

- There are different settings for the brightness of the "Texture" and the brightness of the emitted light.
Try to experiment with "Gamma" and the "Power" settings.

- It can help to set the Environment to "No Environment" mode when trying out light emittors.

That way they are the only light source in the scene. You can still combine them with the "Default Daylight Environment" or an "Default HDR Texture Environment" later.

- Light is emmited in the normal direction of surfaces. You can change the direction also by using the "Orientation" settings.

- Last but not least:

Light emitting objects look a lot better in the PMC Kernel.

For standard renders you can preview everying in Direct Light Kernel and only switch to PMC for final rendering. Nevertheless you have to realize that the light bounces are much more realistic in PMC Kernel. A light emitting surface that barely was noticeable in "Direct Light" Kernel may be enough to light the same room completly in "PMC" Kernel.

From that point of view I suggest to make any light adjustments in "PMC" Kernel when working with Light Emitters.

- - -

Hope that helps to get you started.

Attached screenshot that shows how to select IES lights in the distribution "image" slot.