Octane materials preview in Rhino viewport

hi All,

we are using Rhino/Octane combination a lot in our product design work. We have built our material library, so our designers can simply drop materials on the objects and render. Main issue for us is that - there is no preview of the materials in rhino viewport (shaded or rendered). So, user can’t even tell if materials are applied to object without selecting it and looking in material editor tab.

I should point out that most of our materials are created as a "NodeEditor’ Octane material. This dictated by the fact that it’s much easier and much faster workflow for creating and adjusting materials.
For example, we can use noise image texture for bump as a triplanar map. This will eliminate need for UVs. And we can link all of the XYZ parameters of triplanar map to one texture node and ONE uv transform node for easier and speedier workflow.

So, @paulphysicalc , @pkinnane , @nathanletwory , @andy , Is there a way we can solve this ??

Maybe, this could be resolved by creating Octane viewport mode in Rhino? Where all of the octane materials will be previewed correctly.

We are using Rhino Version 6 SR16 (6.16.19190.7001, 7/9/2019) and Octane for Rhino Build: 4.5.0.111
Rhino 7 WIP have same issue as well.

adding @gustojunk in this discussion too

same discussion on OTOY Octane for Rhino forum: https://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=72373

Igor

Hi. Sorry for the delay replying in the Octane forums. I have been trying to determine if this is possible or not. I /think/ it will be possible - if only for the diffuse map, which would resolve your immediate problem. Please keen an eye on the plugin release thread for the Octane 2019 version of the plugin for updates.

Paul

Hi @pkinnane, thanks for following up. If we can see the diffuse color/mapped texture it will help in most cases.

This current limitation made us try to switch to Vray, because right now we are running completely blind in the viewport and it’s really hard to work productively and with any certainty.

The reality is that Vray GPU is full of serious/architecture/output bugs that we think that’s not a viable option for the foreseeable future. So we figured, we ask you one more time to try to make the Octane integration work. We like the product, we just need a bit more love to bd able to use it inside Rhino.

Also I’ve noticed that when I try to edit an Octane material the edit button is gone. I have to unselect the material from the editor, select a different one, then come back to it (sometimes a few times) and the edit button is back. Are you aware of this other bug? If not I can try to document it.

Do you have an ETA of when Octane 2019 for Rhino will be out? (days/weeks/months away?)

Best Regards,

Gustavo

Days :slight_smile:

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I have looked into this, and cannot replicate the issue. Can you please ensure the problem is still happening on the latest version, and if so, provide some screenshots and steps you take to get the error.

Thanks

Paul

I do remember this happening before, but it seems like it’s been fixed. I can not replicate this bug.

@pkinnane

I noticed this bug:
If I create Octane material and change type to NodeGraph (call it Material 01). Then I create Material 02 by duplicating Material 01. Now, for Material 01 I can switch type to any other (Diffuse or Glossy). But for Material 02 it doesn’t allow me to switch between material types. See the video attached.

Igor

Paul, I see experimental 2019.1 build available on Otoy forums. I will check it out later today and will let you know if any feedback

Igor

hi @pkinnane

I played a little with the experimental Octane 2019.1 build (2019.1.0.112)
here’s some feedback:
I see that now NodeGraph materials have preview in Rhino viewport (shaded and rendered) that’s great! If I use RGB color or Texture for Diffuse channel - it shows in the Rhino viewport. However, if I use something like Mix texture for Diffuse channel - preview in Rhino viewport not what the final result of this Mix texture node is.
on the screenshot below it shows me only black&white texture that is used for Amount in the Mix texture node.

Clipping Planes support - great! Works only with one clipping planes. Can we have multiple?? :slight_smile:

Something that I noticed by accident - if Rhino Ground Plane is ON and it uses Octane Shadow Catcher material, it doesn’t move below 0 on Z axis.

Igor

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That’s interesting to hear. I was wondering about switching from iRay to Vray since I want to stop picking quirky underdogs in the rendering race and just use what everyone else does…but not if my quad-GPU machine isn’t going to be able to exploit it.

That was my main motivation to change to Vray too. But when we realized the severity and depth of the bugs/inconsistencies/limitation we were facing in Vray GPU, we needed to rethink our strategy.

We see that dealing with a smaller developer like Otoy/Paul it might be a more responsive/direct route to fix the smaller things that they are missing, and a better option for now.

I’m looking forward to see if/how this 2019 version optimizing the re-cashing of geometry (when you make changes or when you want to render an animation). This is the biggest limitation we are still facing with Octane.

G

If I create Octane material and change type to NodeGraph (call it Material 01). Then I create Material 02 by duplicating Material 01. Now, for Material 01 I can switch type to any other (Diffuse or Glossy). But for Material 02 it doesn’t allow me to switch between material types.

This is fixed in the next release (which will have a .113 as the final number in the release number)

I see that now NodeGraph materials have preview in Rhino viewport (shaded and rendered) that’s great! If I use RGB color or Texture for Diffuse channel - it shows in the Rhino viewport. However, if I use something like Mix texture for Diffuse channel - preview in Rhino viewport not what the final result of this Mix texture node is.
on the screenshot below it shows me only black&white texture that is used for Amount in the Mix texture node.

I have improved this a little in the next release so the plugin will search for the first color node inside the diffuse pin and use that color.

Clipping Planes support - great! Works only with one clipping planes. Can we have multiple??

Unfortunately multiple clipping plane support is not currently possible.

Something that I noticed by accident - if Rhino Ground Plane is ON and it uses Octane Shadow Catcher material, it doesn’t move below 0 on Z axis.

This is fixed in the next release.

Thanks for the feedback.

Paul

Great to hear, Paul! Once new release is available, we will check it out.

Igor