Hello,
I am playing around with reflections, indirect lighting, and area lights, and im a little confused by how the samples stack up. Ive tried using the help pages, and playing around with the settings doing test renders, but my 3ghz core 2 duo can only render so fast (aka NOT very fast lol).
I understand the lighting and reflection samples themselves, its when you add in stuff like pixel samples and min ray samples that I start to get confused. The pixel samples I think I understand, its mostly the min ray samples I don't get. So, basically I was wondering how the samples combine with each other.
From what I understand, min ray samples is either literally the minimum number of original samples or it is a multiplier for the original samples, and then the pixel samples then take that result and resample it by the pixel sample value.
for example
say area light samples was set to 2, pixel samples 3x3, and min ray samples is 4.
my current understanding is that the total samples for that light is either
(IF - original samples < min ray samples, set samples to min ray samples, ELSE - use original sampling) x (pixel samples)
(if 2 < 4, samples = 4, else 2) x (3 x 3)
4 x 9 = 36 Total Samples
OR
(samples) x (min ray samples) x (pixel samples)
(2) x (4) x (3 x 3) = 72 Total Samples
So yeah, which way does it use to calculate it? Or am I waaaaay out in left field here and completely misunderstanding how this works?
Also, another question I have, is in regards to reflection quality, and reflection angle. In houdini 10, these settings were controlled by area samples and cone angle. I was wondering how the new parameters compare to the old ones.
how does the default value of 1 area sample compare to 0.1 reflection quality
how does say a reflection angle of 5 compare to a cone angle of 5? are they equivalent?
In houdini 10, the v_gilight defaulted to a sampling value of like 256 or something, yet in houdini 11, the default value on the GI light shelf tool is 1. How does the old default of 256 compare to the new default of 1. Based on the quality I've observed I assume the sampling for the gi light works the same as before, and the default value was just changed to speed up previewing?
And finally, is the section of the help file for the new materials/shading system still partially incomplete? A lot of parameters seem to be missing from some of the pages, and when I hover my mouse over parameters on the Mantra surface and hit f1 to bring up the help, I get some error:
“Parm is not a registered Protocol”
followed by a big error message saying something about this error code "0x804b0012 ". (I can post the whole error if you want)
The help hotkey works fine if I use it on parameters for something like a camera or a SOP node though
Well this post is getting pretty big, so ill stop asking questions for now :wink:
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Confused about sampling
- clown
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Technical Discussion » Mantra verbose output on Windows 7
- clown
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clicking the down arrow beside command and picking Verbose in Console fixed it for me.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » license problem
- clown
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I recently formatted my hard drive, and reinstalled vista 64
I am having trouble getting houdini installed
Version 11.0.504 and 11.0.542
When I install it, it gets to the part where it asks if I want an apprentice or a paid license. When I click next, the window crashes with an error saying hkey isn't responding.
I have tried the following to fix it.
-Install the keys manually - when I load license administrator, it has an error saying it cannot read the license file at c:\windows/keys/ (yes with the backwards slashes). All the menu items to install keys are grayed out, and when I click on any available menu item, hkey crashes.
-Run installer without selecting apprentice - When I do this and load the administrator, it doesnt complain about not being able to read the key file, however when I go to c:\windows\, there is no “keys” folder at all. All licence administrator menu items still crash hkey.
- Install in safe mode - houdini's services cannot run in safe mode
- Tried running hkey as admin - no change
- tried disabling Vists UAC and all features of my internet security suite - no change
Im not really sure what the problem is, ive never had trouble installing onto vista 64 before.
I kind of want to try safe mode again, i know there is a way to allow non standard services to run in safe mode, but im not sure how u would do that for the houdini services.
I cant really think of anything else that would be causing the problem.
Any help would be appreciated
I am having trouble getting houdini installed
Version 11.0.504 and 11.0.542
When I install it, it gets to the part where it asks if I want an apprentice or a paid license. When I click next, the window crashes with an error saying hkey isn't responding.
I have tried the following to fix it.
-Install the keys manually - when I load license administrator, it has an error saying it cannot read the license file at c:\windows/keys/ (yes with the backwards slashes). All the menu items to install keys are grayed out, and when I click on any available menu item, hkey crashes.
-Run installer without selecting apprentice - When I do this and load the administrator, it doesnt complain about not being able to read the key file, however when I go to c:\windows\, there is no “keys” folder at all. All licence administrator menu items still crash hkey.
- Install in safe mode - houdini's services cannot run in safe mode
- Tried running hkey as admin - no change
- tried disabling Vists UAC and all features of my internet security suite - no change
Im not really sure what the problem is, ive never had trouble installing onto vista 64 before.
I kind of want to try safe mode again, i know there is a way to allow non standard services to run in safe mode, but im not sure how u would do that for the houdini services.
I cant really think of anything else that would be causing the problem.
Any help would be appreciated
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Houdini system requirements No geforce cards?
- clown
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I use an 8800GTX, and it works fairly well, at least for my purposes anyways. A 480 is quite a step up from my 8800, so you should be fine with it.
I only start to get the viewport slowing down when I have a fairly large number of polys, a large number of fluid guides, or if I turn on the extra viewport displays such as point/primative numbers/normals, high quality lighting or shadows, viewport anti aliasing, anything above fairly small textures, ect, ect.
(my idea of “large” and “small” may differ from yours)
You can still do all those things, however you should expect more viewport lag when you move the view area than you would get from a new quadro. However, you'll also pay a whole lot more for a new quadro, so if a geforce works for your purposes, you saved yourself some money.
I have even used Houdini on Intel integrated cards. It is certainly possible, but it's slow, graphically glitchy, painful, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
And yes, the quadro requirement has been there since I started out with H9.5 as far as I know
I only start to get the viewport slowing down when I have a fairly large number of polys, a large number of fluid guides, or if I turn on the extra viewport displays such as point/primative numbers/normals, high quality lighting or shadows, viewport anti aliasing, anything above fairly small textures, ect, ect.
(my idea of “large” and “small” may differ from yours)
You can still do all those things, however you should expect more viewport lag when you move the view area than you would get from a new quadro. However, you'll also pay a whole lot more for a new quadro, so if a geforce works for your purposes, you saved yourself some money.
I have even used Houdini on Intel integrated cards. It is certainly possible, but it's slow, graphically glitchy, painful, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
And yes, the quadro requirement has been there since I started out with H9.5 as far as I know
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Reverse Sim
- clown
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Reverse Sim
- clown
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I'm trying to figure out how to run or load a sim in reverse
I have tried a few things but didn't really get anywhere.
I thought the most likely solution would have been to save the sim out, name them in reverse order and load then back in. I wasn't really sure how to do this, so I tried putting this into the file name for the file node that was saving the frames.
“Blah$NFRAMES-$SF4.sim” but of course it just takes that as the file name, and doesnt do the subtraction, so that just produces files called “Blah240-1.sim, Blah240-2.sim”
I didnt really expect it to work, and it didnt, but I also tried setting the starting frame for the sim to 240 and tried putting in a negative time step. Apparently time step cannot take a negative value.
I get the feeling that its probably something fairly obvious, although I'm not really sure what else to try, other than going to my sim directory and manually renaming all the sim files myself. I'm sure there has to be an easier way than that.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
I have tried a few things but didn't really get anywhere.
I thought the most likely solution would have been to save the sim out, name them in reverse order and load then back in. I wasn't really sure how to do this, so I tried putting this into the file name for the file node that was saving the frames.
“Blah$NFRAMES-$SF4.sim” but of course it just takes that as the file name, and doesnt do the subtraction, so that just produces files called “Blah240-1.sim, Blah240-2.sim”
I didnt really expect it to work, and it didnt, but I also tried setting the starting frame for the sim to 240 and tried putting in a negative time step. Apparently time step cannot take a negative value.
I get the feeling that its probably something fairly obvious, although I'm not really sure what else to try, other than going to my sim directory and manually renaming all the sim files myself. I'm sure there has to be an easier way than that.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Colour Node Lines?
- clown
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Colour Node Lines?
- clown
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I was just wondering if there is any way to colour the node connections.
You can colour pretty much everything else in the network view, but I would find it very useful to colour the node links themselves, especially on really large networks with lots of overlapping lines. I would think it would help a lot while I try to “read” networks
Thanks!
You can colour pretty much everything else in the network view, but I would find it very useful to colour the node links themselves, especially on really large networks with lots of overlapping lines. I would think it would help a lot while I try to “read” networks
Thanks!
Technical Discussion » Can anybody reproduce? Mantra Shader Builder app crash.
- clown
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I get the same thing on vista 64
Fatal Error Segmentation Fault. The number changes though.
I also get the “Fatal Error Segmentation Fault” error on vista 64 and xp 32 if I do the following steps on every version since the wood and stone materials were re added 11.0.469-11.0.477 i think
Place grid
Place spotlight pointing at grid
Place point light
Turn on HQ lighting
Turn on HQ shadows
Fatal Error Segmentation Fault. The number changes though.
I also get the “Fatal Error Segmentation Fault” error on vista 64 and xp 32 if I do the following steps on every version since the wood and stone materials were re added 11.0.469-11.0.477 i think
Place grid
Place spotlight pointing at grid
Place point light
Turn on HQ lighting
Turn on HQ shadows
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Doing a digital tutors tutorial and having problems
- clown
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yup, download a newer version, glass has been put back in. Cant remember which version put it back in, but i know 11.0.465 has it, and i think 11.0.47 put a few others back in like wood and stone.
As for the problem with the water colours, I'm not sure
As for the problem with the water colours, I'm not sure
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Doing a digital tutors tutorial and having problems
- clown
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yup, download a newer version, glass has been put back in. Cant remember which version put it back in, but i know 11.0.465 has it, and i think 11.0.47 put a few others back in like wood and stone.
As for the problem with the water colours, I'm not sure
As for the problem with the water colours, I'm not sure
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Shader view not working after upgrade to H11.
- clown
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Yeah that's pretty much what I have been doing. Its not quite as interactive as the shader view was, but its very close, as long as the render doesn't take too long to update anyways.
Thanks
Thanks
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Shader view not working after upgrade to H11.
- clown
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Yeah after getting my question answered, I have found render view to be much better, much higher quality, and much more customizable since you have access to all of mantras settings, and you can add whatever else you want into the scene to help view reflections and refractions or whatever else
The only thing I miss from shader view is being able to rotate the shaded ball.
Listen to these guys and check out IPR render view.
If the reason you like shader view is because of the speed of it, you can easily just reduce mantras quality settings and IPR will go quite fast.
If however you like to be able to rotate the shaded object without having to rerender like you could in shader view, Im pretty sure you are out of luck on that one. Unless someone smarter than me knows some neat trick, but I doubt it
The only thing I miss from shader view is being able to rotate the shaded ball.
Listen to these guys and check out IPR render view.
If the reason you like shader view is because of the speed of it, you can easily just reduce mantras quality settings and IPR will go quite fast.
If however you like to be able to rotate the shaded object without having to rerender like you could in shader view, Im pretty sure you are out of luck on that one. Unless someone smarter than me knows some neat trick, but I doubt it
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Shader view not working after upgrade to H11.
- clown
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Shader view not working after upgrade to H11.
- clown
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Problem is exactly as the title says: In Houdini 10, shader view works fine, however in Houdini 11 when I click on a shader ball that I want to view in shader view, the shader view shader ball just stays the default white, it doesn't even try to update it, it just does nothing.
Not sure if it makes a difference, but I do NOT have a workstation gfx card (I have an 8800gtx), but seeing as how it works in H10, I don't see that being the problem. Unless something was changed of course.
Information:
I tried these versions, didn't have success with either.
v11.0.446.9
v11.0.462
Windows Vista 64bit
Windows 7 64bit
Haven't tried Linux yet
Any help or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks
Not sure if it makes a difference, but I do NOT have a workstation gfx card (I have an 8800gtx), but seeing as how it works in H10, I don't see that being the problem. Unless something was changed of course.
Information:
I tried these versions, didn't have success with either.
v11.0.446.9
v11.0.462
Windows Vista 64bit
Windows 7 64bit
Haven't tried Linux yet
Any help or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks
Technical Discussion » UT_NetPacket::read: No such file or directory
- clown
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Weird, I've seen faqs on odforce before, but I've never seen that one. Sure woulda been helpful lol
thanks for the useful link!
thanks for the useful link!
Technical Discussion » UT_NetPacket::read: No such file or directory
- clown
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Ok, it looks like you were correct. I went into Comodo and manually specified hmaster and mplay as trusted applications, and loaded up the scene file in this thread again, and it seems to actually render the whole frame now. Kind of interesting that turning all of Comodos moduals didnt fix it but defining the trusted applications did.
mplay also loaded quite a bit faster than usual, so im gunna have to play around a bit and see if performance has increased
thanks alot!!! (I dunno why I didn't think of that, Comodo causes me so much greif sometimes in other programs)
mplay also loaded quite a bit faster than usual, so im gunna have to play around a bit and see if performance has increased
thanks alot!!! (I dunno why I didn't think of that, Comodo causes me so much greif sometimes in other programs)
Technical Discussion » UT_NetPacket::read: No such file or directory
- clown
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I run into this problem a lot myself. On windows xp 32, windows vista 64, and windows 7 64, on 2 separate computers with different hardware. It happens in every version that I have tried all the way from 9.5.xxx to 10.0.595, and I update very frequently. Doesn't matter if I click render->start render->mantra 1 in the top menu or if i actually go to out/mantra1 and click the render button, the odds of the error showing up are the same either way
Its annoying because the whole frame renders fine except it leaves the very top left edge unrendered on like 80% of the frames, so that area just kinda flickers in any movie.
I am a total Houdini noob, and a 3d noob for that matter. However in my experience over the last year trying to teach myself this program, I have found that Houdini doesn't seem to like windows very much sometimes. Although I suppose that can be said about many programs.
Yet when I use Houdini in Linux, I never get the “UT_NetPacket::read: No such file or directory” error, and Houdini almost never crashes unless I do something stupid. Houdini even loads faster, renders faster, and sims faster under Linux for me - by a very significant margin. The only problem it seems to have in Ubuntu 64 is that I cant use Compiz Fusion with Houdini running, so I lose my wobbly windows and other desktop effects.
Its annoying because the whole frame renders fine except it leaves the very top left edge unrendered on like 80% of the frames, so that area just kinda flickers in any movie.
I am a total Houdini noob, and a 3d noob for that matter. However in my experience over the last year trying to teach myself this program, I have found that Houdini doesn't seem to like windows very much sometimes. Although I suppose that can be said about many programs.
Yet when I use Houdini in Linux, I never get the “UT_NetPacket::read: No such file or directory” error, and Houdini almost never crashes unless I do something stupid. Houdini even loads faster, renders faster, and sims faster under Linux for me - by a very significant margin. The only problem it seems to have in Ubuntu 64 is that I cant use Compiz Fusion with Houdini running, so I lose my wobbly windows and other desktop effects.
Houdini Lounge » Edge Grouping?
- clown
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Well, on Fourth Wall they do have the source code for that, and most of their other tools available. You could compile it in the HDK for your o/s and version of Houdini.
some of their other tools for modeling that i would suggest would be their poly crease, point slide, and poly cusp bevel.
I also suggest you look on the exchange for the stuff uploaded by Swann, or check his full list of tools here:
http://www.forum3d.pl/f3dbb/index.php?md=topic&tid=124040#first_unread_post [forum3d.pl]
The ones on forum3d are non commercial, but the few that are on the exchange are commercial versions I believe.
I would love to see SESI include some tools similar to these one day, as well as a few other things which would make modeling a little easier. The Fourth Wall ones make procedural work a lot easier, and Swann's bridge, extrude by line, flatten, and polycreate are all awesome and can create some cool stuff
I definitely agree about getting stuck in an only procedural mindset. It is very difficult to merge the two methods though. I am just starting to figure out how to use both procedural and non procedural methods together without it causing everything to freakout when you change something
some of their other tools for modeling that i would suggest would be their poly crease, point slide, and poly cusp bevel.
I also suggest you look on the exchange for the stuff uploaded by Swann, or check his full list of tools here:
http://www.forum3d.pl/f3dbb/index.php?md=topic&tid=124040#first_unread_post [forum3d.pl]
The ones on forum3d are non commercial, but the few that are on the exchange are commercial versions I believe.
I would love to see SESI include some tools similar to these one day, as well as a few other things which would make modeling a little easier. The Fourth Wall ones make procedural work a lot easier, and Swann's bridge, extrude by line, flatten, and polycreate are all awesome and can create some cool stuff
I definitely agree about getting stuck in an only procedural mindset. It is very difficult to merge the two methods though. I am just starting to figure out how to use both procedural and non procedural methods together without it causing everything to freakout when you change something
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Slide a poly edge or a group of poly edges along its face.
- clown
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maybe this will help
http://www.fourthwall.ndo.co.uk/HT_HDK_PointSlide.html [fourthwall.ndo.co.uk]
http://www.fourthwall.ndo.co.uk/HT_HDK_PointSlide.html [fourthwall.ndo.co.uk]
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