I don't see how the TimeWarp COP will work for what I'm doing… which should be something extremely simple. (Please let me know if I'm not understanding how you see it working).
I have something like this in the file COP…
file_name.`ch(“fram_indx”)`.pic
Where “fram_indx” is a channel of (integers) sequential numbers and cycling numbers that correspond to image files that already exist on disk.
For example, say I've rendered frames 1-60, 181-240, and 301-400.
My 400 frame channel file would look something like this…
1…60 1…60 1…60 181…240 211…240 211…240 301…400
I don't think the file COP should be giving me a hard time with this.
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Technical Discussion » File COP question
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Technical Discussion » File COP question
- fgillis
- 156 posts
- Offline
Was sending this to the list but the last three replies came back blank….
Here's the discussion (with myself) so far…
———————–
To simplify a composite, (and keep my sanity), I am trying to define the frame sequence for a bunch of elements with one variable that runs sequentially for a while, cycles, goes back to being sequential, back to cycling, etc.
I'm feeding a variable (channel file) into the File COP's to control which frames are read from disk.
No matter what I do, I can't get the file COP's to read in frames beyond the frame number of the image files that actually exist on disk. I've tried over-riding the frame range in the file COP and even putting dummy files on disk to “extend” the frame range.
I know there are other ways of doing this… using a series of Switch and Sequence COPs for example… but using a single channel as a frame index would be much simpler and easier to maintain.
Any suggestions?
—————————————
Seem to have this working now…
Choose “Use Next Frame” in the “Missing Frames” selector of the File COP.
—————————————
Well… I spoke too soon.
I can get this to work when manually messing with the COPs in the composite network, but when I go to output using a composite ROP or from a shell it dies with an “Unable to find file” errors.
I've always felt the File COP is trying to be too smart for it's own good… this seems to be such a simple procedure… I must be missing something.
BTW… using 9.0.787 on linux
Here's the discussion (with myself) so far…
———————–
To simplify a composite, (and keep my sanity), I am trying to define the frame sequence for a bunch of elements with one variable that runs sequentially for a while, cycles, goes back to being sequential, back to cycling, etc.
I'm feeding a variable (channel file) into the File COP's to control which frames are read from disk.
No matter what I do, I can't get the file COP's to read in frames beyond the frame number of the image files that actually exist on disk. I've tried over-riding the frame range in the file COP and even putting dummy files on disk to “extend” the frame range.
I know there are other ways of doing this… using a series of Switch and Sequence COPs for example… but using a single channel as a frame index would be much simpler and easier to maintain.
Any suggestions?
—————————————
Seem to have this working now…
Choose “Use Next Frame” in the “Missing Frames” selector of the File COP.
—————————————
Well… I spoke too soon.
I can get this to work when manually messing with the COPs in the composite network, but when I go to output using a composite ROP or from a shell it dies with an “Unable to find file” errors.
I've always felt the File COP is trying to be too smart for it's own good… this seems to be such a simple procedure… I must be missing something.
BTW… using 9.0.787 on linux
Technical Discussion » PolyLoft Question
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Interesting Idea Simon. Unfortunately I'm lofting between closed cross-sections that don't necessarily have their first points relative to each other… and the primitives are often in opposite directions. In this case skinning between these cross-sections is not as successful as lofting.
Thanks for the tip though… snapTo will come in handy for future use.
Thanks for the tip though… snapTo will come in handy for future use.
Technical Discussion » PolyLoft Question
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Am lofting cross-sections with different number of points. PolyLoft is working well but seems to triangulate more than seems necessary. Is there a way to loft cross-sections and maintain quads below a certain non-planer threshold?
Or… is there a post PolyLoft SOP or process that will “un-triangulate” surfaces based on a non-planer threshold?
Thanks
Or… is there a post PolyLoft SOP or process that will “un-triangulate” surfaces based on a non-planer threshold?
Thanks
Technical Discussion » network view - automatic double connection?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Yes, good to hear…. will also download the latest and give it a try.
Am experiencing lots of unwanted behavior with wiring after appending or inserting a node. (H9.0.774)
Am experiencing lots of unwanted behavior with wiring after appending or inserting a node. (H9.0.774)
Edited by - Nov. 22, 2007 15:34:19
Houdini Lounge » H8 to H9
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Tried to convert an H8 project to H9 by reading an H8 hip file into H9 and doing some additional cutting and pasting.
I was delighted to see how almost everything worked. The data cooked properly, lighting looked good, shaders worked, and renders were fine. The hip file was bloated with some unneeded parameters, but that didn't seem to matter. Then, little problems started cropping up with the geometry and lighting that I didn't initially notice.
After reading some SESI reference materials and getting some help on the forum I discovered this is not a good approach and the general recommendation is to start projects from scratch using H9.
This wouldn't be so bad if you're beginning a new project, but if you have old jobs that need to be revised or jobs that have been in production for months… and are scheduled to continue for months, starting from scratch isn't a great option.
Surely, if an H8 file can be loaded into H9 and “almost” work, it couldn't be too difficult to provide some sort of import or conversion function that would allow users to update H8 hip files to H9 without starting from scratch?
Is there anything that can safely be read into H9 from an H8 file that will work in production?
Thanks.
I was delighted to see how almost everything worked. The data cooked properly, lighting looked good, shaders worked, and renders were fine. The hip file was bloated with some unneeded parameters, but that didn't seem to matter. Then, little problems started cropping up with the geometry and lighting that I didn't initially notice.
After reading some SESI reference materials and getting some help on the forum I discovered this is not a good approach and the general recommendation is to start projects from scratch using H9.
This wouldn't be so bad if you're beginning a new project, but if you have old jobs that need to be revised or jobs that have been in production for months… and are scheduled to continue for months, starting from scratch isn't a great option.
Surely, if an H8 file can be loaded into H9 and “almost” work, it couldn't be too difficult to provide some sort of import or conversion function that would allow users to update H8 hip files to H9 without starting from scratch?
Is there anything that can safely be read into H9 from an H8 file that will work in production?
Thanks.
Technical Discussion » Subdivision from file
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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stevenong
Sounds like you're using a Houdini 8 Geometry Object with spare parameters instead of a Houdini 9 Geometry Object. I would suggest using a Houdini 9 Geometry Object where you can specify a Mantra Delayed Load shader in the Procedural Shader parameter found under Render > Geometry tab. Then check the Polygons as Subdivision toggle.
O.K. That did it. Nice compact IFD's.
Have to admit I never would have thought to add another “shader” to have simple “render from file” functionality. Guess I missed that one in the docs or list. Seems like another case of a simple procedure becoming more complex.
jason
*/ pasted H8 nodes have droves of confusing superfuous parms that will only confuse you - and possibly Houdini itself.
*/ its a great way to learn the H9 way, and end up with a lot cleaner a setup.
*/ it doesn't take long once you get the hang of it.
Am looking forward to cleaner hip files… was wondering why my new H9 versions were twice the size as the old H8 ones.
Thank you.
Technical Discussion » Subdivision from file
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Yes, you're right. I was just in the middle of troubleshooting some shadow problems when I discovered there are ISSUES with using H8 geometry objects in H9.
Am in the process of switching more objects over to H9… will see how this affects my “File from Subdivision” problem.
As an aside… it sure looked great loading in those H8 objects and appearing to have everything working… and even have all those parameter options visible. This is going to make it a real pain updating old jobs to H9.
Thank you.
Am in the process of switching more objects over to H9… will see how this affects my “File from Subdivision” problem.
As an aside… it sure looked great loading in those H8 objects and appearing to have everything working… and even have all those parameter options visible. This is going to make it a real pain updating old jobs to H9.
Thank you.
Technical Discussion » Subdivision from file
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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In this case, an ifd with a simple object and a simple shader is just under 1Mb.
Assuming the “unreadable” stuff is binary geometry… when it's removed the file is 5k.
Setting “Force Geometry Output” on or off doesn't seem to make any difference to ifd file size when rendering the ROP from the package either.
H9.0.745 on linux
Assuming the “unreadable” stuff is binary geometry… when it's removed the file is 5k.
Setting “Force Geometry Output” on or off doesn't seem to make any difference to ifd file size when rendering the ROP from the package either.
H9.0.745 on linux
Technical Discussion » Subdivision from file
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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This looks like a good approach…
Added the “Force Geometry Output” property to my render rop and have unchecked it. Have also made sure that “vm_forcegeometry” is set to “off” when rendering from shell. Ifd's are still large.
Besides specifying that your geometry is “Render from file” or “Subdivision from file”… what else is there to do? What do you mean by “set up your delayed read archive render option”?
Thanks
Added the “Force Geometry Output” property to my render rop and have unchecked it. Have also made sure that “vm_forcegeometry” is set to “off” when rendering from shell. Ifd's are still large.
Besides specifying that your geometry is “Render from file” or “Subdivision from file”… what else is there to do? What do you mean by “set up your delayed read archive render option”?
Thanks
Houdini Lounge » View Nodes as a List
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Thanks guys.
Found I could re-order individual nodes using LMB when list order is set to “User Defined”. (Have to remember to try ALL the buttons when attempting to replicate H8 functions.)
Will try newer release for “renaming” nodes.
Found I could re-order individual nodes using LMB when list order is set to “User Defined”. (Have to remember to try ALL the buttons when attempting to replicate H8 functions.)
Will try newer release for “renaming” nodes.
Houdini Lounge » View Nodes as a List
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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I'm an old-timer who still likes to view some nodes as lists… shaders and rops for example.
Is there a way to re-order the nodes in list mode?
Also… it was convenient being able to rename the nodes in H8 while in list mode. Can't seem to do that in H9.
Is there a way to re-order the nodes in list mode?
Also… it was convenient being able to rename the nodes in H8 while in list mode. Can't seem to do that in H9.
Technical Discussion » Subdivision from file
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Am generating ifds via a shell script for rendering with mantra.
Am used to setting “subdivision from file” in H8 and getting compact/fast ifd generation.
In H9 I've tried “Subdivision from file” and “Procedural” in the “Geometry As” field under the Geometry Render tab and am still getting large/slow ifds containing the geometry… instead of pointers to the geometry files.
Am I leaving out some step or setting?
Using H9.0.745 on linux
Am used to setting “subdivision from file” in H8 and getting compact/fast ifd generation.
In H9 I've tried “Subdivision from file” and “Procedural” in the “Geometry As” field under the Geometry Render tab and am still getting large/slow ifds containing the geometry… instead of pointers to the geometry files.
Am I leaving out some step or setting?
Using H9.0.745 on linux
Technical Discussion » Beyond "Auto Rig Quickstart"
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Houdini 8.2.97
Apologies for what may seem like a simple question…. I have very little character animation experience.
I've gone through the Auto Rig Quickstart tutorial (great tutorial) and have modified and set up a rig for my biped character. I've also got the “capture rig” and the “animation rig” objects and everything seems to be working nicely.
The problem is I'm not sure how to get my character “captured” and start animating it using the “animation rig”.
Are there any other tutorials or help pages that expand upon the Auto Rig Quickstart tutorial? (I have to keep these project in H8.2 for a while yet.)
Thank you.
Apologies for what may seem like a simple question…. I have very little character animation experience.
I've gone through the Auto Rig Quickstart tutorial (great tutorial) and have modified and set up a rig for my biped character. I've also got the “capture rig” and the “animation rig” objects and everything seems to be working nicely.
The problem is I'm not sure how to get my character “captured” and start animating it using the “animation rig”.
Are there any other tutorials or help pages that expand upon the Auto Rig Quickstart tutorial? (I have to keep these project in H8.2 for a while yet.)
Thank you.
Technical Discussion » Procedural Displacement & Rest Position
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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I'm using an old procedural displacement shader that does not recognize the rest position attribute.
The default “krinkle” and “dented” shaders behave correctly so I'd like to use them as examples and add the appropriate “rest” code to my mis-behaving shader. I have the .vfl file for my problem shader, but cannot locate the .vfl's for “krinkle” or “dented”. Are these (or similar vfl's) archived anywhere?
Or, can anyone provide (very) simple instructions on how to add this functionality?
Thank you.
EDIT: Just realized I can view the source under the “VEX Code” tab after selecting “Type Properties” of the shader. No worries.
And, if anyone's interested…
added declaration (if that's the correct terminology)…
vector rest=0;
and changed the following line…
PP = wo_space(P);
to…
if (isbound (“rest”))
PP = rest;
else PP = wo_space(P);
The default “krinkle” and “dented” shaders behave correctly so I'd like to use them as examples and add the appropriate “rest” code to my mis-behaving shader. I have the .vfl file for my problem shader, but cannot locate the .vfl's for “krinkle” or “dented”. Are these (or similar vfl's) archived anywhere?
Or, can anyone provide (very) simple instructions on how to add this functionality?
Thank you.
EDIT: Just realized I can view the source under the “VEX Code” tab after selecting “Type Properties” of the shader. No worries.
And, if anyone's interested…
added declaration (if that's the correct terminology)…
vector rest=0;
and changed the following line…
PP = wo_space(P);
to…
if (isbound (“rest”))
PP = rest;
else PP = wo_space(P);
Technical Discussion » linux & .aiff file problem?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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I've managed to get audio files playing back under houdini on linux. I'm not sure about the technical details, but it has something to do with the linux “artsd” process. Whenever this is running, I can't hear audio from aplay or houdini.
I've shortened the “Auto-suspend if idle after” time under the KDE Sound System “General” controls… this shuts down artsd sooner… allowing houdini audio output.
However, once you save or do anything that causes audio feedback from within houdini, artsd starts up again and you will no longer be able to hear the audio track. So, I went back to the KDE Sound System “Hardware” controls and set “Select the audio device:” to “No Audio Input/Output”. I know this isn't the best solution, as it probably disables other audio functions, but at least it keeps artsd from starting up and I can animate to an audio track.
If there's a more elegant and/or appropriate solution to the artsd “problem” please let me know.
My apologies for assuming this was a Houdini bug.
I've shortened the “Auto-suspend if idle after” time under the KDE Sound System “General” controls… this shuts down artsd sooner… allowing houdini audio output.
However, once you save or do anything that causes audio feedback from within houdini, artsd starts up again and you will no longer be able to hear the audio track. So, I went back to the KDE Sound System “Hardware” controls and set “Select the audio device:” to “No Audio Input/Output”. I know this isn't the best solution, as it probably disables other audio functions, but at least it keeps artsd from starting up and I can animate to an audio track.
If there's a more elegant and/or appropriate solution to the artsd “problem” please let me know.
My apologies for assuming this was a Houdini bug.
Technical Discussion » linux & .aiff file problem?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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twod
You can also specify an Audio file directly in the Audio Panel, if you're just using it as animation reference (see the bottom of the panel).
Tried that too.
Technical Discussion » linux & .aiff file problem?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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Bernard
Hello,
just curious, but how can you load an audio file in Houdini…?
bern
Go into Chops, lay down a file chop and read in a .aiff or .wav (or other supproted formats). Set the audio flag. Bring up the audio panel to enable audio, set volume etc.
Technical Discussion » linux & .aiff file problem?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
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O.K. So, I guess no one else is having a problem playing audio files in Houdini on linux.
Since the previous post I've been trying .aiff and .wav files saved with different sampling rates, and various settings within Houdini… without success. I found that if I reboot the machine, then aplay WILL play back the .aiff and .wav files without any problem. But once I start up houdini aplay no longer works.
There are no error messages from houdini or aplay.
Again, other linux multimedia programs play the audio files just fine.
Debian Etch/KDE 3.5.5
Houdini 8.1.866 & 8.2.97
Any help or suggestions appreciated… can't work without the audio track.
Since the previous post I've been trying .aiff and .wav files saved with different sampling rates, and various settings within Houdini… without success. I found that if I reboot the machine, then aplay WILL play back the .aiff and .wav files without any problem. But once I start up houdini aplay no longer works.
There are no error messages from houdini or aplay.
Again, other linux multimedia programs play the audio files just fine.
Debian Etch/KDE 3.5.5
Houdini 8.1.866 & 8.2.97
Any help or suggestions appreciated… can't work without the audio track.
Technical Discussion » linux & .aiff file problem?
- fgillis
- 156 posts
- Offline
Did a recent upgrade to Debian Etch from Debian Sarge.
Everything is working fine except I'm no longer able to get .aiff files to play back. Houdini wouldn't even load audio files under linux i686_gcc3.4 h8.1.866, (as noted in a previous post)… however, it does load audio files under h8.2.97… but no audio.
No audio from aplay either.
Other linux media programs play the .aiff files without any problem.
Any ideas?
Everything is working fine except I'm no longer able to get .aiff files to play back. Houdini wouldn't even load audio files under linux i686_gcc3.4 h8.1.866, (as noted in a previous post)… however, it does load audio files under h8.2.97… but no audio.
No audio from aplay either.
Other linux media programs play the .aiff files without any problem.
Any ideas?
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