Alembic Exporter for DAZ Studio- How Do You Use It- Does It Work With Lightwave, etc

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Comments

  • cliffwmscliffwms Posts: 22
    edited December 1969

    I enjoyed using DS3 with its plug-ins for animations.

    Will Alembic work with Autodesk's 3D Studio Max 2009, understanding its limitations?

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited January 2014

    cliffwms said:
    I enjoyed using DS3 with its plug-ins for animations.

    Will Alembic work with Autodesk's 3D Studio Max 2009, understanding its limitations?

    The format isn't that old. I suppose if someone built an Alembic Importer for MAX 2009 it would work, but I would check first. :)
    Post edited by DAZ_Spooky on
  • Jim_1831252Jim_1831252 Posts: 728
    edited January 2014

    So, does this plugin include an importer so we can bring .abc files into DS?

    Post edited by Jim_1831252 on
  • jean_paul_baconjean_paul_bacon Posts: 55
    edited December 1969

    I read somewhere to find more informations about this format. They said that Alembic is in a BETA stage at this moment. So, what do you think about this fact. Does the low price reflect the possibles bugs that we could eventualy get .

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,566
    edited December 1969

    JayPeeBee said:
    I read somewhere to find more informations about this format. They said that Alembic is in a BETA stage at this moment. So, what do you think about this fact. Does the low price reflect the possibles bugs that we could eventualy get .

    Alembic 1,0 was released on August 9, 2011 and has been used for some time by Lucasfilms and Sony's Imageworks, so calling it a beta is pretty far fetched. As for the price, for what it does, that isn't a low price IMO.

    Looks interesting, wonder if the available plugin supports my older version of 3DSMax.

    When I first saw this in the store, one side of me said, great, now I can use DAZ assets in max and other apps and try new renderers, then the other side of me focused on how there is yet another tool for pirates and wannabe game developers to gain access to DAZ models again, luckily it doesn't export rigging.

  • Jim_1831252Jim_1831252 Posts: 728
    edited December 1969

    For anyone still wondering, no there is no import .abc function with this plugin. It is purely an exporter.

    Are there any plans to add an import option. I can imagine some instances where this would be very useful.

  • edited January 2014

    Novica said:
    So spell this out for novices. How would I use this going from DAZ to Lightwave? What would I be exporting over?
    You create your scene in DS, with or without animation.
    You export it using Alembic
    You import the scene into Lightwave.
    You set up your surfaces for best results in Lightwave (Same as you would do with OBJ, MDD, FBX, etc.)
    You add anything in Lighwave you want/need to add to the scene. (Sasquatch Hair, Lightwave dynamics, Lights, etc.)
    Render.

    I just tried it, does not work at all at least with Lightwave :(

    I setup a scene in DAZ, then export to Alembic (without subdivs preserved, that's the only way to get anything to LW).
    But when I import it to LW, the geometry is correct but NO surfaces are preserved! The whole object is plain Default.
    Ok it copies the texture maps to a folder but that is totally useless if the surface names and assignments are lost!

    Please someone tell me this actually works and I just did something wrong (I doubt that as there is nothing to do wrong).

    Is the problem in DAZ exporter or LW importer?
    A bit strange was that the Alembic Importer was not in LW menus, I had to add it manually. The plugin existed though. I have LW 11.6.1.

    Please help / comment!

    Post edited by atnreg11_e7cfe12584 on
  • HarvellHarvell Posts: 37
    edited December 1969

    not suitable for iClone, that uses bone rigging, FBX the only supported animation format, does obj, skp and other static meshes otherwise
    dunno if Blender can use it, I have gotten genesis animation in via animate2 .mdd using frozen simulated optitex cloth into Blender from Daz.

    Blender does not yet support Alembic format. Of course, it's Blender, so somebody may make a plugin within the week, or we may wait for years like we have for Poser/Studio format support.
  • bohemian3bohemian3 Posts: 1,028
    edited January 2014

    Works with Max 2010 + with this (expensive) importer http://exocortex.com/products/crate

    I gave it a shot and the fidelity was excellent as claimed. With animations in fbx you lost all joint deformations but so far this seems to export them faithfully but you loose all rigging. As noted you have to completely recreate the materials in Max. I posted some scripts to do this in another thread and will post new URLs once I update those scripts for alembic.

    Post edited by bohemian3 on
  • anikadanikad Posts: 1,919
    edited December 1969

    atnreg11 said:

    I just tried it, does not work at all at least with Lightwave :(

    I setup a scene in DAZ, then export to Alembic (without subdivs preserved, that's the only way to get anything to LW).
    But when I import it to LW, the geometry is correct but NO surfaces are preserved! The whole object is plain Default.
    Ok it copies the texture maps to a folder but that is totally useless if the surface names and assignments are lost!

    Please someone tell me this actually works and I just did something wrong (I doubt that as there is nothing to do wrong).

    Is the problem in DAZ exporter or LW importer?
    A bit strange was that the Alembic Importer was not in LW menus, I had to add it manually. The plugin existed though. I have LW 11.6.1.

    Please help / comment!


    Daz Spooky said something about surfaces below, does that answer your question?

    Does DS Alembic export the basic surface materials along with the vertices? OR do we have to setup surfaces in our target app?
    The current (released) version of the format does not support surfaces, yet. THe exporter will collect all the maps for you in order to help you set up the surfaces in your target app.
  • edited December 1969

    anikad said:

    Daz Spooky said something about surfaces below, does that answer your question?

    I understand that the material settings are not exported and that is fine but I cannot understand that it DELETES all the surface assignments!

    Say you have an object with material names Skin, Hands and Head. They of course are connected to certain polygons.
    Now if I export that and import it in LW, the result is the only material name Default assigned to all polygons :o

    That is totally useless, it would be huge (near impossible) work to re-create the surface assignments in LW.
    And so I don't believe that is true, there must be a big bug in either DAZ Alembic Export or LW Alembic import.

    Can someone confirm that DAZ object exported to Alembic actually has the surface names remaining when imported to other software as Alembic? I'd prefer Lightwave but if that works for Max or Maya, then the bug is probably in LW.

    So please confirm either way :)

  • bohemian3bohemian3 Posts: 1,028
    edited December 1969

    In the Max import ALL the surface assignments are still there (I think there are 28) - so the exporter does send out the surface assignments (I think DAZ calls them material groups or zones) - But there's no material for it - you have to recreate that. The product description says that. In Max it's called a multi-subobject material.

  • edited December 1969

    bohemian3 said:
    In the Max import ALL the surface assignments are still there (I think there are 28) - so the exporter does send out the surface assignments (I think DAZ calls them material groups or zones) - But there's no material for it - you have to recreate that. The product description says that. In Max it's called a multi-subobject material.

    Yes I read that and that's why I bought it.
    But then the problem is in LW Alembic importer as really the only surface left after import is Default :(

    Thanks for the info :)

    Of course IF someone gets it to work with LW then please explain how here :)

  • 3d-username3d-username Posts: 0
    edited December 1969


    Personally I am most interested in the Alembic file format because of Otoy Octane Render.

    I have not seen a clear answer to this yet.

    Has anyone tested this with otoy octanerender, is there only one default material zone for the entire model or one for each that just needs to be re-created on octane?

    Has anyone had the camera transfer out of the daz exporter? This is what you would want from the exporter, camera motion, yes its in the amblec spec.
    wikipedia: (Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras)

    thanks in advance

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969


    Personally I am most interested in the Alembic file format because of Otoy Octane Render.

    I have not seen a clear answer to this yet.

    Has anyone tested this with otoy octanerender, is there only one default material zone for the entire model or one for each that just needs to be re-created on octane?

    Has anyone had the camera transfer out of the daz exporter? This is what you would want from the exporter, camera motion, yes its in the amblec spec.
    wikipedia: (Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras)

    thanks in advanceAs near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

  • 3d-username3d-username Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    As near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

    yes, it's available as an open beta to the otoy community, similar to daz beta downloads.

    http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36971

    Post edited by 3d-username on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    As near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

    yes, it's available as an open beta to the otoy community, similar to daz beta downloads.

    http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36971Which, like DAZ Betas, means it is subject to change. No we have not tested against their beta. No they have not asked us to do so.

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited January 2014

    atnreg11 said:
    anikad said:

    Daz Spooky said something about surfaces below, does that answer your question?

    I understand that the material settings are not exported and that is fine but I cannot understand that it DELETES all the surface assignments!

    Say you have an object with material names Skin, Hands and Head. They of course are connected to certain polygons.
    Now if I export that and import it in LW, the result is the only material name Default assigned to all polygons :o

    That is totally useless, it would be huge (near impossible) work to re-create the surface assignments in LW.
    And so I don't believe that is true, there must be a big bug in either DAZ Alembic Export or LW Alembic import.

    Can someone confirm that DAZ object exported to Alembic actually has the surface names remaining when imported to other software as Alembic? I'd prefer Lightwave but if that works for Max or Maya, then the bug is probably in LW.

    So please confirm either way :)
    The Lightwave Importer only sets up one material zone per object, regardless of the number of Material Zones an object may have.

    Note I did find this feature request on their forums. http://forums.newtek.com/showthread.php?139694-Alembic-Importer-should-support-multiple-Material-Zones-per-Object

    Post edited by DAZ_Spooky on
  • linvanchenelinvanchene Posts: 1,335
    edited July 2014

    edited and removed by user

    Post edited by linvanchene on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969


    Personally I am most interested in the Alembic file format because of Otoy Octane Render.


    I have not seen a clear answer to this yet.

    Has anyone tested this with otoy octanerender, is there only one default material zone for the entire model or one for each that just needs to be re-created on octane?

    thanks in advance

    As near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

    I appologize for not being clear enough about this:

    At this time there is to my knowledge no public released version that has fully working Alembic import of either

    - the Octane Render Plugin for DS (This is used to work directly inside DAZ Studio for a more free workflow.)

    - the Octane Render standalone version 1.5 (This is used to render a finished scene if you do not intend to change the scene / animation again)

    - the Octane Render Cloud Editon (Speculation: This may work the same as the Standalone version but you are able to use GPU in the Otoy could render farm to render the scene even more quickly)

    - - -


    The alembic import feature was announced though on december 23, 2013 for the standalone version 1.5:

    http://render.otoy.com/newsblog/?p=331

    - - -

    I also asked questions how the DAZ alembic exporter could be used in combination with those applications on the Otoy forum as well.


    http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=37824&p=167326#p167326

    Speculation:

    I hope that the Alembic Exporter will be compatible with the Standalone and the Cloud Edtion.
    Maybe the Alembic Exporter can in some way also be used for the plugin version to optimize the way animations are loaded.

    It could be though that beta testers are simply not allowed to answer questions what is currently working and what not.

    It could also be that the Alembic import is stil far away from a working version so it was deceided not to provide more information at this point about the details what may and may not work.


    Has anyone had the camera transfer out of the daz exporter? This is what you would want from the exporter, camera motion, yes its in the amblec spec.
    wikipedia: (Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras)

    @ Camera information:

    From my experience with the DS plugin I can say that DS cameras and OctaneRender cameras do not share all information.
    The position in 3D space is of course the same. You may need to adjust the settings again to get the exact depth of field that you want.

    OctaneRender cameras have a more realistic calcuation of depth of field that uses F - stop values closer to real life.
    In real life cameras F stop ranges go from F1.2 to about F22.

    Unfortunately in a lot of 3D applications camera settings are simplified.
    When matching CG animations to real life video footage or photography it is very helpful when you can use the exact same values as in the photograph:
    (Example: 50mm, F1.4, Shutter speed 250/second)

    I have no knowledge what kind of proposition the alemibic format suggests that all software will use the same realistic values that you find in real life cameras and lenses.


    Cameras are not part of the Alembic Standard. It is for transfer of Geometry and animations of that geometry.

    The DAZ Studio Octane Plug-in, which has nothing to do with the Alembic export, has had some issues working with DS, but to the best of my knowledge most of those were worked out. (Aside from the limitations of the render engine and large texture maps overflowing videocard RAM. Note this would not be solved with Alembic. )

  • linvanchenelinvanchene Posts: 1,335
    edited July 2014

    edited and removed by user

    Post edited by linvanchene on
  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014


    Personally I am most interested in the Alembic file format because of Otoy Octane Render.

    I have not seen a clear answer to this yet.

    Has anyone tested this with otoy octanerender, is there only one default material zone for the entire model or one for each that just needs to be re-created on octane?

    Has anyone had the camera transfer out of the daz exporter? This is what you would want from the exporter, camera motion, yes its in the amblec spec.
    wikipedia: (Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras)

    thanks in advance

    As near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/35758/
    http://www.youtube.com/user/OtoyNZ?feature=watch

    A few things to add, I only got the Daz exporter yesterday and downloaded the latest build with Alembic import/animation..

    So far, I HAVE been able to apply texture maps to a character (animated) from the Daz exporter and imported in to the standalone version of Ocatne Render :D There does appear (could be me as its been a while) that there is an issue with SMOOTH not applying when checked but like I say, I have been away from standalone for a while and its prob user error :P

    I have not looked in to camera import/export yet but here is a screen shot of the exporter (Ds) options:


    :D

    exporter_DS.JPG
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    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Orion_Uk said:

    Personally I am most interested in the Alembic file format because of Otoy Octane Render.

    I have not seen a clear answer to this yet.

    Has anyone tested this with otoy octanerender, is there only one default material zone for the entire model or one for each that just needs to be re-created on octane?

    Has anyone had the camera transfer out of the daz exporter? This is what you would want from the exporter, camera motion, yes its in the amblec spec.
    wikipedia: (Alembic also has support for transform hierarchies and cameras)

    thanks in advance

    As near as I can tell Octane does not, at this time, have an Alembic importer.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/35758/
    http://www.youtube.com/user/OtoyNZ?feature=watch

    :DAlready covered above.

  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    Already covered above

    LOL... aaahh, THATS what the scroll wheel on my mouse does!

    Silly me :P

    Thanks DazSpooky :)

    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    @ DazSpooky (or anyone else)..

    I cant seem to get the Camera to export from the Daz Alembic exporter in to Octanerender standalone, any tips please?

    Also, I am having texture 'issues' still and would like help with that please? Here are a couple of links that discribe my problems I am having thank you :)

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/527344/
    http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=37859&start=10

    Should I file a bug report or is this user error?

    Dont want to waste Daz teams time with a fake bug report lol :P

    A copy of my post in Otoy forum (as you may not be able to view that area of the forum, I dont know!)..

    How strange, my exported scene file (from Daz Studio Alembic Exporter) does not seem to show a connector for a camera (as seen in inthe post by Elvissuperstar007)... ?

    There is no Alembic camera slot on the exported 'scene' object file?

    Also,

    Still have a skin issue with Alembic but not obj?

    Any advice please?

    Thank you :D

    UPDATE: Trying to import Michael 4 exported by Daz Alembic exporter crashes ORSA EVERY TIME, Genesis exports fine apart from the messed up texture issue! Also, choosing the option 'preserve subdevision surfaces' results in the Alembic export failing to load every time!

    Alembic_with_camera_-_from_Elvis_post.JPG
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    fail.JPG
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    exporter_options.JPG
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    A_hint_on_my_skin_issue_maybe.JPG
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    no_Alembic_camera_slot_and_skin_issue_with_Alembic_but_not_obj.JPG
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    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Orion_Uk said:
    @ DazSpooky (or anyone else)..

    I cant seem to get the Camera to export from the Daz Alembic exporter in to Octanerender standalone, any tips please?

    Cameras are not part of the Alembic Spec, neither are lights. It is an Vertex exact object and object animation format. It doesn't do cameras.

    Also, I am having texture 'issues' still and would like help with that please? Here are a couple of links that discribe my problems I am having thank you :)

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/527344/

    Should I file a bug report or is this user error?

    It is an Octane error. If you file a bug please do so through their tech support channels.
  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    Orion_Uk said:
    @ DazSpooky (or anyone else)..

    I cant seem to get the Camera to export from the Daz Alembic exporter in to Octanerender standalone, any tips please?

    Cameras are not part of the Alembic Spec, neither are lights. It is an Vertex exact object and object animation format. It doesn't do cameras.

    Also, I am having texture 'issues' still and would like help with that please? Here are a couple of links that discribe my problems I am having thank you :)

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/527344/

    Should I file a bug report or is this user error?

    It is an Octane error. If you file a bug please do so through their tech support channels.

    Thanks for the reply DazSpooky :D

    I will have to speak to the Otoy team then as a few images there are confussing me as they give the impression of Camera import!

    The importer shows IMPORT CAMERAS option!

    The imported .ABC file (export source program unknown as its a forum post image) in the attached image has a Blue connector which connects to the RenderTargets Camera 'slot', where as the .ABC exported from Daz exporter does not have the Bluse 'slot'..


    And the final image shows (top right under render target setting) Camera:Octanemeshshattercam.abc as camera source!

    I will take my misunderstandings back there, many thanks for your reply :D

    PS: So you think the 'blocky' texturemaps are an issue for the Otoy team then yes?

    Octane_Render_Alembic_import_settings.JPG
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    Camera_in_Octanerender_on_.abc_file_.JPG
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    Ambelic_export_with_camera_slot_in_mesh_node_-_inside_octane_render.JPG
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    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    UPDATE: Regarding the following..

    Orion_Uk said:
    @ DazSpooky (or anyone else)..

    I cant seem to get the Camera to export from the Daz Alembic exporter in to Octanerender standalone, any tips please?

    Cameras are not part of the Alembic Spec, neither are lights. It is an Vertex exact object and object animation format. It doesn't do cameras.

    Also, I am having texture 'issues' still and would like help with that please? Here are a couple of links that discribe my problems I am having thank you :)

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/527344/

    Should I file a bug report or is this user error?

    It is an Octane error. If you file a bug please do so through their tech support channels.

    Here is what Roeland @ Otoy says regarding meshes & cameras:

    "Octane at the moment only supports triangle meshes, the other forms of geometry (subDiv, strands etc.) are not imported.

    Also if the Alembic file contains a camera objects then the imported scene node will have a camera output (blue-green) for every of these camera objects. Cameras are part of the Alembic standard, this is mentioned on the Alembic website.

    http://www.alembic.io/updates.html"

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  • linvanchenelinvanchene Posts: 1,335
    edited July 2014

    edited and removed by user

    Post edited by linvanchene on
  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 0
    edited January 2014

    linvanchene, Thank you so much for making things clearer for me & your time to post here :D

    Orion, thank you a lot for posting this here. I tried to follow all the different threads in all the different forums as good as I could.

    Thank you for taking the time to explain things to me in a way that I understand, sorry for the confusing posts.
    I posted in Otoy & Daz forums as (not being the sharpest tool in the box sometimes) I did not know much about the issue(s)
    I was having, what the actual causes were and how much of it was user error or software related.

    I will stick to posting either in this thread or http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=37859&start=30 only from here on in ;)

    I though that getting the perspective from Daz & Otoy would help me clear that up not foreseeing this issue of multiple threads.

    Also, I guess I am guilty of not reading things fully and therefore when the features I was expecting did not work I got lost in the frantic world of google searches rather than FULLY reading & understanding the information provided, sorry once again.

    It seems there are two different issues going on at the moment:

    1) The otoy OctaneRender Standalone version is not fully ready yet to support Alembic import of meshes with subdivision.
    What is needed is some more patience until the “official” version 1.5 of OctaneRender is released as I allready tried to explain in the posts.

    Currently Octane Standalone 1.27 is out as a Release Candiate.
    We also need to understand that all Release Candidates are unofficial Beta versions that we can use at our own risk.

    The last official standalone version available in the downloads is 1.2
    Until we see an offical version 1.5 in the downloads area there is still A LOT of work to be done.
    For those who do not read through the whole thread GUILTY :(

    This only affects the Octane standalone version.
    The OctaneRender plugin for DS reads the data directly from DS .duf files. No Alembic export / import needed there.
    - - -
    2) For some reason some people are under the impression that Camera values are not part of the Alembic standard.
    I really do not quite understand all the limits and possibilities of the Alembic format yet myself.
    I can understand if some things are mixed up because I myself still end up mixing up a lot of things that may or may not be related.
    But from a google search for camera+data+alembic+format it seems that other software support camera export & import with the alembic format.

    The camera values and the definitions also seem to be included in the alembic documentation:
    http://docs.alembic.io/python/search.html?q=camera&check_keywords=yes&area=default

    From my point of view having camera values defined as part of the Alembic standard makes a lot of sense.
    As I already pointed out above matching different footage no matter if the source is video or animation depends on using the exact same camera data with the same values.

    After all the Alembic standard seems to be introduced by imageworks and lucasfilm both companies dealing probably a lot with composting footage of different sources and all the issues that arise in the process.

    The impression I got so far is:
    There is one Alembic format. But it seems not every software is yet supporting all features of it.
    Otoy seems to be working to make Alembic support happen for subdivided meshes.

    Roeland @ Otoy had this to say in his last post to me:

    Octane at the moment only supports triangle meshes, the other forms of geometry (subDiv, strands etc.) are not imported.

    I understand the mesh & texturing side of things better now thanks to everyone, I would just like to see how the camera confusion will be cleared up from this point on then ;)

    Maybe DAZ could have another look at how camera values are calculated in DS and how to include properly calculated realistic camera values in the Alembic Export / Import.

    I certainly hope so as both DazSpookey & Richard Haseltine both seem to be under the impression that Cameras are not supported!

    With respect to them (as is only right & due), Here is what they say..

    Richard Haseltine: Alembic does not carry camera or texture information - just the mesh and animation.

    DazSpookey:Cameras are not part of the Alembic Spec, neither are lights. It is an Vertex exact object and object animation format. It doesn’t do cameras.

    Here is hoping that Daz & Otoy continue to improve these products (& add camera export to the Daz exporter) with as much dedication & ingenuity as possible. Together Daz & Otoy software complements each other on a great level that serves us users well, I am grateful for the hard work that goes in to both the programs involved in this thread & their developers :D

    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
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