New GI prototype in v2015?

Discussions about rendering in SOFTIMAGE©
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FXDude
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New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 08 Dec 2014, 21:33

Hi, following a thread on the list from Hirazi concerning OOTB Hair shading solutions,

it seems that along with new hair shading, the recent Mental 3.12 coming with SI 2015, also (finally) has a new speedy & non blotchy GPU + reasonably quick CPU GI rendering (!)

An easy (on or off), accurate, yet usable-y fast and stable (in animation) method,
which was something that was sorely missing OOTB since forever,
but particularly since Arnold (SItoA which came for SI first for some reason :) )

https://elementalray.wordpress.com/2014 ... ick-start/
Image

Has anyone tested? (using string options? (see below))

As for current prototype limitations::
As such there are some limitations to know about in this prototype:
  • Motion blur not supported
    Lens shaders not supported
    Hair is tessellated
    Visibility (cutout opacity) not supported
    Specular interaction currently handled by Final Gather
The MotionBlur and CutoutOpacity (if they mean alpha cutouts(?)) seem to me like the biggest ones,
but hopefully a more finished version would make-it before the last SP. :ympray:



If it may be of help, I included the string options which are from here,

and you can install Mental Ray String Options
from RRay's magic bag of tricks :p
if you want to give it a whirl and perhaps post results(?) (StringOptions Addon also by RRay himself :) )
Global Illumination GPU

This version of mental ray offers a GPU accelerated implementation of global illumination effects.
In this initial form, the GI GPU mode speeds up indirect illumination through diffuse bounces of light, similar to what final gathering typically computes.

The GI GPU acceleration can be enabled and controlled with string options and on the command line of standalone mental ray.


For Global Illumination GPU rendering, these new string options are supported:

"gpu gi" "on"|"diffuse"|"off"


The values are:

"on"
for general GPU acceleration enabled.
The diffuse paths are computed on the GPU, specular sub-paths are computed on the CPU.
The performance gain compared to CPU rendering is moderate, however the rendered images are of superior quality.
('superior quality' from NVidia being a GPU company, so to be taken with a grain of salt ;] )

"diffuse"
GPU acceleration is enabled, but only diffuse paths are computed.
Performance gain is dramatic, however some scenes may be darker due to missing illumination from light paths through specular bounces.

"off"
GPU acceleration is disabled.
Î think 'off' is new GI algorithm still on, but with GPU acceleration off, and Sampling is probably through Unified Sampling settings.


These are also new:
To enable and tune the new Unified Sampling Filter scheme, a new string option is supported:

"unified sampling subfilter" on|off

To enable and tune Global Importance Sampling, these string options with new values are supported:

"light importance sampling" "on"|"all"|"local"|"off"

The values are:

"on"
Enable light importance sampling across all area lights in the scene.

"all"
Enable light importance sampling across all area and point/spot lights in the scene. This is useful for scenes with large number of point lights. However, for scenes with one or few point lights, the value "on" is recommended.

"local"
Importance sampling is applied to each light individually, with no cross-balancing among the lights. This corresponds to the light importance sampling performed in the previous version of mental ray 3.11.

"off"
Light importance sampling is disabled. This is the default.


The following options are available for further control:

"light importance sampling quality" numscalar[numscalar]
"light importance sampling precomp" on|off
"light importance sampling resolution" numint



cheers!

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rray
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by rray » 08 Dec 2014, 23:55

Nice! Thanks for posting, just a note with V 2015's appearance we were graciously provided with a built-in string option box of our own without a need for addon-patchwork by external unreliable partys downloaded from suspicious sites B-)
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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talent103
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by talent103 » 09 Dec 2014, 02:32

Is this just for Maya or is this also in XSI 2015 sp1?

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rray
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by rray » 09 Dec 2014, 12:08

Did anybody get this to work yet? Tried it in 2015 SP1, getting an error - it's asking for gpu_gi_plugin.dll in "Autodesk\Softimage 2015 SP1\Application\bin"
actually there is a file of that name, but it turns out it's "fake", just an identical copy of gpu_ao_plugin.dll :ymparty:

Copying Maya's gpu_gi_plugin.dll over the existing one removes the error but not getting any GI effect
--------------
edit (blog mode) : getting some effect using "gpu gi" "diffuse", with maya's dll. Not anything for "gpu gi" "on".
Last edited by rray on 09 Dec 2014, 12:23, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: sorry blogging
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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FXDude
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 09 Dec 2014, 15:14

Hum! so the DLL copying is like the IBL and then Mila shaders.

But I think if diffuse works that it's the main thing.

Specular consideration seems to be heavy(er) while probably not having much contribution.
(secondary indirect specular bounces)

But thanks for confirming that works! (at least for it's main part :) )

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FXDude
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 09 Dec 2014, 15:17

talent103 wrote:Is this just for Maya or is this also in XSI 2015 sp1?
At first I was wondering if "support for MR 3.12" in release notes only meant that it could support it,
but it's indeed MR 3.12 that's in v2015 :)

Daniel Brassard
Re: Softimage 2015 released
PostPosted: 15 Apr 2014, 19:20

Hi Maximus,

Softimage 2015 comes with Mental Ray 3.12, same for Maya/Max.

Soft comes now with a string option feature in the render manager.

I have not check yet if the MILA shaders are in Softimage but according to ARC, Mental Ray 3.12 comes with a stable version of the MILA shaders. If not, I can probably use the version I have from ARC.

Looking forward to test Soft 2015.


_________________________________
IslandDreamer

I've got an embarrassingly slow video card and progressive rendering in SI 2015's render preview is awesome. :-bd

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rray
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by rray » 09 Dec 2014, 15:47

Looks very good for a feature being in experimental mode (not even publicized).
I agree diffuse is the main thing (and really fast) .. we can get some specular bounces from the mila shaders. Could be best choice for interiors.

Hopefully the right gpu_gi_plugin.dll will be in SP2 (Btw in case someone looks for it, it's in here.)
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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FXDude
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 09 Dec 2014, 18:04

Neat!, wouldn't mind seeing your test if you want, even if it's a sphere in a box with a light :)
Last edited by FXDude on 09 Dec 2014, 18:09, edited 1 time in total.

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talent103
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by talent103 » 09 Dec 2014, 18:09

Thanks for the link rray :-bd

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rray
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by rray » 09 Dec 2014, 19:43

you're welcome
FXDude wrote:Neat!, wouldn't mind seeing your test if you want, even if it's a sphere in a box with a light :)
it's a football in a box with a light :)

Image
Attachments
Test_GI.zip
(213.49 KiB) Downloaded 117 times
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by Hirazi Blue » 09 Dec 2014, 21:16

rray wrote:actually there is a file of that name, but it turns out it's "fake", just an identical copy of gpu_ao_plugin.dll
Hands up if you're really surprised the fine folks at Autodesk|Softimage didn't want us to have this.
Including a "fake" must have cost just about as much work as including the correct dll would have, one might think.
:x
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

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FXDude
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 09 Dec 2014, 21:31

Including a "fake" must have cost just about as much work as including the correct dll would have, one might think.
:x
lol :p

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Draise
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by Draise » 09 Dec 2014, 23:01

Wow, pretty!

so.... just download/ install MentalRay standalone, copy the ______ DLL into that folder and.. it should work?

Which one works?

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rray
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by rray » 09 Dec 2014, 23:09

Yes- I copied gpu_gi_plugin.dll and the 3 nvidia optix dlls too (not sure if necessary)

btw just found out the option is "gi gpu" not "gpu gi", it's wrong in the mental ray docs too (it worked for me because I accidentally swapped them to the right order xD

Here's an older post by Kzin with some default string option that work fine

Also it looks like "gi gpu" "on" is supposed to work only with FG
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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FXDude
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by FXDude » 10 Dec 2014, 02:59

rray wrote:you're welcome

it's a football in a box with a light :)

Image
Oh cool! Just saw that! A sphere in a box would have been good, but ya a Tron soccer ball with a NoIcon bump in a box is definitely better :p

So there is but one light, and the other color emissions come from the bright ball parts?
(which we can see also bleeds on the box walls)

Also it doesn't seem noisy at all! how long did that region take?
(or how long would it take on a normal system if you have a monster setup :) )

And Thanks for making that test!

luceric
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Re: New GI prototype in v2015?

Post by luceric » 10 Dec 2014, 21:36

rray wrote:Did anybody get this to work yet? Tried it in 2015 SP1, getting an error - it's asking for gpu_gi_plugin.dll in "Autodesk\Softimage 2015 SP1\Application\bin"
actually there is a file of that name, but it turns out it's "fake", just an identical copy of gpu_ao_plugin.dll :ymparty:
It's a copy/paste error in an installer script; sorry about that.

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