DarkTree Simbiont

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Eugen
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DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 13:48

Hi,
does anyone know if there's a 64 bit version of the (very) old Simbiont mental ray shader?
The 32 bit version can be dld here:
http://www.darksim.com/html/download_simbiont2.shtml

Those shaders are old, but good, and we do not have that many choices when it comes to procedurals, do we?
(Does not look like EnhanceXSI is supported in recent SI versions)

The upcoming VRay 2.0 will have native support for Simbiont, but who knows when that's going to be ready.
For Arnold, there's Simbiont support, too (ObliqueFX), but that's not an option.


I'd be fine with mental ray for now... in case there's no 64 bit version yet - does anyone know who the guys were that wrote it back then? Maybe they would be willing to do a re-compile, or even pass on the sourcecode.

Thanks!
Best,
Eugen

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 23 Oct 2013, 14:51

Could this be the missing file? ;)
SimbiontMRay_SI2011_RC13.zip
(485.3 KiB) Downloaded 136 times
As to Enhance: it might seem unsupported, but all you have to do is to point the toolbars to the actual files anew (the absolute paths are "hardcoded" for some reason). It still works like a charm on Si2014SP1 at my end.

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 16:10

Sweet, thank you so much, Hirazi!! = D

Problem is, I get this error message "error 051011: shader "simbiontMR" not found" when I render.

I installed it exactly like described in simbiontSI_RC13.txt, with the engine dlls in the hardwired path C:\DTE\components\windows.
Is there some path or anything I have to fix in the SPDL first?
Does the workgroup path play any role maybe?

Edit: tried on 2014SP1 and SP2, both the same.

Edit2: tried on 2013SP1 and it works!!
Ok then... that leads to some nasty workarounds for me.
Last edited by Eugen on 23 Oct 2013, 16:18, edited 1 time in total.

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 23 Oct 2013, 16:17

I'll have a look later. Could be some change in the render SDK? I doubt it will help you much, but attached is the Maya version of the zip, which you could try to load using the included mi file.
The last time I checked this myself was years ago, so I can't really remember. ;)
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SimbiontMRay_Maya2011_RC13.zip
(484.75 KiB) Downloaded 129 times
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 16:19

Thanks!!
Did you get SimbiontMR to run under 2014SP1, too?

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 23 Oct 2013, 16:21

Eugen wrote:Thanks!!
Did you get SimbiontMR to run under 2014SP1, too?
No, but I haven't tried. Enhance fits my needs, so far...
Will, however, give it a go tonight, see how far I get...
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 16:28

Ok!
Where did you get the shader from, if I may ask? Who's ctrl.studio?
Maybe they are willing to re-compile it again. Simbiont is too handy and valuable to get ditched.
Will check the Enhance shaders, too, though.
Cheers,
Eugen

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 23 Oct 2013, 16:32

The shaders come from this Box account and the exact "whereabouts" of ctrl.studio is unknown to me. Start looking over at CGTalk. There once was a famous falling out between xsibase and ctrl.studio IIRC and after that their attention shifted more and more towards Maya.

One stupid question: did you restart after installing the shader?
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 16:45

Thanks for sharing the link!

Yes, I did restart.

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 21:08

Allright, got EnhanceXSI up and running in 2014SP2.
The paths in the toolbar need to be changed by hand... bah.

Does anyone know the trick to make the EXSI_Presets toolbar (not only EXSI_Nodes) show up in the View > Toolbars menu?
Cheers,
Eugen

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 23 Oct 2013, 21:12

Both toolbars share the exact same "clsid" (in the toolbar XML).
Create a new toolbar, "steal" its "clsid" and edit it into one of the Enhance toolbars.
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Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 23 Oct 2013, 22:25

That worked, thanks again!
Good to go...

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 24 Oct 2013, 13:27

FYI - I did get the simbiontMR to run last night, but I'd say be glad you got the Enhance_XSI to work, as simbiontMR would appear to be very "clunky" in its usage. Enhance_XSI is way more accessible IMHO...
;)
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Eugen
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 24 Oct 2013, 13:38

I know, Simbiont is clunky indeed. I used it long ago, in my 3ds max days, and still have a library off stuff that would come in handy.
Besides, VRay is going to support it. That's a sure thing. EnhanceXSI not.

How did you get it going? SI2013 could load the SimbiontMR, 2014SP2 not.

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Hirazi Blue » 24 Oct 2013, 14:06

I installed the spdl in Softimage
I downloaded the DarkTree Engine for x64, "dte_2600_64_win.zip",
unzipped the file, renamed the base folder to "DTE" and placed it at "C:\"
I created a "windows" folder in "DTE\components",
this"windows" folder is apparently where your own DarkTree files should go.
Then I create an Environment Variable named "DTE", with the value "C:\DTE\components".
And after that it just seemed to work.

edit: forgot to mention
Copy the dlls from components to windows
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Eugen
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Joined: 10 Jan 2010, 12:40
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Re: DarkTree Simbiont

Post by Eugen » 24 Oct 2013, 14:20

Great!! I'll check it out...
Thanks again, Hirazi!

Edit: started over and got it to run under 2014SP2!
It is not necessary to create a path variable "DTE", though. There's a hard-wired path C:/DTE/components/windows/ (interestingly with / not \) to be found inside simbiontMR.dll anyway.
Best regards,
Eugen

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