Fabric Q&A

General discussion about 3D DCC and other topics
FabricPaul
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Fabric Q&A

Post by FabricPaul » 02 Mar 2014, 17:48

Moderator edit: I extracted the following post from the "What if?" thread as I strongly felt, Fabric Engine needed its own dedicated Q&A thread to keep everything nice and tidy (sort of). edit: FabricPaul just informed me he wanted this in "open discussion", so it moved. - HB

I have had a couple of people PM about how to get started with Fabric. My recommendation is to get your head around it by working with Fabric inside of Softimage (using the Splice API). This introduces you to the execution engine and the KL language in a context you're already familiar with, and it's also an area we're pushing on over the next few releases.

Installers are here: http://dist.fabric-engine.com/FabricSplice/latest/

Then you can follow the introductory tutorials: http://documentation.fabric-engine.com/ ... kshop.html

If you're interested in knowing about what's coming with 2.0, here's an early design overview (subject to change blah blah): https://vimeo.com/84300368 - expect this to drop early summer.

Let me know how you get on - feedback is always welcome.

EricTRocks
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by EricTRocks » 02 Mar 2014, 23:37

I've been using Splice for 9 months or so at this point. I can answer any questions regarding Splice.
Eric Thivierge
Lead Kraken Developer, Fabric Engine
http://fabric-engine.github.io/Kraken

Pooby
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Pooby » 03 Mar 2014, 00:11

Eric, I wonder if you would consider doing a starter tutorial. Maybe taking something simple to do in ICE like a shrinkwrap deformer and doing it with splice?
I think that would be really useful.

EricTRocks
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by EricTRocks » 03 Mar 2014, 00:23

Yeah I've been thinking about making some tutorials for sure. I haven't done much with geometry deformations honestly, it's mainly the rigging stuff. I'm still waiting on a few features regarding deformations (weight map support) to really dive in, but I'm hearing they are in the works currently.
Eric Thivierge
Lead Kraken Developer, Fabric Engine
http://fabric-engine.github.io/Kraken

FabricPaul
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by FabricPaul » 05 Mar 2014, 19:18

Hi everyone,

We’ve been mentioned in a few places recently in relation to what has happened to Softimage, and particularly in discussions regarding ‘what now?’. I’m going to try and cover everything that’s come up in various emails and forum threads. If I missed anything, let me know and I’ll do my best to get back to you. You can reach me directly using paul@fabric-engine.com, and I will track responses in the places this is posted.

Before getting into anything else, you need to know that FABRIC IS FREE to individuals. Freelancers, hobbyists, students, professionals - we don't care. We strongly believe that the way for Fabric to become successful is for people to have easy access to it. We make money from studios adopting the technology, not from people trying to use it.

“What the &^%$ is Fabric Engine?”

Fabric Engine is a platform for building custom tools and applications. It’s designed to be open and extensible. That doesn’t really mean much though, so let me explain a bit about the major components.

Fabric Core - this is a high-performance multi-threading engine. It takes the code you write in KL, and makes sure that it runs as fast as possible on the hardware you’re running it on.

Kernel Language (KL) – this is the high-level language used for writing this code. KL has been designed to be accessible to someone that is most comfortable writing Python code – it behaves as a dynamic language, so you can iterate quickly. However, it is as fast as statically compiled code. Soon we will be able to execute KL on your graphics card, without needing to change a line of code - GPU compute for free, using a language that anyone can learn. You can learn a lot more about the KL language here: http://fabricengine.com/splice/kernel-language-kl/

Extensions - we ship a range of libraries that Fabric can use. Alembic, FBX, Bullet, Open Image IO, hardware devices and so on. We also ship the EDK to make your own extensions, and all the source code to our extensions, and tools to make it as easy possible. This means that you can use these libraries inside of your existing DCCs.

Splice API - this API makes it possible for you to use the Fabric Core and KL within other applications. That might be a commercial DCC - we currently support Maya, Softimage, Arnold and Nuke (Max and Houdini coming soon) - or it could be a custom framework. This allows you to use Fabric to build tools that are DCC-agnostic - you can easily move them between applications, which can be very powerful. There is a full demo here: https://vimeo.com/76325922

Get Started

So if you're a Softimage user, this is where I suggest you start - you'll be working within your familiar application environment, and you'll get a good sense of what is possible with the Fabric Core:

1) Get Fabric: http://fabricengine.com/get-fabric/

2) Get Splice: http://dist.fabric-engine.com/FabricSplice/1.11.0/

3) Follow the tutorials: http://documentation.fabric-engine.com/ ... kshop.html

Scene Graph - We also have a standalone Python/Qt framework. However - we are currently working on 2.0 of this (due early summer). My recommendation is that you take a look at the version 2.0 outline presentation: https://vimeo.com/84300368 but that you limit your testing to the Fabric in Softimage stuff linked above.

Managed transition - Everything that you do in other applications with Fabric and the Splice API will be portable to the 2.0 scenegraph. This gives you a path to the future without abandoning your current toolset - you might decide to move to Maya down the line, or another application, or to the Fabric standalone framework. It gives you options and most importantly, it allows you a managed transition.

Real-Time Renderer (RTR)- we have a powerful real-time renderer that is targeted at production. It's written completely in KL, which is testament to the power of the framework - it also means it's completely open. You must remember that it is a platform for building rendering applications - so far we have customers using Fabric and the RTR for deep image compositing, scene assembly with Arnold integration, animation preview, projection mapping and asset preview. You can see some additional information here: http://fabricengine.com/splice-2/fabric ... rendering/

“What does it do out of the box?” - right now, not much. We ship a range of demo applications, but if you aren't comfortable writing python or similar then you're going to struggle. However, Fabric 2.0 will have much more for you by way of visual programming and 'instant utility' tools that you can just use. Over time we will have more and more functionality like this, but we elected to start with the platform capabilities first - it's taken us a while but it's starting to pay off. This will change over the next year as we see the community pushing functionality themselves, and hopefully we'll see a few collaborative projects come to fruition soon. We're also supporting 3rd party developers like Eric Mootz, so we're looking forward to seeing more artist-centric tools coming through this year.

“What’s the long term roadmap?” - watch the Fabric 2.0 video (linked above - https://vimeo.com/84300368) for an inkling. We are thinking in broad strokes about: scene assembly, rigging and animation, virtual production and visual programming. We see these as areas that are ripe for some innovation and we have a platform that offers all of the building blocks to do this. However - we aren't beholden to investors or shareholders, so our roadmap sometimes changes according to what our customers are telling us they need. We're also doing some cool stuff with Oculus Rift ;)

"Are you in control of the company?" - Yes. We have investors but Phil, Peter and I run the company. Nothing can happen without us agreeing to it.

We can't do it alone - if you want to see change happen, you have to get involved. Small companies like Fabric need your support, we need you to kick things around and tell us what you think. We need to know what you need. It's immensely frustrating to be told "this is cool, if only it did X" and then we do X and the response is "now if it did Y then I'd take a look". Get involved - it's free!

Let's get creative - we are open to creating a consortium and finding ways to open-source work done there. Obviously there are hooks into Fabric and the concern will be around vendor dependency - however, a lot of that can be addressed in the design of a particular project. We have done deals that give source code access to customers after a certain number of years, and we will work with studios to give that kind of security. We see this as something where we would not be controlling anything, but working on a partnership basis with the studios that want to do this. It has to be driven by studios that want to see some control over their destiny, with companies like Fabric getting involved to support and drive innovation. We are a platform, so for us this is the way to success - providing high-performance, dependable components that can be used to build production-specific tools. If you are interested in becoming a part of this Fabric working group then please email me (paul@fabric-engine.com) - right now I'm just gauging interest with the hope that we can do something amazing together.

Thanks,

Paul and the Fabric team

Eugen
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Eugen » 06 Mar 2014, 12:30

Paul,
have you guys been thinking of a Modo port for Splice?
I wonder if that even would be possible, given the 'destructive' workflow it has.
Thanks,
Eugen

Pancho
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Pancho » 06 Mar 2014, 12:59

I don't know how often it has been asked or how often it's been answered, but will FE be in any way like ICE in the near future? Many of us want to programm/find solutions visually and not with code. The intuitive way of ICE is what makes SI so great.

FabricPaul
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by FabricPaul » 06 Mar 2014, 13:23

Fabric 2.0 will have visual programming capabilities, and that release will come in early summer. We'll show more about it nearer the time.

I discussed implementing Fabric for Modo with Brad in the past, but neither of us have the resources to do the work. If the demand is there after we've done Max and Houdini then we might look at it again. The Splice API is available as part of the release, so there's nothing stopping someone looking at an implementation themselves.

Pooby
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Pooby » 06 Mar 2014, 13:33

Fabric isn't going to be a one to one replacement for ICE.

However the way I see it is that, its far more powerful than ICE and the fact its unchained to any DCC is a huge bonus.
I ( literally) can't wait for the Visual Programming, but the benefits I'll get from knowing how to Fabric are enough incentive for me to lean the KL language right now.

eben
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by eben » 06 Mar 2014, 14:05

Hello,

As i'll stay as long as possible in Softimage, i'm afraid i've to anticipate the moment when i'll have to use Maya more and more. I'll miss certainly some feature, and i would like to know if it's possible to bring them in maya with FE. For example, a scene explorer, a pass management system etc...? FE deal with asset or can go deep in their host DCC ?

thanks

Eugen
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Eugen » 06 Mar 2014, 14:12

FabricPaul wrote:Fabric 2.0 will have visual programming capabilities, and that release will come in early summer. We'll show more about it nearer the time.

I discussed implementing Fabric for Modo with Brad in the past, but neither of us have the resources to do the work. If the demand is there after we've done Max and Houdini then we might look at it again. The Splice API is available as part of the release, so there's nothing stopping someone looking at an implementation themselves.

Wait a minute... help me think this through... you say the Modo SDK would fully capable of such a thing? Wouldn't Splice also bring proceduralism to Modo at the same time?

[brain gears rattling slowly...] How would a hypothetical Splice implementation look like?
Modo, as I understand it, at this time has no operators (well, generator operators if you like), so how would you hook Modo scene objects into FE, technically, and also regarding the interface?
In Softimage (or Maya) you put a Splice operator on top of an object, and mangle them as you see fit in FE.

Btw., regarding your plans to go node-based: how cool would that be??? Choose your flavor - code or node...

[sleeping dragon opens an eye...]

FabricPaul
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by FabricPaul » 07 Mar 2014, 13:33

We haven't explored Modo to define the implementation - just the initial conversation with Brad. However, we've succeed with Max, Maya, Softimage, Houdini (prototype), Arnold, Nuke, After Effects, and a few others - so I'm confident that we would be fine.

Eugen
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Eugen » 07 Mar 2014, 17:55

Ok - very interesting!
Now that Modo is seemingly gathering some momentum - do you think you will do first investigations any time soon?
Best,
Eugen

FabricPaul
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by FabricPaul » 07 Mar 2014, 18:03

Not until after we've shipped 2.0 - we don't have customers asking for it, so it's hard to justify investing limited resources. I'm not sure what people would use it for - what's the use case?

angus_davidson
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by angus_davidson » 07 Mar 2014, 18:19

--
Technomancer at Digital Arts
Wits University

Eugen
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Re: Fabric Q&A

Post by Eugen » 07 Mar 2014, 18:24

Adding modeling proceduralism and all the other upcoming tools done in FE to Modo, of course.
As you know, M. has no operator graph. Modeling relations seem to be possible though in some way, as the Mesh Fusion plugin demonstrates.

I'm just starting to look into XSI alternatives, I have no experience with Modo, but is seems to have a lot of potential, and FE is next-gen technology. Don't you think this could be a great team?

Redshift guys will do the 3dsmax plugin next, then most probably Modo - which could need a better and production ready renderer.
Sounds like a dream team... now with FE added, maybe this is the 'golden path into the future'... hope I'm not just dreaming...

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