pass manager

Discussions about migration to other software
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druitre
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Joined: 25 Jun 2009, 23:35

pass manager

Post by druitre » 05 Mar 2014, 16:53

Ok then... how about the current state of other DCCs? I can't imagine having to do without SI's pass manager.

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origin
Posts: 619
Joined: 09 Jun 2009, 11:59
Location: warsaw

Re: pass manager

Post by origin » 05 Mar 2014, 17:09

In max you have state sets.
Its a scripted semi-retarded pass system.
Very bugged (aka not production ready) and very limited, with awkard workflow

The way it works (a design of true genius :ympray: )
-you click 'RECORD' red button
-you change some things eg visibility, or apply different material to object etc
-you unclick the red button

Now in state sets window you have a list of states, and list of objects you've made changes to.
Each object has little icon of eye (so you can see if obj is hidden or not ^:)^ ).
If you changed some object properties, you will have to hover your mouse over object in list to see what you've changed
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McNistor
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Joined: 06 Aug 2009, 17:26

Re: pass manager

Post by McNistor » 05 Mar 2014, 18:25

I'm interested in this too, but more to satisfy my curiosity than to pick up that s/w based on this.
The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.
-Thucydides

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sonictk
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Re: pass manager

Post by sonictk » 05 Mar 2014, 18:55

This question was asked exactly on the mailing list a while back, but wrt MitoA. I'm a bit crunchy right now with my final year project (animating and compositing X_X) But here was my response, if you run into problems or need more details/example scenes (where Maya is concerned) feel free to ask, I have written scripts to handle problems with render layers as well so this point even though I am a student I feel I have an alright grasp of how to deal with this aspect in Maya at least :P
Oh boy something I can finally contribute to!

Are you using mental ray? If you are, it's kind of silly. There's the concept of render layers, each of which can have a pass contribution map (that can themselves also exclude certain objects), and then optionally each of those contribution maps can be associated to individual render passes.

I guess the best question is what are you trying to achieve? Do you need custom AOVs with special shaders applied that won't work in mental ray or do you just want standard passes like ZDepth, UV, Ppass mattes etc.? If you want something more complicated or if your shaders are special then you might have to play with renderlayers to assign specific material overrides for certain passes. Otherwise, I'd just stick with the masterLayer and use pass contribution maps to exclude/include objects during rendering of your various passes.

The reason is that I've found render layers to be extremely buggy with Maya, no matter which version you're using: sometimes they will fail to render at all, sometimes they will render with the wrong datatype framebuffer (even if the override is explicity set in the render settings), and the only way I've gotten them to render reliably is to render them seperately through a batch file instead of through the GUI batch render option. I usually stay away from renderLayers at all costs unless they are necessary.
I haven't used other apps like 3ds max for such complicated workflow as I have in Maya, though, so I haven't really played with state sets, I'm sure they're a great replacement for XSI's partitions: previously, though, I was just rendering to EXR which automatically invokes a new UI for adding your passes. Really nice thing is that you can render ZIPS by default, something like Maya couldn't do until 2014 due to the mental ray version difference...

Hellomojo
Posts: 20
Joined: 09 Mar 2014, 06:06

Re: pass manager

Post by Hellomojo » 09 Mar 2014, 20:26

I am very concerned about this too. Data management is my biggest worry, model -group-pass-partition-overrides were sublime in SI, wow I just said were.! Probably going for Max and engaging some of these scripts. After 14 us use I had began to do most stuff in the scene explorer with the keyboard, so simple and robust..
Also it became necessary in my projects to separate all because of rerenders and tight TV deadlines.

Hellomojo
Posts: 20
Joined: 09 Mar 2014, 06:06

Re: pass manager

Post by Hellomojo » 10 Mar 2014, 13:57

Looking at Max and Maya videos (Still undecided - but think it would be good to get started) - The Maya workflow seems similar to Softimage (very similar components Attribute editor = property editor etc.), much more similar than Max.
Max looks a little 'We thought of this later'. I have been working on my own for quite a long time, so appreciate any advice. Maya looks very similar and I just like Max, that's where Im at! Fiddlesticks.

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Rork
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Re: pass manager

Post by Rork » 10 Mar 2014, 19:18

origin wrote:In max you have state sets.
Its a scripted semi-retarded pass system.
Very bugged (aka not production ready) and very limited, with awkard workflow

The way it works (a design of true genius :ympray: )
-you click 'RECORD' red button
-you change some things eg visibility, or apply different material to object etc
-you unclick the red button

Now in state sets window you have a list of states, and list of objects you've made changes to.
Each object has little icon of eye (so you can see if obj is hidden or not ^:)^ ).
If you changed some object properties, you will have to hover your mouse over object in list to see what you've changed

After a long day, THANK YOU for making laugh out loud!!!! =))
This is even worse than what Maya calles Renderlayers/Passes.....
SI UI tutorials: Toolbar http://goo.gl/iYOL0l | Custom Layout http://goo.gl/6iP5xQ | RenderManager View http://goo.gl/b4ZkjQ
So long, and thanks for all the Fish!!

Hellomojo
Posts: 20
Joined: 09 Mar 2014, 06:06

Re: pass manager

Post by Hellomojo » 10 Mar 2014, 19:47

it's the most basic way you would think of creating a pass/partition system - Your scene on the left, select and filter anything, switch to materials, whatever, then another explorer docked with passes on the right. Drag and drop anything you want anywhere. Apply overrides, done.
I make all passes with local render settings, so no need for overrides there even, render settings per pass.


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