Hi Shekn
I ran into a problem working with sycles and blendermada. Loaded the compounds all well and assigned them and changed their properties without an issue. I was rendering all the time of course and no crashes. I saved the scene, closed XSI. Next day trying to load the scene and hitting render will crash XSI instantly. If I remove the materials of blendermada from all the objects the scene will render fine. If I try to add a new material with a blendermada shader the scene crashes again!!! the dump shows the following error:
"The thread tried to read from or write to a virtual address for which it does not have the appropriate access."
It doesn't show the process, but might be converterop.dll
Is this an issue with blendermada that needs updating?
Cycles for Softimage
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Sycles 2.4.1 V 2.4.1 released August 2026 —
This is a full integration of the Blender Cycles renderer into XSI. Version 2.4 is compiled with Cycles 5.3 (state of July 2026). The second generation of the addon (since 2.0) is a complete rewrite and works with Softimage 2015 SP2.
New since version 2.1.3 (from the github release notes): 2.4.1: fixed incorrect transforms of instances when the master model has rotation or scale, repacked with missing DLLs 2.4: Cycles 5.3. New Alpha parameter for the ImageTexture node, Sky Texture with Single and Multiple Scattering models, Thin Film for Metallic and Glass BSDF, new Raycast and Scene Time nodes, OSL custom camera, Linear 3D curve shape (also as per-object override), Geometry Approximation mode for NURBS surfaces, Render Time pass (CPU), texture optimisation (resolution, limit, tx texture cache) and a detailed scene export timing log 2.4: renders MaterialX shader trees from the MaterialXSI addon (converted to OSL). Note: OSL shading works on CPU render devices only 2.3.x: Cycles 4.5, OSL support is back, new Metallic BSDF and Set Normal nodes, phase function for Scatter Volume, Diffuse Roughness for Principled BSDF, more Noise Texture types, subdivision with motion deform, per-frame texture images, rendering of NURBS surfaces and curves (via custom properties), tile rendering, fixed shadow catcher, vector input ports for OSL shaders 2.2.x: nodes of Blender 4.3 (Ray Portal BSDF, Sheen BSDF, Gabor Texture, redesigned Principled BSDF), current Blender OCIO color profiles, custom velocity grids for VDB primitives, Particle Info node fed by ICE attributes, denoising of the final passes with OIDN or OptiX
Supported Softimage features (quoted from the download page):
Polygon meshes and hair geometry Texture coordinates Vertex colors Shaderball preview. For materials, shader nodes and texture nodes Basic limited support of the following built-in Softimage shader nodes: Phong, Lambert, Hair Shading, Image, converters between vector, color and scalar Ambience global environment light Limited support of built-in Softimage light sources Model instances ICE strands geometry ICE pointcloud instances ICE geometry attributes (vector, color and scalar) with context per-point and per-object Volume rendering. In particular supports emFluid, Explosia FX and openVDB for Softimage volumes Special VDB Primitive for rendering vdbs without ICE Output multilayered exr file with all rendered passes Rendermaps
The following features from Cycles itself are supported: CPU and GPU rendering. In particular multidevices are supported. This allows you to use cpu and gpu simultaneously. The libraries for GPU rendering are included in the package. All Cycles shader nodes OSL shaders OpenColorIO profiles (Blender profile included) All Cycles output passes (Combined, Depth, Normal and so on) Color and value shader AOVs Lightgroups Cycles camera properties, in particular all panorama modes Cycles light sources Denoising by using Open Image Denoise and OptiX denoiser
For more information, full documentation and a list of the available Cycles nodes see the download page linked below. There is no local backup because the addon is still frequently updated - the plugin can be downloaded on Shekn's github releases. The source code is available on github there as well.
This is a full integration of the Blender Cycles renderer into XSI. Version 2.4 is compiled with Cycles 5.3 (state of July 2026). The second generation of the addon (since 2.0) is a complete rewrite and works with Softimage 2015 SP2.
New since version 2.1.3 (from the github release notes): 2.4.1: fixed incorrect transforms of instances when the master model has rotation or scale, repacked with missing DLLs 2.4: Cycles 5.3. New Alpha parameter for the ImageTexture node, Sky Texture with Single and Multiple Scattering models, Thin Film for Metallic and Glass BSDF, new Raycast and Scene Time nodes, OSL custom camera, Linear 3D curve shape (also as per-object override), Geometry Approximation mode for NURBS surfaces, Render Time pass (CPU), texture optimisation (resolution, limit, tx texture cache) and a detailed scene export timing log 2.4: renders MaterialX shader trees from the MaterialXSI addon (converted to OSL). Note: OSL shading works on CPU render devices only 2.3.x: Cycles 4.5, OSL support is back, new Metallic BSDF and Set Normal nodes, phase function for Scatter Volume, Diffuse Roughness for Principled BSDF, more Noise Texture types, subdivision with motion deform, per-frame texture images, rendering of NURBS surfaces and curves (via custom properties), tile rendering, fixed shadow catcher, vector input ports for OSL shaders 2.2.x: nodes of Blender 4.3 (Ray Portal BSDF, Sheen BSDF, Gabor Texture, redesigned Principled BSDF), current Blender OCIO color profiles, custom velocity grids for VDB primitives, Particle Info node fed by ICE attributes, denoising of the final passes with OIDN or OptiX
Supported Softimage features (quoted from the download page):
Polygon meshes and hair geometry Texture coordinates Vertex colors Shaderball preview. For materials, shader nodes and texture nodes Basic limited support of the following built-in Softimage shader nodes: Phong, Lambert, Hair Shading, Image, converters between vector, color and scalar Ambience global environment light Limited support of built-in Softimage light sources Model instances ICE strands geometry ICE pointcloud instances ICE geometry attributes (vector, color and scalar) with context per-point and per-object Volume rendering. In particular supports emFluid, Explosia FX and openVDB for Softimage volumes Special VDB Primitive for rendering vdbs without ICE Output multilayered exr file with all rendered passes Rendermaps
The following features from Cycles itself are supported: CPU and GPU rendering. In particular multidevices are supported. This allows you to use cpu and gpu simultaneously. The libraries for GPU rendering are included in the package. All Cycles shader nodes OSL shaders OpenColorIO profiles (Blender profile included) All Cycles output passes (Combined, Depth, Normal and so on) Color and value shader AOVs Lightgroups Cycles camera properties, in particular all panorama modes Cycles light sources Denoising by using Open Image Denoise and OptiX denoiser
For more information, full documentation and a list of the available Cycles nodes see the download page linked below. There is no local backup because the addon is still frequently updated - the plugin can be downloaded on Shekn's github releases. The source code is available on github there as well.
download page: https://ssoftadd.github.io/syclesSecondGenPage.html / wiki with tutorials / all of Shekn's plugins / author on vimeo / si-community thread
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I3D
- Posts: 122
- Joined: 12 Aug 2009, 16:15
- Skype: ironic3d
Re: Cycles for Softimage
I think I found the problem, it is with the diamond shader. Although it renders fine if I was in a session and render it, it will fail if I save the scene, load XSI again and try to render the scene again. This is the warning when I add it to a surface:
# WARNING : 3234 - Referenced Shader compound not found during import. Please make sure you have it installed. Name: "Noise" Version: 1.0.
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "Value1".
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3000 - Can't do name resolution on a source port on shader node #2 with port named Value.
# WARNING : 3238 - Unable to resolve source when trying to make connection during shader compound import. SourceName: "Value" TargetName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3234 - Referenced Shader compound not found during import. Please make sure you have it installed. Name: "Noise" Version: 1.0.
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "Value1".
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3000 - Can't do name resolution on a source port on shader node #2 with port named Value.
# WARNING : 3238 - Unable to resolve source when trying to make connection during shader compound import. SourceName: "Value" TargetName: "IOR".
Application.CreateShaderFromProgID("XSIRTCOMPOUND.Diamond.1.0", "Sources.Materials.DefaultLib.Material17", "Diamond")
Not sure if there are other shaders that cause the same issue.
# WARNING : 3234 - Referenced Shader compound not found during import. Please make sure you have it installed. Name: "Noise" Version: 1.0.
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "Value1".
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3000 - Can't do name resolution on a source port on shader node #2 with port named Value.
# WARNING : 3238 - Unable to resolve source when trying to make connection during shader compound import. SourceName: "Value" TargetName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3234 - Referenced Shader compound not found during import. Please make sure you have it installed. Name: "Noise" Version: 1.0.
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "Value1".
# WARNING : 3236 - Unable to set a parameter value during shader compound import. ParamName: "IOR".
# WARNING : 3000 - Can't do name resolution on a source port on shader node #2 with port named Value.
# WARNING : 3238 - Unable to resolve source when trying to make connection during shader compound import. SourceName: "Value" TargetName: "IOR".
Application.CreateShaderFromProgID("XSIRTCOMPOUND.Diamond.1.0", "Sources.Materials.DefaultLib.Material17", "Diamond")
Not sure if there are other shaders that cause the same issue.
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I3D
- Posts: 122
- Joined: 12 Aug 2009, 16:15
- Skype: ironic3d
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Another theoretical question, would it be possible to export the scene to a native Cycles format (like Arnold's Ass file) to be able to render the scene using any of the cloud render options available for Blender?
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I3D
- Posts: 122
- Joined: 12 Aug 2009, 16:15
- Skype: ironic3d
Re: Cycles for Softimage
And where is your Patreon page mate? 
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Shekn
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 30 Dec 2016, 19:18
Re: Cycles for Softimage
1. Blendermada materials were exported from Blender for old version of the Cycles render. Now parameters of some shader nodes are changed and reorganized. May this is a reason of crashes. So, does not use these old materials. In any case, I will try to understand, may be it is possible to check something in rendering process and block actions, which can produce crashes.
2. There are no format for storing Cycles scenes. As I remember, creating something similar are in developer plans, but when it will be released - it is unknown.
2. There are no format for storing Cycles scenes. As I remember, creating something similar are in developer plans, but when it will be released - it is unknown.
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I3D
- Posts: 122
- Joined: 12 Aug 2009, 16:15
- Skype: ironic3d
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Thanks Shekn
It seems the blendermada is missing a noise component, might be the issue!?
It seems the blendermada is missing a noise component, might be the issue!?
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Surface_VR
- Posts: 39
- Joined: 11 May 2020, 12:22
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Update.
Support for default image shader nodes is great!
Support for default image shader nodes is great!
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wireframex
- Posts: 425
- Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 21:02
- Location: France
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Key Shekn,
Do you know if it will be possible in close future to support legacy particle or other things like emfluid or SPH type ?
Do you know if it will be possible in close future to support legacy particle or other things like emfluid or SPH type ?
"without mastery, power is nothing" - Softimage Addict User
CPU 3990x 128 Threads / 2 x 3090 RTX - 24 Go / 96 Go memory
CPU 3990x 128 Threads / 2 x 3090 RTX - 24 Go / 96 Go memory
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opoppopopp
- Posts: 213
- Joined: 16 Jun 2009, 04:23
Re: Cycles for Softimage
It is already support emfluid rendering right ?wireframex wrote: 11 Apr 2021, 13:58 Key Shekn,
Do you know if it will be possible in close future to support legacy particle or other things like emfluid or SPH type ?
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Shekn
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 30 Dec 2016, 19:18
Re: Cycles for Softimage
wireframex
What you mean by "legacy particles" and SPH? emFluids is supported by using ICE. There is tutorial in the manula how to render emFluids simulation.
What you mean by "legacy particles" and SPH? emFluids is supported by using ICE. There is tutorial in the manula how to render emFluids simulation.
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wireframex
- Posts: 425
- Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 21:02
- Location: France
Re: Cycles for Softimage
- Legacy particles was the particle system before ICE and still working with SI2015, sometimes it is easier/faster to use than ICE
(http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/ind ... es_Toolbar)
- SPH (is an ICE fluid solver) is finally working after a SI restart - dont know why it didn't work
Oups sorry you're rightShekn wrote: 11 Apr 2021, 15:08 emFluids is supported by using ICE. There is tutorial in the manula how to render emFluids simulation.
"without mastery, power is nothing" - Softimage Addict User
CPU 3990x 128 Threads / 2 x 3090 RTX - 24 Go / 96 Go memory
CPU 3990x 128 Threads / 2 x 3090 RTX - 24 Go / 96 Go memory
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Shekn
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 30 Dec 2016, 19:18
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Now it seems that there are no reasons to add support of legacy particles. This will add complexity to the code and increase the number of potential bugs. But may be implementation will not be so complex, and then it will be possible. So, I need more investigations about it.
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Haimund
- Posts: 29
- Joined: 29 Mar 2013, 00:24
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Hi
Thank you for this awesome plugin. I really appreciate.
I have a question, can this take particle scale attribute? It works for particle's size but seems don't work for scale?
Thank you
Thank you for this awesome plugin. I really appreciate.
I have a question, can this take particle scale attribute? It works for particle's size but seems don't work for scale?
Thank you
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Shekn
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 30 Dec 2016, 19:18
Re: Cycles for Softimage
Ok, I will try to add support of the scale attribute at the next update. I hope, that this will be possible.
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Maximus
- Posts: 1121
- Joined: 09 Jun 2009, 13:45
Re: Cycles for Softimage
looks like Cycles-X is coming 