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Major toolsets could be coming your way.
Posted on Feb 13, 2013

    Is an asset a brick, or a factory?

    Houdini Digital Assets (HDA) can be as small, like simple material shaders, or large like a suite of tools with major Plug In functionality.

    Of course there's a description for each asset at the store, which helps a lot. But really you need a test drive to truly appreciate what you're getting, whether it be a brick, or a whole factory!



    Trial period makes it risk-free

    When you download an asset, you're not just getting a polygon model, you're getting software. Which is why we refer to them as "smart" assets . Features and functionality vary from one asset to the next, and authors price them accordingly. We appreciate the value of your hard-earned money, so we've included a free trial period with every asset. You can try before you buy, and be confident with the asset before you've been asked to pay a cent.

    We're starting to see more ambitious works uploaded at the asset store. Which is great! We're thrilled at the prospect of seeing these larger scale assets, and want to encourage you to use the free trial to evaluate them..and to offer feedback as well!

    Let you developers know what you think.




Example files are good as Gold
Posted on Feb 06, 2013
    Example files Rule!
    There has been a lot of positive feedback about the example files which come with assets from the Orbolt Smart Asset store! To a customer checking out an asset for the first time, these files are almost as valuable as the asset itself.



    There are a few ways to check out these files. Firstly, on initial download, an example file should open which demonstrates the assets key values. Secondly, once you've downloaded the asset, you can always return to this example file:
    • Go to the asset browser.
    • RMB>Load Example File over the asset.



    Authors Can Add Extra Help Files

    Example files are a great starting place for customizing assets. If you're an author and you'd like to add a second or third hip file, you can send them directly to support@orbolt.com

    and we will host the file and provide you with the url to paste into your asset description!

    If your help file is render-ready, there's a good chance that it will get featured on the Homepage!
    We want to show off your work!

How to add inputs to your asset
Posted on Jan 31, 2013

    Author Tip: Asset inputs

    Asset authors need to predict how their assets will be used, and expose all the right functionality to their customers. One of the most basic, and occasionally overlooked features, is the simple ability to allow the asset to be parented to other objects.

    By default, you can parent to an asset, but not make a child of it (parent it to another object).
    This is simple enough to change though.

    Change The Default Input Value

    Basic tab and change the maximum inputs to 1. This will add an input to your asset node. You can see this change in the network view.


    Set The Output Transform

    Now that your asset can be parented, you can optionally specify ANY node in your asset to be used as the transform. By default "input1" is used, which will be the top of your hierarchy. Usually this is what you want.
    Occasionally, it's useful to specify something different, perhaps lower down the hierarchy.

    e.g. A specific transform node with a custom pivot point.



Checkout problems with PayPal and Visa on Jan 28th 2013.
Posted on Jan 29, 2013

    PayPal had issues yesterday

    To all of you who were affected by PayPal's service interruption yesterday, we offer our apologies for any hassle. Read the news HERE .

    We have made changes to handle this kind of interruption better, should it reoccur.



    Apparently PayPal wasn't the only one to experience grief yesterday. Visa was also affected all across Canada. read more HERE .

    Are there any conspiracy theorists out there who think that the timing of this is a little weird, just a few days after the last Anonymous sentencing ?

Adding Images to Help Cards
Posted on Jan 27, 2013

    Add Images to help cards

    Here's an image which demonstrates how to include custom images in your digital asset's help card.

    In order to display these images, they must be embedded into the "extras" tab of your Asset.


    Then they need to be referenced in using text in the "help" tab.
    Most images can be referenced in by using this line in the "Help" tab
      [Image:opdef:.?Image.jpg]




    There is also an option in include a custom icon at the top of the help card.
    This is referenced differently:
    • Custom Icon, usually small (48x48) at the top.
    • #largeicon: opdef:.?Image.jpg
      •
    This can also be specified on the Basic tab.
    Note that png file with transparency is supported.




Creating High Dynamic range images
Posted on Jan 25, 2013

    Creating HDR images

    This post outlines a few different methods for creating HDR images.
    It continues where Part 1 and Part 2 of Image based lighting left off.

    Mirrored Ball Method

    One of there easiest, and least effective ways to make an hdr image, is use "mirrored ball" approach. In this case, photograpsh need to be taken from a single perspective, at 10+ different exposures and merged in Photoshop or HDRshop.

    Surprisingly, when "unwrapped", this provides almost 360 degrees coverage. This approach also shows imperfections in the sphere itself. Note the scratches on the surface metal, the distortion of the surface, not to mention the fact that the photographer and his tripod are in the middle of the picture.



    This is the jpg version of the resulting image in it's original "Mirrored Ball" layout.



    Panoramic Transformations

    Differnt 3D packages expect IBL images in different layouts. Houdini's environment light expects a LatLong layout (also called sphererical mapping). Below is the "unwrapped" version of the image.

    In this case, HDRshop was used to convert the "Mirrored Ball" layout to "LatLong". Artifacts such as the occluded area facing away from the camera, and the photogrphers reflection, were corrected in Photoshop.


    (HDR version Here).

    Wide Angle Lens Method


    Another approach is to use an ultra wide angle lens. Depending on your camera, a 4-10mm lens can provide a nearly 180 degree field of view. With this much coverage, you can capture 360 degrees from 3 perspectives, which are later merged and stitched in Photoshop.

    The trick with this approach is that the 3 perspectives must each be photomerged into their respective hdr images. Then the lens distortion must be removed. Then the three images need to be stitched together. This takes a lot of cloning and image manipulation, but the resulting image is high quality. Compared to the mirrored ball anyways...


    Using a Pano head

    By far the most labor intensive method is to use a panoramic head. This involves taking photos with a standard lens, from 48 perspectives to capture the entire 360 field of view. Keep in mind that you need 10+ exposures of each perspective. Then you need to merge and stitch the results.




    This is for the hardcore, to be sure.

    People using this approach are known to hack their cameras firmware to automate the bracketing of shots. High speed and high capacity memory cards are required to handle the volume of RAW photos.



    The time required to take so many photos usually results in ghosting artifacts: this is caused when objects such swaying trees and grass are in different positions from frame to frame. Lighting conditions can change with a passing cloud etc.
    Usually dedicated software is required to handle the stitching.

    Using a specialized camera

    There is a company called Spheron which produces a specialized camera for just this task. For the ultra high end, this is probably the way to go.

Working With HDR images
Posted on Jan 24, 2013

    What's the problem with jpgs?

    Typical photographs can either display extreme highlights or lowlights, but not both at once. In the example images below, note how the exposure allows either the interior room to be exposed, or the exterior parking lot. This makes them poor choices for use in IBL (image based lighting) and as displacement maps.

    This post is part 2 of a short series on image based lighting. Part 1 here .


    Imitating real-world lighting

    In real life, your eyeball can handle both lighting conditions at the same time. In order to create photo-realistic lighting in CG images however, you need wide range of exposures. In other words, a more dynamic range of lighting.

    HDR images contain multiple exposures and therefore produce better results than their jpeg counterparts. For example luminance values of jpeg can be recorded as values of 0-255 (black to white) vs an HDR which can have ranges of 0-20,000+ (negative black to super white)!


    The photos above were use to create an HDRI for the HDR Path Environment Light asset.


    Can my cell phone can do that?

    Probaby not.
    Not all background images are created equal. To complicate matters, the term HDR has been hijacked by the consumer camera market. Lots of cameras and smartphones can take panoramas. Some will even do so at multiple exposures, combine them, and call this an HDR image....which it isn't. When several exposures are combined like this, and saved as a jpeg, the result is a "tonemap" of an HDR image. Although camera companies are using the term HDR..


    High Dynamic Range Image format


    Standard jpegs have 8-bits of information per channel. HDRs have 16 or 32 bits. So they take up more disk space and are only supported by a few formats such as Radiance (.hdr), Open Exr (.exr). Tiff-16, and Tiff-32 (.tif).
    Very few cameras in the world shoot these natively. Usually one must purchase these images online, or create them in photoshop from multiple exposures.
    When these images are used in a CG rendering context, one needs to be aware that the panorama can come in many different layouts. Just like a map of the world is like an unwrapped sphere, so is a panorama. Commercial HDR images (for rendering) can come in many standard layouts. These correspond to how the image will be applied to a virtual sphere or cube at render time.

    Here are a few examples of environment map layouts:

    Stay tuned for a post on creating your own HDR images!


Image Based Lighting Basics
Posted on Jan 23, 2013

    Image Based Lighting Basics

    It's fairly quick and easy to get photo-realistic results using image-based lighting.
    By using Houdini's built-in tools, or by supplying your own HDR (High-Dynamic Range) image, your renders can inherit a deep, rich color and shadows from real world locations.



    The shelf tool "Environment Light" is a straightforward approach to IBL. Simply create the light and specify an image for it to use. This should be a panoramic image with 360 degrees of view. Also, you'll get much better results if you provide an HDR image (as opposed to a regular jpeg).

    This is what a parorama in Latitude Longitude layout looks like:


    And here is an HDR version of this image to try in Houdini.
    A high res version of this image will be found in an upcoming asset : envLight_HDR_Beach

    Intro to the Environment Light

    Once an image is chosen, the results can be seen immediately.Below is an image which demonstrates some of the various options for the light.


    Portal Geometry

    Another option is to include "Portal Geometry"
    This allows you to mask out part of your environment image so as to simulate outside light coming into a room through a window or open door. In the example below, a simple sphere with a few faces removed illustrates the dramatic effect Portal Geometry can have.

    Once the portal geometry is specified in the light, and "Use portal" check ON. The original geometry can be be hidden. It will still affect the render untill checked off again.


Contest Winners!
Posted on Jan 23, 2013

    Holiday Contest Results

    A few weeks ago we announced a contest to create a holiday-themed image using assets from the Orbolt Smart 3D asset store. Check out some of the finalists here...

    Houdini Apprentice HD licences available to the top finalists!
    So check your email if you entered the contest, cause we're sending you info on how to claim your prizes!


    The contest was open to everybody, and there were several prizes to be won. At the top of our list were users dryulya for the entry "Jazz" (above), and GrosseVieSale for his work "Carte_Blanche" (below).




    Some folks clearly had some fun with this contest. This dancing Santa really caught our attention. Pretty slick moves for a jolly old guy! The author informed us that a customized version of Male Motion Capture asset was used for this render.

    This also shows that one of the benefits of an unlocked asset is that users can really adapt it to suit their needs, or tastes...or sense of humor!





    Kudos to all who participated...watch your inbox 'cause we have a few runner-up prizes to give out. A hearty thanks to all!

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