sIBL_GUI For Maya

#61

what vimeo uploads?

#62

Hey :slight_smile:

sIBL_GUI 3.0.7 is out with some enhancements and bug fixes :slight_smile:

Some interesting features of this release are new command line parameters.
I also modified the way I was accessing to the db with multiple threads, it should bring more stability.

Here is the complete change log :

sIBL_GUI - 3.0.7 :

[ul]
[li] Standard Output and Standard Errors messages are redirected to the Logging Window.
[/li][li] sIBL_GUI creates one session per thread for SQLite database access thus increasing application stability.
[/li][li] Thumbnails size preference is restored on application start.
[/li][li] Each component has its own section in the preferences file, resulting in a better and stronger file structure. ( You will will need to reconfigure components preferences ).
[/li][li] Session geometry is always restored on application start ignoring the state of the “Restore Geometry On Layout Change” preferences option.
[/li][li] Fixed “setsScanner” component regular expressions, it can now process paths with non alphanumerical characters ( “C:/Program Files (x86)/” ).
[/li][li] Fixed walkers arguments regular expressions so that they search for correct files extensions.
[/li][li] Added “-o / --loaderScriptsOutputDirectory” command line parameter allowing user to specify loader scripts output directory.
[/li][li] Added “-r / --databaseReadOnly” command line parameter that disable database edition methods.
[/li][li] Added “-d / --databaseDirectory” command line parameter allowing user to specify the database directory.
[/li][li] Added “-u / --userApplicationDatasDirectory” command line parameter allowing user to specify application datas directory ( Preferences directory ).
[/li][/ul]

I started a FAQ that I’ll finish a bit later this weekend so that it features last remaining important informations here : http://www.hdrlabs.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1271612491

KS

#63

Hi o/

sIBL_GUI 3.0.8 is out !

The application should not crash anymore when loading corrupted Ibl Sets or Templates.

sIBL_GUI is now natively built on Windows 7, it should fix the slowdown issues on startup.

I implemented dragNdrop in the three major database components, meaning that you can directly drag Folders, Templates and Ibls Sets into the application. :bounce:

Here is the full Change Log :

sIBL_GUI - 3.0.8 :

[ul]
[li] sIBL_GUI For Windows now is natively built on Windows 7, this should fix the slow startup issues reported on Windows Vista / 7.
[/li][li] Implemented dragNdrop in various components ( Network paths are currently not supported on Windows Vista / 7 ) :
[/li][list]
[li] Database Browser Component : You can dragNdrop Ibl Sets folders or Ibl Sets files directly from the Os.
[/li][li] Collections Outliner Component : You can also dragNdrop folders or Ibl Sets files directly from the Os.
[/li][li] Templates Outliner Component : You can dragNdrop Templates folders or Templates files directly from the Os.
[/li][/ul]
[li] Made the code stronger when sIBL_GUI deals with corrupted Ibl / Templates Files.
[/li][li] Refactored portions of the exceptions handling code.
[/li][/list]

Have Fun o/

KS

#64

Awesome! That really is an amazing app. you guys have created. I look forward to trying out the new build! :slight_smile:

#65

This is an awesome tool … thanks so much !

#66

Glad you like it :slight_smile:

Thanks ! I think ( hope ) this build should solve the last remaining critical issues around. The last crash reports I got were due to some corrupted ibls sets with non ascii characters. The sets were fixed and reuploaded, and sIBL_GUI should skip them if they are corrupted.

KS

#67

Hi Thomas,

When you post could you post a link to the page with the latest download, as well as your great vid links on vimeo ?
:buttrock:

#68

Hey :slight_smile:

Builds are available here :

sIBL_GUI :

Stable :
[ul]
[li] Windows
[/li][li] Linux
[/li][li] Mac Os X
[/li][/ul]

Nightly :
[ul]
[li] Windows
[/li][li] Linux
[/li][li] Mac Os X
[/li][/ul]

Archives :
[ul]
[li] Windows
[/li][li] Linux
[/li][li] Mac Os X
[/li][/ul]

Sources :

sIBL_GUI Source Code is available directly from a GIT repository : sIBL_GUI GIT Repository On GITHub.

And the vimeo screencasts here :

sIBL GUI - In Depth : Wich is an In-Depth review of the application.

sIBL GUI - Quick Start : A Quick Start screencast showing a typical quick session under Maya.

KS

#69

Hi,

Both Maya VRay Templates were updated with support for Shadow Catching Ground and VRaySun light ( it will be used by defaut for the sun now, giving nice shadowing and colors ).

I have some issues though with the ground, there are GI artifacts when the ground is told to receive GI. Notice that I’m encountering also kind of compositing problem ( Check around the sphere on the example rendering ). If someone have a workaround I would be more than happy :slight_smile:

Here is a render after 2 minutes shadow color / brightness tweak :

Have Fun !

KS

#70

This tool is such a huge time-saver. Thanks a ton.

I have an issue where almost none of the nodes that sIBL imports are visible in the Hypershade until I select and expand a camera. For instance, the sIBL_mia_exposure_simple node should be visible under the Utilities tab, among others. Is there a way to reveal these nodes in Hypershade that I’m overlooking? Thanks again.

#71

Hi :slight_smile:

Hello,

I’ll check the code, but it’s maybe because I’m not creating them as shading nodes. Could be fixed in a future release :slight_smile:

KS

#72

Hello :slight_smile:

I’m pleased to announce that sIBL_GUI 3.0.9 is released !

This version features an Internal Image Previewer ( Thanks to a lot of time spend optimizing Third Party Image format reading with FreeImage Library ).

Internal Image Previewer also means External Image Previewer or Editor : You can link whatever Image Viewer or Editor into the Preferences :

And that’s where the magic happens linking together the HDRLabs Softwares family : you can launch Picturenaut to Preview and / or Edit your Ibl HDR files directly from sIBL_GUI :

It’s now possible to edit Ibl Sets names directly from the Database Browser by double clicking them.
I also cleaned the code here and there, fixed some errors, a potential crash while dragging a huge amount of Ibl Sets from a Collection to another and some crashes on application exit.

Maya Templates have been reworked to preserve existing scene sIBL setup transformations ( sIBL_Feedback and sIBL_Ground ). The default sIBL_Feedback radius has been reduced, and the sIBL_Ground is now properly fitted to the sIBL_Feedback.

Here is the full Change Log :

sIBL_GUI - 3.0.9 :
[ul]
[li] sIBL_GUI has now an Internal Image Previewer : You can quickly check your Ibl Sets images by right-clicking the Database Browser and use one of the new “Preview …” context menu entry. It’s also possible to use an External Viewer / Editor by assigning it in the Preferences. Picturenaut is obviously the way to go : “http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/index.html”:http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/index.html
[/li][li] Refactored the way Third Party Images formats are loaded by using direct memory access and custom FreeImage library build : Third Party Images loading is now 10 to 20 times faster.*
[/li][li] Implemented Ibl Sets database display name edition : Double click an Ibl Set in the Database Browser to edit it’s display name.*
[/li][li] “–databaseReadOnly” command line parameter properly disable Database Browser, Collections Outliner and Templates Outliner components dragNdrop capabilities and Collections Outliner component editing capabilities.
[/li][li] Fixed a code regression preventing “Templates Informations” widget display.*
[/li][li] Fixed a potential application crash when dragging multiples Ibl Sets from a Collection to another on Mac Os X.*
[/li][li] Worker Threads are properly terminated on application exit.*
[/li][li] Switched Darwin Installer to DropDmg application : Dmg icons are laid out correctly now.
[/li][/ul]

Have Fun !

KS

#73

Thanks for the frequent updates Thomas. I love this tool! :smiley:

#74

Hi,

Not much updates on sIBL_GUI / Smart Ibl front mainly because I’m doing my Reel at the moment. However I have opened an Issues list on Github : http://github.com/KelSolaar/sIBL_GUI/issues so that you can post requests, issues etc and see what’s pending. You need to be registered though, you can still post your problems here anyway and I’ll push them to GitHub.

I have also released the first version of sIBL_Reporter which is a a tool that analyzes, reports informations and runs sanity checks on a provided Smart Ibl Sets Collection.
You can provide either “.zip” or Smart Ibl Sets folders for the analysis.

There is no Windows build right now ( only Darwin ), but I’ll do one this week end. This tool will be useful for every one making Smart Ibl sets on their own.

The thread is here : http://www.hdrlabs.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1286752342/2
and the Darwin build here : http://kelsolaar.hdrlabs.com/?dir=./sIBL_Reporter/Repository/Builds/Darwin/Nightly

Cheers,

KS

#75

Hi,

Maya Templates have been updated so that rendering nodes created by the sIBL setup are displayed into hypershade.

There is still no Windows build of sIBL_Reporter by the way, I didn’t had time to make it.

KS

#76

I might be a little slow, but what are the advantages with sIBL vs the renderer’s built in stock IBL rendering? Is it faster? If so, has anyone done benchmarks? I’m always hesitant to try 3rd party plugins because sooner or later with a new OS or 3d app, they seem to break

#77

Hi Sentry,

Well Smart Ibl / sIBL is not a plugin, it’s a set of tools that made Ibl lighting easier and faster, it relies mainly on an Ibl Set that contains 3 maps and an .ibl file describing how to setup the scene. Only Maya factory nodes are used by the setup. As for the breaking stuff, since it’s mostly scripts on the 3d packages side, they won’t really break easily and if that happen they are easy to fix :slight_smile:

If you need more info take a look here : http://www.smartibl.com/

KS

#78

do you think we will see a version of the sEdit app for OSX ?

#79

Hmmm, I know that Chris Huf is working on another version of sIBLedit but I’m not sure if a Mac port is planned. Main issue here is that Chris certainly do not have a Mac machine. Solving this properly usually requires to buy a Mac in the end ( Mac Os in a VM is kind of crap at least when I tried, and running a hackintosh is a difficult way ).

KS

#80

Hello,

Brainspoon ( a HDRLabs forum user ) got a very good idea that got implemented in Maya Templates : Ability for the Templates to trigger the execution of another script.

To do that I just added 4 function call in each templates, if the functions are defined, they will be executed otherwise nothing will happen.

From those 4 functions callbacks, 2 are pre process callbacks and executed before the Template execution and 2 are post process callbacks executed after the Template execution.

A set of pre / post callbacks is shared among the templates while the other set is specific to each template :
[ul]
[li]sIBL_Maya_preProcessCallback()
[/li][li]sIBL_Maya_VRay_preProcessCallback()
[/li][li][… Template Sauce …]
[/li][li]sIBL_Maya_postProcessCallback
[/li][li]sIBL_Maya_VRay_postProcessCallback()
[/li][/ul]

You basically just need to fill functions like that with whatever you like :


global proc sIBL_Maya_preProcessCallback()
{}

global proc sIBL_Maya_postProcessCallback()
{}

Voilà :slight_smile:

KS