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LE: Case Study. Dele's AETA for Vray
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LE: Case Study. Dele's AETA for Vray // Archive: Tech Forum
Post by weaveribm // Jun 7, 2007, 5:39am
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weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
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I'm hoping to use kind Dele's 'Animated Textures for Vray' (AETA) script to run a back-projection of an airfield scene as an exterior to an interior scene rendered under Vray, which does not handle animated textures yet. Thanks a million Dele for the script and all your help! I told you I'd be back <runs away>
I have the idea that I can use the fact that I can't run Dele's AETA script successfully yet (I'm a TrueSpace beginner) to get to grips with the Link Editor, the LE. I quote the acronym too because for weeks I couldn't work out what LE meant and dear reader you may be in this mystified boat too
The LE is so scary at first sight and it takes much effort to understand what's going on. But with an example script which Dele provides for us rookies and pictures below of a journey through LE space, we may be able to ask more coherent questions for LE gurus and not waste so much of their time
There's another thread nearby to study and with any luck this thread will get us rookies into a more structured frame of mind, TrueSpace 7 is very big on structure and it's a bit hard to know where to start. So if Dele can bring animated textures to Vray via a script there's no telling what can happen...
Lots of questions after running through this little lot, which I couldn't express earlier without the pictures-
Each object has outputs and inputs. But as each object sits inside its container I can't tell where these inputs are coming from and where the outputs are going. "Er, outside" yes but where outside? How to tell? Same for inputs. Where are they coming from and how to tell, there must be some way to work out where these inputs and outputs are connected to the objects outside the object we're looking at...
Sorry if this lot is a bit of a mess it took a very long time to get organised.
Peter
Topmost level (without getting into less useful objects upstairs for this study)
Very difficult to understand why there are two blue (output) lines pointing
out of the script if the TexAnimExample01 object below is a visual representation
of the script. I mean, what would 'Layers Info' and 'Object' mean as connections?
Ah perhaps the object represents what we rookies would call a scene. The Cube is
inside the scene along with the AETA script yes...
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/TopmostSafestLevel__1-1.jpg
Inside Dele's Vray Animated Texture script object.
The Diffuse Texture input takes the output from the AETA Animator object,
that's understandable
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/NextTopmostLevel__2.jpg
(Bottom of the same AETA 30-frame list showing the output from the AETA script)
'Bitmap Output' connects to the Cube's 'Diffuse Texture' input, this means
the Cube's colour I think. Sort-of. In practice. Strictly speaking a colour is
a sub-object, a property of a texture of course if I'm getting this right
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/NextTopmostLevelBottomOfAETA_3.jpg
Inside the Cube object.
Now there are red 'white blobs' and blue 'white blobs' appearing.
I don't know what this means.
The Cube object has 'How it's drawn' (Object Render) and a Material and
a Transformation Matrix
Perhaps the white input blob means that outside the Cube object there is
an input to the Material List's colour (sort-of). The bitmap's shown there but
there is also a white-blobbed (active/connected somewhere maybe?) output
which appears to go nowhere.
I've included the 5 blue outputs at the right-hand edge of the shots... ahah
there are exactly 5 white-blobbed output lines from all the
objects in the shot... that explains what those right-hand edge output lines mean.
They just notify how many output lines there are from the Cube object.
I don't know why there is a Cube2 object inside the Cube object.
The Object Render object has many properties which are not concerned with
the Cube itself's render properties: colour, transparency etc.
The 'Transparency Mode' at the bottom for example is not the same thing
as the Cube's transparency
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideTheCube_4.jpg
Inside MaterialList,1. (The object labelled 'Material' in the level above - the
Cube object - and this Material List,1 object are different modes of the same Material object)
An input to Material Chunk,1 (if the red white-blob is an input)
An output from Material Chunk,1 to the Material List Manager
An output from the Material List Manager object's 'Material List'.
One output from the Material List, 1 object output (why the 1's and zeroes I wonder?)
Instances perhaps, sequentially numbered copies of an object
Things become more clear now.
The right-hand blue arrows/triangles sum the object's outputs
The white blobs say 'I am connected to the outside world, input and output'
(in this case)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideMaterialList-1_5.jpg
Inside Material Chunk,1.
TrueSpace 7 users will probably already know what a material chunk
is, it might be an object that contains the object's material, a sample
that can be cut and pasted to make an ice-cream cone from plastic material
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideMaterialChunk-1_6.jpg
Inside the Material Chunk,1 object.
One active input to the Diffuse Texture input. Again, how to tell which
object's output (further up in the hierarchy?) this input connects to?
One active output from the Material Chunk Manager
Ahah- the output comes from the 'Material Chunk' field ('field' because
these objects are complex objects, like little databases)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideMaterialChunk-1_MaterialChunk.jpg
Inside the LW Material,1 object.
Almost at the lowest level.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideLW_Material-1_7.jpg
Expanding the four material's properties (database fields).
The bottom level, can only go upwards in the hierarchy now.
The four properties have many inputs but right now it looks as if none
of them are being controlled. Presumably these inputs would be active
(white blobs) if some other object somewhere in the scene has an output
which could be connected to these inputs. But I don't know how that
would work. The LightWave material has one active output but I don't
know how to tell where that output goes, maybe to the Cube object's
Material Chunk object?
The LW Material,1 object has an LWMaterial object inside.
That's very opaque.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/Mington/InsideLW_Material-1_BottomLevel_9.jpg |
Post by SteveBe // Jun 7, 2007, 8:00am
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SteveBe
Total Posts: 282
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Hi weaveribm,
Sorry, cannot get into too much detail right now but one thing is at the top
of the LE there are 2 tabs, Artist and Developer. Click Developer and you will
see all connections. Artist mode limits the connection overload that can
sometimes happen.
HTH
Steve |
Post by weaveribm // Jun 7, 2007, 10:39am
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weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
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...there are 2 tabs, Artist and Developer. Click Developer and you will
see all connections. Artist mode limits the connection overload that can sometimes happen.
Excellent thanks Steve we're looking at a filtered version in the Artist workspace then, that's a very handy function
I work in electronics and I'm reminded of industry-standard printed circuit design programs, splines and wotnot, inputs and outputs to integrated circuits. I thought it seemed familiar. Ok vaguely familiar :)
Peter |
Post by SteveBe // Jun 7, 2007, 11:04am
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SteveBe
Total Posts: 282
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Hi Peter,
Your welcome, you are definatly on the right track and your method of analizing
the LE is a good way to figure out how this stuff works. I'm not a script writer yet,
so this is the level I enjoy working at as well. There is a great amount
of control that can be achieved at this level even without scripts. That's the
way I view it too like an electronic circuit flow.
Inside the material Chunk 1 you see Texture (Workspace) and LW material(modeler),
this is how the material is being tracked for the 2 programs.
Another tip, if you hold your cursor over the input and output connectors
you get a description of data types expected or output.
Steve |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Jun 7, 2007, 4:22pm
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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I have the idea that I can use the fact that I can't run Dele's AETA script successfully yet (I'm a TrueSpace beginner) to get to grips with the Link Editor, the LE. I quote the acronym too because for weeks I couldn't work out what LE meant and dear reader you may be in this mystified boat too
The LE is so scary at first sight and it takes much effort to understand what's going on. But with an example script which Dele provides for us rookies and pictures below of a journey through LE space, we may be able to ask more coherent questions for LE gurus and not waste so much of their time.
Peter
I just had to pop in here Peter to tell you directly how much I genuinely enjoy your many posts at this forum. As in this current example... your wit, humour, and sheer intellectual tenacity are thoroughly enjoyable in all your posts here. Even though you're relatively new here there's been many occasions already when I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at some of the things you've simply said in passing while attending to some other issue, and although I don't always jump into a thread to say so I just wanted you to know that undoubtedly many people here aside from myself actually ~don't~ misunderstand the subtle intricacies and ironies which you often tend to slip into your posts. ;)
You're not alone in being "mystified" by the inherent nature of TS7.5's tools either, and your brave forays into this alien realm are followed intently by many of us... rest assured. ;)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by weaveribm // Jun 7, 2007, 11:26pm
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weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
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Inside the material Chunk 1 you see Texture (Workspace) and LW material(modeler), this is how the material is being tracked for the 2 programs.
I'm still recovering from your in-brain-exploding note that Developer has all the links Steve. Now I actually may need medical attention :) Thanks for explaining that.
Another tip, if you hold your cursor over the input and output connectors you get a description of data types expected or output.
I'm on a ventilator :)
Thanks a million mate. You've put me on to thinking that when I try to recapitulate Dele's scripting in my own texture animation I will be able to work from the Developer tab where I may now be able to see where I've not Exported and probably incorrectly Imported lines... will try that soon
brave forays into this alien realm
lol
You're not so bad yourself dude :)
relatively new
Mrs Peter brought in a TS manual the other day dude she'd found tucked away somewhere, I was dragging the lot out in quiet spots resting up from biting the furniture :) and it looked a bit familiar. TrueSpace SE. I've had loads of upgrades and always wanted to enjoy working in TS but it always put me off after a little frustrated while. For some reason I'm enjoying myself very much this time. Might be the fluidity of the realtime render and the strong links to D3D. And underneath it all the limitless depth of the object-oriented design. To fall into yes :)
intricacies and ironies
I've been rumbled lol
Peter |
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