SkIndigo 3.0.15 (beta)

[Whaat]

Many big changes here including major export speedups. Please consider this a test release. Requires Indigo 3.0.X.

#Version 3.0.15

#Fixed: Material picker ink dropper cursor hotspot
#Removed: quick export from right-click context menu
#Fixed: broken error messages (eg 'Blend material tried to use non-existent material named')
#Removed: instancing enable/disable command - instancing is determined automatically
#Changed: major optimizations in export routines
#Fixed: Texture editor no longer accepts loading of GIF images (they are unsupported by Indigo)
#Fixed: Quick export now works even after exporting selection only
#Fixed: permissions errors on Mac - now exporting scenes to users home directory
#Changed: Quick export no longer prompts to refresh textures - also quick export does not refresh instances
#Added: GPU acceleration checkbox
#Added: full support for emission scale
#Fixed: nested instances not inheriting parent material
#Fixed: aperture settings visibility bug
#Added: Lock aspect ratio
#Changed: Mesh export to IGMESH file format
#Added: Object editor - currently accessed by right click on group or component
#Added: Support for External OBJ, 3DS, or PLY files
#Changed: Exit Portal is now an object setting, not a material setting
#Changed: Subdivision settings are now applied via mesh, not material
#Added: Smooth option for displacement, bump, sigma, exponent, clip, and blend textures
#Added: Support for background/sum material (allows sun and environment map in same render)
#Changed: Renamed tracing methods to match Indigo GUI

Currently broken: muliple UV sets, hopefully not much else

As a consequence of some of these changes, there will be some changes in workflow for using SkIndigo that will take some getting used to:

- Subdivision and exit portal settings are now set by mesh, not by material. You can edit these settings by right-clicking on a group or component. Only the faces within that group or component will be affected, not the nested groups/components. When applying these settings, you may find it useful to 'group by material', i.e. make a SketchUp group of the faces that you want to subdivide, which will normally be all of the same material. After grouping the faces, right click->Edit Object to modify the subdivision settings

- Environment maps are now handled differently and use Indigo's background material feature. To create an environment map material:
1) Create a new material in SketchUp.
2) Set the layer of the material so that is not 'off'
3) Set the emission map to your desired environment map (can be any accepted image format)
4) Adjust the base emission if desired using the material editor.
5) Choose that material name from the Environment map materail dropdown list in Render Settings
6) Adjust the luminance using the Render settings slider. (this may be removed in the future and luminance will be controlled by the material editor)

You can combine the sun with the environment map by clicking the 'Add sun' checkbox and changing the sun weight to non-zero. You may need to play around with the luminance and weight settings for the sun and environment map to achieve the correct balance. Using separate layers for sun and environment material is recommended.

I tried to make things backward compatible as much as possible but I cannot promise that your old scenes will render exactly the same as before and be error-free. Please report any bugs and error messages found in the Ruby Console Window.

I will be updating the old tutorials and hopefully creating some new ones over the next while so hopefully these workflow changes will make more sense at that time.

Thanks for testing!
Enjoy!

SkIndigo 3.0.15 Windows Installer
SkIndigo 3.0.15 Mac Installer

[remus]

Awesome update whaat

I dug out a few old models id had trouble rendering in the past (due to their size) and they're lighting fast now. ~10secs for 550,000 faces!

[Bosseye]

I'll post this here so it gets noticed - is there a known issue with sunlight through glass and GPU acceleration? When I have GPU acceleration on, all my glass volumes cast shadows as if they were solid, with GPU off, light renders through glass as it should.....


Will try the beta when I have less to do, but sounds like a good amount of updates

[fractal.design]

Whoah awesome updates!

[munkey]

#Fixed: Material picker ink dropper cursor hotspot

Finally! That was a pain in the ass
Well done update!

[CTZn]

I'll post this here so it gets noticed - is there a known issue with sunlight through glass and GPU acceleration? When I have GPU acceleration on, all my glass volumes cast shadows as if they were solid, with GPU off, light renders through glass as it should.....

GPU supports glass acceleration, activated from the advanced SkIndigo Render Settings.

Note that GPU rendering enforces Path Tracing mode. The association of GPU and Glass Acceleration should address your issue.

Defaults are:

• gpu (PT): on

• GA: off

[Headroom]

I'll post this here so it gets noticed - is there a known issue with sunlight through glass and GPU acceleration? When I have GPU acceleration on, all my glass volumes cast shadows as if they were solid, with GPU off, light renders through glass as it should.....


Will try the beta when I have less to do, but sounds like a good amount of updates

Yes, there is an issue. It just takes a lot of time for light to penetrate through glass with PT with GPU and without.
Use BIDIR with Glass Acceleration.

[CTZn]

I'll post this here so it gets noticed - is there a known issue with sunlight through glass and GPU acceleration? When I have GPU acceleration on, all my glass volumes cast shadows as if they were solid, with GPU off, light renders through glass as it should.....


Will try the beta when I have less to do, but sounds like a good amount of updates

Yes, there is an issue. It just takes a lot of time for light to penetrate through glass with PT with GPU and without.
Use BIDIR with Glass Acceleration.

The issue is that the Architectural Glass Acceleration checkbox in the Advanced Render Settings does nothing GA must be activated from the Indigo GUI, it does work with gpu acceleration !

I am discovering SkIndigo, it's very nice Whaat ! Emission scale works a treat.

[Frutiger]

Excellent. Keep up the good work, Whaat.

[Frutiger]

Okay, I just got to mess around with the "edit object command" and I had a question about this warning message you put in the workflow.

When using an external mesh, you must ensure that your SketchUp model contains materials with identical names to those within the external mesh file. Naming conflicts may create unexpected results. Using SketchUp (or another Ruby script) to import the external mesh file in order to import the mesh materials is not a reliable way to create the required material names.

Which prompts me to ask: is there a reliable way to create the required material names besides the guess & check method?

[davidbaird]

Sounds good; however,-

Tested 2 models (one of which is SU's opening scene with the person) with 3.0.15 beta & both crashed (used sun & sky)
Re-Installed 3.0.14 & both rendered
Re-Installed 3.0.15 beta & both crashed again
Re-Re-Installed 3.0.14 & both rendered

Didn't get a specific error message except that an error occurred.

[Whaat]

Sounds good; however,-

Tested 2 models (one of which is SU's opening scene with the person) with 3.0.15 beta & both crashed (used sun & sky)
Re-Installed 3.0.14 & both rendered
Re-Installed 3.0.15 beta & both crashed again
Re-Re-Installed 3.0.14 & both rendered

Didn't get a specific error message except that an error occurred.

Is this a SketchUp crash or an Indigo crash? Would it be possible for you to post the SKP file (zipped) for testing?

Thanks!

[davidbaird]

I am assuming it is an Indigo error but not sure.
Attached is the SU file & the screen shot of the error message
FYI-
Tried the same test as mentioned previously on another computer & get same results with different model.

Thank you

[Whaat]

I am assuming it is an Indigo error but not sure.
Attached is the SU file & the screen shot of the error message
FYI-
Tried the same test as mentioned previously on another computer & get same results with different model.

Thank you

Hey David,

What version of Indigo are you running? Your test scene worked fine for me.

[davidbaird]

2 licenses both version 3.0.14
1 on windows xp 64bit
1 on windows 7 64bit
both work with Skindigo 3.0.14 but not 3.0.15
Thanks