[REQ] MDL compatibility

[Jay-ko]

I think there is an opportunity here to think about MDL.

"Okay" this is Nvidia and originaly based for iRay, a kind of no-spectral renderers. But this Material Definition Language could be very interesting to prove that a spectral renderer don't give the same image than a pure faky RGB renderer actually do.

http://developer.download.nvidia.com/de ... 512.A4.pdf
http://www.mdlhandbook.com/mdl_handbook/index.html

[Jay-ko]

Mdl is spectral since last year and more and more programs use it.

So is it still not in the schedule?

[Oscar J]

What would the direct advantages be for normal users?

[burnin]

i can think of two
- the use of substance designer mats directly (MDL export), no scripting needed
- even if material is not real (doesn't exist) it respects the rules of physics

oh & third... it should result in same rendition across different apps/engines - collaboration

or materialX
or AxF

[Oscar J]

Sounds good. Is MDL big enough to consider an industry standard? Are people actually able to transfer materials between the biggest render engines currently using MDL?

The Substance Painter stuff could be a big plus for sure.

[Juju]

Support for Substance Designer should really be considered, even if it comes by the means of a material converter.

[Jay-ko]

Actually, I use Substance for the trivial materials and if you can save my time in my workflow, it would be fantastic.

However, if we compare the chalenger "MaterialX" seems to be less appreciated by 3D industries, and the Nvidia compressor roller has already taken place in quite a few softs.

You have quoted Substance, but Vray, Guerilla renderer are also in the happy fews for the same reasons.

Regarding AfX, It appear that Xrite doesn't really comunicate on his TAC7 scanner so it could be difficult to do a trustable comparison. In the same time I heard that Optis are hable to handle MDL so... that sound good isn't it?

[Jay-ko]

What would the direct advantages be for normal users?

Lol, if you use Indigo, you are definitely not normal in the "normal" CGI world hahaha

[Oscar J]

What would the direct advantages be for normal users?

Lol, if you use Indigo, you are definitely not normal in the "normal" CGI world hahaha

For now, yes. Obviously the goal is always to make Indigo more popular.