Anyone have any work to show from XSI? - Page 2 - Polyloop

vkirchner · 6th November 2007, 21:30

RJ - Thank you for the info, I understood that Mental Ray was the core engine for XSI, this is one of the reasons why I purchased the software. It is very full featured for the price, versus just a Vray, Maxwell, or Brazil product. But it seems very confusing to me yet when you have such a Mental Ray product, do they make tweeks to work within each program, such that we can only share XSI shaders with other XSI users. There appears to be a lot of shaders available for 3DMax, but not quite as many for XSI.

As for Carrara, I saw that Nichod had shaders for Carrara offered for sale, I did not think that they would work in XSI, but hey what do I know.

The textures would be a very portable method for the time being, I still have many more hours of tutorials to get through before I try anything useful. Most of my work is architectural, but I hope to use XSI for more organic and animations work to extend my knowledge. I have tried Hexagon, which I believe to be very useful, but struggled greatly with the training material. I really like the digital tutors series for XSI products, they are easy to follow and well laid out.

Thank you for the answers, and I will keep watching for more details if they develop.

ronjurman · 6th November 2007, 22:49

Hmmm, not happy, but I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised. Seems that some UI (User Interface) aspects of shaders need to be customized to the host 3D program (so that new shader user options flow with existing shaders, I presume). From a FAQ over at 3DBuzz regarding Mental Ray and Maya:

----------

">Wait a minute, I'm having a revelation! If 3DS Max, XSI and Maya all have Mental Ray integrated now, does that mean a Mental Ray shader created for Max or XSI will work in Maya?

Basically yes! Not right away though. There are a few files that make up each shader (more on that later), and only the Mental Ray specific parts will be compatible straight away. The other files for the shader tell the specific 3D program how to use them, and what the interface for the shader should look like. Someone needs to create Maya specific versions of those files in order for them to work properly (or even load) into Maya. Luckily, if a great shader is created for Max or XSI, chances are that someone will soon port it over to Maya."

-----------

Rest of Mental Ray (Maya) FAQ:

http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=82183

Sorry. Wished for better news there, but ... . It does sound like the elements might exist for users to convert from one host to another, but it sounds like an additional customization effort is needed. Wonder if anybody has 'automated' that? Interesting.

rj

P.S. There is an interface to load Simbiont (DarkTree) shaders into XSI, but it's a touch low level (not terribly user friendly). If you're interested, the SPDL is at:

http://www.darksim.com/html/download_simbiont2.html

Search internet for "Simbiont XSI" for specifics on installation and use. Basically, as I recall (hopefully correctly), download/install SPDL (unzip, and XSI install), download/install DTE (same site), download/install Simbiont shader presets library (also same site), drop SPDL into custom XSI panel (creates button), and drag/drop button into render tree (but need to view some parameter specifics from shader sources).

vkirchner · 6th November 2007, 22:59

I am not good enough for that level of integration yet, still deforming blocks trying to make them look like something I have seen before.

But this is on my list of training in the near future. Looks like I have a lot to look forward to. Thank you very much.

6th November 2007, 22:49	#22 (permalink)
ronjurman Box modeling Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 201 My Photos: (0)	Hmmm, not happy, but I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised. Seems that some UI (User Interface) aspects of shaders need to be customized to the host 3D program (so that new shader user options flow with existing shaders, I presume). From a FAQ over at 3DBuzz regarding Mental Ray and Maya: ---------- ">Wait a minute, I'm having a revelation! If 3DS Max, XSI and Maya all have Mental Ray integrated now, does that mean a Mental Ray shader created for Max or XSI will work in Maya? Basically yes! Not right away though. There are a few files that make up each shader (more on that later), and only the Mental Ray specific parts will be compatible straight away. The other files for the shader tell the specific 3D program how to use them, and what the interface for the shader should look like. Someone needs to create Maya specific versions of those files in order for them to work properly (or even load) into Maya. Luckily, if a great shader is created for Max or XSI, chances are that someone will soon port it over to Maya." ----------- Rest of Mental Ray (Maya) FAQ: http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=82183 Sorry. Wished for better news there, but ... . It does sound like the elements might exist for users to convert from one host to another, but it sounds like an additional customization effort is needed. Wonder if anybody has 'automated' that? Interesting. rj P.S. There is an interface to load Simbiont (DarkTree) shaders into XSI, but it's a touch low level (not terribly user friendly). If you're interested, the SPDL is at: http://www.darksim.com/html/download_simbiont2.html Search internet for "Simbiont XSI" for specifics on installation and use. Basically, as I recall (hopefully correctly), download/install SPDL (unzip, and XSI install), download/install DTE (same site), download/install Simbiont shader presets library (also same site), drop SPDL into custom XSI panel (creates button), and drag/drop button into render tree (but need to view some parameter specifics from shader sources). Last edited by ronjurman : 6th November 2007 at 23:00.

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6th November 2007, 21:30	#21 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93 My Photos: (0)	RJ - Thank you for the info, I understood that Mental Ray was the core engine for XSI, this is one of the reasons why I purchased the software. It is very full featured for the price, versus just a Vray, Maxwell, or Brazil product. But it seems very confusing to me yet when you have such a Mental Ray product, do they make tweeks to work within each program, such that we can only share XSI shaders with other XSI users. There appears to be a lot of shaders available for 3DMax, but not quite as many for XSI. As for Carrara, I saw that Nichod had shaders for Carrara offered for sale, I did not think that they would work in XSI, but hey what do I know. The textures would be a very portable method for the time being, I still have many more hours of tutorials to get through before I try anything useful. Most of my work is architectural, but I hope to use XSI for more organic and animations work to extend my knowledge. I have tried Hexagon, which I believe to be very useful, but struggled greatly with the training material. I really like the digital tutors series for XSI products, they are easy to follow and well laid out. Thank you for the answers, and I will keep watching for more details if they develop.

6th November 2007, 22:59	#23 (permalink)
vkirchner Boolean Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 93 My Photos: (0)	I am not good enough for that level of integration yet, still deforming blocks trying to make them look like something I have seen before. But this is on my list of training in the near future. Looks like I have a lot to look forward to. Thank you very much.