markerline Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Dear users: Sorry I'm posting so much but I keep finding issues that don't seem clear at first. I have an object--a polygon that has been dissolved and subdivided. At OP level when I try to move the object it cooks all the SOPs although I have locked the last one which has the display and render flags set. Why is this? I'm wondering... Can I have an object have one SOP set to display (flag) and the one I want to output set to render (flag)? Thanks in advance for any help. Sincerely, -penciline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markerline Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 Dear users:Sorry I'm posting so much but I keep finding issues that don't seem clear at first. I have an object--a polygon that has been dissolved and subdivided. At OP level when I try to move the object it cooks all the SOPs although I have locked the last one which has the display and render flags set. Why is this? I'm wondering... Can I have an object have one SOP set to display (flag) and the one I want to output set to render (flag)? Thanks in advance for any help. Sincerely, -penciline 19215[/snapback] By the way, I just discovered that setting a proxy to display while having the main SOP set to render does not prevent the OP from cooking all the SOPs at OP level. What's going on here? -penciline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 I can't reproduse that here...can you post an eg file? what version are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markerline Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 I can't reproduse that here...can you post an eg file?what version are you using? 19229[/snapback] I'm using Houdini Escape 7 (Apprentice). The file is a .hipnc file. Will that work for you if I just post another reply with it attached to the message? -penciline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markerline Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 sure 19232[/snapback] Okay. Here's the file . . . -penciline P.S. I discovered something about the file. If I only have "model" displayed at the OP level it does fine whether I lock the last SOP or not. But if I also have "model_groups" and "model_texture" displayed/visible then it cooks regardless of whether the SOPs are locked. I wonder what's going on here. P.S.2. I just received an error on uploading the file. I am not allowed to upload a file with the extension .hipnc . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 just zip it and it will be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markerline Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 just zip it and it will be fine 19239[/snapback] I used Windows XP's built-in compression utility. Hope it works. -penciline P.S. I think I might know what the problem is. I'm using a couple of Object Merge SOPs in the file which might cause the cooking. Tell me if you think you agree that this is the problem. I hate to use the workaround of writing the geometry out to a file and then reading it back in via a File SOP but that may be the only thing I can do. soccer_nu_01_arctor.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenong Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hi penciline, Yep, the Object Merge SOP is a double-edged sword. It is useful yet computationally expensive, sometimes. In your file, you're object merging the last SOPs of each Object & you're displaying them as well. Hence, when you move an object in the viewport, Houdini has to cook through each object's network. The biggest hit you'll have is when you're moving the model_texture object because Houdini will have to cook through the model_groups object and also the model_texture object. Yes, even moving the model object will cause Houdini to cook because it is trying to update both the model_groups & model_texture objects' networks. To prevent un-necessary cooking, display just the sphere or dissolve2 SOP in the model object. In the model_groups & model_texture objects, put down an Object Merge SOP, merge in the sphere or dissolve2 SOP and set your display flag on these Object Merge SOPs. I've set it up in the attached file. To set just the Display flag on a SOP, Ctrl+left click on the Display flag. Or go to Settings -> Main Preferences... -> Worksheet, Tiles and Trees and turn on "Change SOP Render and Display Flags Separately". Nice soccer ball! It will be cool to see the final render. Also, I hope the above helps! Cheers! steven P.S. Instead of using the Dissolve SOPs with the sphere SOP, you can use a Divide SOP & turn on "Compute Dual" to give you a similar result. P.S.2 Once you're done with the setup, you might want to save out the final geometry to disk then read it back in. If you're rendering a sequence of frames, the time Houdini takes to cook through the networks will be a nice chunk of the rendering time. soccer_nu_02_penciline.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markerline Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hi penciline,Yep, the Object Merge SOP is a double-edged sword. It is useful yet computationally expensive, sometimes. Cheers! steven P.S. Instead of using the Dissolve SOPs with the sphere SOP, you can use a Divide SOP & turn on "Compute Dual" to give you a similar result. P.S.2 Once you're done with the setup, you might want to save out the final geometry to disk then read it back in. If you're rendering a sequence of frames, the time Houdini takes to cook through the networks will be a nice chunk of the rendering time. 19264[/snapback] Thanks for the file and the tips. The only thing I can't understand is why Object Merge SOP decides to cook the operations EVEN when the desired SOP is LOCKED! It kind of defeats the purpose of locking SOPs, doesn't it? -penciline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenong Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hi penciline, Thanks for the file and the tips. The only thing I can't understand is why Object Merge SOP decides to cook the operations EVEN when the desired SOP is LOCKED! It kind of defeats the purpose of locking SOPs, doesn't it?19272[/snapback] It's not just the Object Merge SOP that's cooking but also the SOP networks of the model_groups & model_texture objects. I think the main thing you have to understand is the Object Merge SOP does not just read in geometry but also it's transformations. Hence, as you move the object, the Object Merge SOP will update. Try the following with the soccer_nu_01_arctor.hipnc file: a. Turn off the model_texture Object & make sure you're displaying the OUT SOP of the model_groups Object. Next, move the model Object. Houdini is cooking because the Object Merge SOP is getting an update thus Houdini has to process through the entire network due to the OUT SOP being displayed. If you display the Object Merge SOP in the model_groups Object instead, notice there's no cooking even if you unlock the subdivide2 SOP of the model Object. Hence, most of the cooking is due to displaying the OUT SOP in the model_group object. b. With the same settings above, turn on the model_texture Object. Notice Houdini is cooking again? It is cooking because you're displaying the uvfuse1 SOP. If you move the model_group Object, Houdini will cook because the Object Merge SOP read the change in the model_group Object's transformation thus passing the new data to the rest of the network. If you lock the OUT SOP of the model_groups Object, notice there's no more cooking. You can prevent cooking by locking the Object Merge SOPs in both the model_groups & model_texture Objects since you just want the geometry. Or use the set up in the file I modified. I hope things are clearer now. Cheers! steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 sorry for the late reply... steven is 100% right....it's the object merge SOPs that have to cook each time the model is changed/transformened etc... these issues are just workflow...evrybody does things a little bit differently - but eventually everyone learns some ways to speed things up I've changed a few things in the following file.... I'm not sure whay you're after with the different objects...you can do everything in one and just use switches etc to change the way the object is displayed and rendered...and you can drive the switches with scripts at render time etc... soccer_nu_01_arctor_MOD.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 simon is 100% right.... 19284[/snapback] Simon who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I have no idea what you're talking about..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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