Any way to create a square tube using standard primitives?

[hopbin9]

Did you just make your Bend SOP?

I did. Needed to bend something, and Twist wasn't working out. I also find that the Squash modifier in Max works differently then squash in Twist, and it's on my list to recreate.

If you continue posting your OPs like this, I will have to register a domain for you

lol, well, I'm renewing a bunch of domains today. I think I'll register something, but I haven't decided what the website should be. I've got a private server, and more then enough storage/bandwidth to host something.

1) Should it be a website just for xtools?

2) Should it be a community website, where people can register, and publish their own OTLs?

Sidefx has a site for assets, but it really does suck. I'd be willing to create a better website, but only if people are going to use it.

Anyone here interested in posting their assets on a new website? and if so, what features would the site have to have to make it successful?

How about something created with BuddyPress as a social network site for asset developers? or is that over kill?

Edited November 28, 2011 by hopbin9

[magneto]

I did. Needed to bend something, and Twist wasn't working out. I also find that the Squash modifier in Max works differently then squash in Twist, and it's on my list to recreate.

lol, well, I'm renewing a bunch of domains today. I think I'll register something, but I haven't decided what the website should be. I've got a private server, and more then enough storage/bandwidth to host something.

1) Should it be a website just for xtools?

2) Should it be a community website, where people can register, and publish their own OTLs?

Sidefx has a site for assets, but it really does suck. I'd be willing to create a better website, but only if people are going to use it.

Anyone here interested in posting their assets on a new website? and if so, what features would the site have to have to make it successful?

How about something created with BuddyPress as a social network site for asset developers? or is that over kill?

Awesome man. I agree SESI's OTL section isn't very good. A streamlined website just for this would be very useful. Also I am not sure how many people would contribute. It would be cool if you create a poll in the most active section this site and one in SESI forums, to see how many would like to contribute.

If the number of participants is not enough, then at least you can do it for your xtools which I am sure a lot of people would find useful

Btw I looked at xops.co, that was available as well. Not sure if co is a good extension though.

[hopbin9]

Awesome man. I agree SESI's OTL section isn't very good. A streamlined website just for this would be very useful. Also I am not sure how many people would contribute. It would be cool if you create a poll in the most active section this site and one in SESI forums, to see how many would like to contribute.

That's a good idea. Never create a poll before. I'll give it a try.

If the number of participants is not enough, then at least you can do it for your xtools which I am sure a lot of people would find useful

Maybe I'll expand it to include other applications. I'm a huge fan of ZBrush, Max, VRay and other stuff, but at the same time it has to feel like a good place for Houdini users (without colliding with other Maya/Max/C4D users.. etc.. etc..)

Btw I looked at xops.co, that was available as well. Not sure if co is a good extension though.

Nice one! xops.ws and xops.info are also available. *.co extensions are pricy to renew and I've collected a few dozen domains I have to renew each year. lol, but ouch

I just purchased http://www.xtools.ws and 8 other domains. Now to do something with them.

[magneto]

That's a good idea. Never create a poll before. I'll give it a try.

Maybe I'll expand it to include other applications. I'm a huge fan of ZBrush, Max, VRay and other stuff, but at the same time it has to feel like a good place for Houdini users (without colliding with other Maya/Max/C4D users.. etc.. etc..)

Nice one! xops.ws and xops.info are also available. *.co extensions are pricy to renew and I've collected a few dozen domains I have to renew each year. lol, but ouch

I just purchased http://www.xtools.ws and 8 other domains. Now to do something with them.

Yeah it would be cool if you made a good site for Max scripts/plugins. Scriptspot used to be very good before they changed the whole site.

Making a single site for these apps would be good. The risk would be that it gets too big and it never launches

I didn't know ws existed. But good choice on the name. Bookmarked

[hopbin9]

Yeah it would be cool if you made a good site for Max scripts/plugins. Scriptspot used to be very good before they changed the whole site.

He switched to a blog format, and that killed it. I liked it better when the scripts were organized into categories, but I do think his site is still very popular. I just don't understand why he wanted to include Google Sketchup with MaxScripts??? I could understand MEL scripts together with MaxScript.

Making a single site for these apps would be good. The risk would be that it gets too big and it never launches

hahaha... I have a few of those construction pages on a number of domains.

I didn't know ws existed. But good choice on the name. Bookmarked

*.ws is for "website", *.me is for "me, or my personal" these are new zones added recently and I'm glad cause they're cheaper then *.com names.

Damn, I just finished buying 8 domains and could have picked up xops.info for $0.51 (with free privacy) cause godaddy.com is having a sale on *.info domains. Now it's $2.00 to register in an order by itself. oh well.

[magneto]

He switched to a blog format, and that killed it. I liked it better when the scripts were organized into categories, but I do think his site is still very popular. I just don't understand why he wanted to include Google Sketchup with MaxScripts??? I could understand MEL scripts together with MaxScript.

hahaha... I have a few of those construction pages on a number of domains.

*.ws is for "website", *.me is for "me, or my personal" these are new zones added recently and I'm glad cause they're cheaper then *.com names.

Damn, I just finished buying 8 domains and could have picked up xops.info for $0.51 (with free privacy) cause godaddy.com is having a sale on *.info domains. Now it's $2.00 to register in an order by itself. oh well.

Yeah I wish he didn't do that. Now it's not easy to find scripts easily. Also it seems like most of the maxscript community became commercialized. There was a time when everything was free

It also sort of alienates some people to have all sorts of apps in there I think. That's why sketchup is the oddball for max users. I guess using subdomains would be cool to have: maxscript.xtools.ws, etc.

You bought 8 domains for xtools?

Will you be making icons for your DAs as well? I find this part very hard actually.

[hopbin9]

Yeah I wish he didn't do that. Now it's not easy to find scripts easily. Also it seems like most of the maxscript community became commercialized. There was a time when everything was free

yea, the temptation is always there to profit from these types of micro-tools, but the market is so narrow and specialized it's just not practical. There are other ways to profit, such as embedded links on the UI of a script, or including your resume. I mean, if a script landed a guy a job at Pixar. I'm sure he'd find that more profitable, then charging a few bucks for the odd user willing to pay up.

It also sort of alienates some people to have all sorts of apps in there I think. That's why sketchup is the oddball for max users. I guess using subdomains would be cool to have: maxscript.xtools.ws, etc.

Totally agree. Localization of communities on a website like that helps things stand out. So that when you go to maxscript.tools.ws on the home page you see new scripts are relative to your field of interest.

You bought 8 domains for xtools?

No, I bought a bunch for some other projects that are in the incubator. One is for an in-house web crawler currently in development (done in C#). Another is for some render pipeline tools that work with Deadline (OTLs), and other stuff like that. As you can see, I have a short attention span and multiple projects on the go. Either it's a disorder, or the resolve of drinking to many caffeinated drinks.

Will you be making icons for your DAs as well? I find this part very hard actually.

I like to put icons on my assets when I get a chance. I embed a PNG file, and then use opdef:// reference in the icon option. I never draw my own icon (that's just a waste of time), but I don't know why. An asset with a new icon is just simply a better asset

I get my icons usually from these places.

http://www.iconspedia.com/

http://www.iconarchive.com/

http://www.fasticon.com/freeware/

http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/icons/dock/?order=9&alltime=yes

Sometimes I'll throw on R2D2 as an icon for an asset. He always makes an OP look cool.

[magneto]

yea, the temptation is always there to profit from these types of micro-tools, but the market is so narrow and specialized it's just not practical. There are other ways to profit, such as embedded links on the UI of a script, or including your resume. I mean, if a script landed a guy a job at Pixar. I'm sure he'd find that more profitable, then charging a few bucks for the odd user willing to pay up.

Totally agree. Localization of communities on a website like that helps things stand out. So that when you go to maxscript.tools.ws on the home page you see new scripts are relative to your field of interest.

No, I bought a bunch for some other projects that are in the incubator. One is for an in-house web crawler currently in development (done in C#). Another is for some render pipeline tools that work with Deadline (OTLs), and other stuff like that. As you can see, I have a short attention span and multiple projects on the go. Either it's a disorder, or the resolve of drinking to many caffeinated drinks.

I like to put icons on my assets when I get a chance. I embed a PNG file, and then use opdef:// reference in the icon option. I never draw my own icon (that's just a waste of time), but I don't know why. An asset with a new icon is just simply a better asset

I get my icons usually from these places.

http://www.iconspedia.com/

http://www.iconarchive.com/

http://www.fasticon.com/freeware/

http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/icons/dock/?order=9&alltime=yes

Sometimes I'll throw on R2D2 as an icon for an asset. He always makes an OP look cool.

Yeah agreed it's too small of a market. Getting your name out there is more beneficial.

Haha I know what you mean, you want to do many things at once but better I find it more manageable if I focus on 1-2 things. Otherwise if these are big things on their own then they compete on resources equally and I am not superman

When you mentioned C#, I was actually thinking of asking here if SESI has any plans of maybe offering a managed version of their SDK. Do you know? While .NET is mostly thought as Windows, the language is not necessarily tied to it. And there is mono.

Using 3rd party icons is smart. I just find it most of the time the 3d related stuff is too specific to find a good icon. For instance extrude along a spline.

Good point on R2D2, though I am no fan

[hopbin9]

Using 3rd party icons is smart. I just find it most of the time the 3d related stuff is too specific to find a good icon. For instance extrude along a spline.

I'll just re-use an existing Houdini icon. Drop something that is similar, and then look at the operator type. Copy/paste the icon path and use the same icon. That's what I did with xTube for example.

[magneto]

I'll just re-use an existing Houdini icon. Drop something that is similar, and then look at the operator type. Copy/paste the icon path and use the same icon. That's what I did with xTube for example.

Good point my friend

[zarti]

..

Sidefx has a site for assets, but it really does suck. I'd be willing to create a better website, but only if people are going to use it.

..

i wd gladly contribute .

very often , when i do tests or explore houdini , some interesting ideas / solutions get buried in non-sense file names ..

i think many here wd contribute too . only good things can come out from this ..

oh -- and , think for a moment if all those could appear as Shelves from within Houdini { ? }

=)

[magneto]

i wd gladly contribute .

very often , when i do tests or explore houdini , some interesting ideas / solutions get buried in non-sense file names ..

i think many here wd contribute too . only good things can come out from this ..

oh -- and , think for a moment if all those could appear as Shelves from within Houdini { ? }

=)

If you had something like this inside Houdini, I am sure everyone would embrace it. Some sort of OP manager that updates/auto-updates OPs so you are never out of date. But go to the main site for finding new stuff.

Edited November 28, 2011 by magneto

[hopbin9]

That's cool.

Did you make that? Maybe we can make a standardized shelf tool that works in Houdini, Maya, 3dsMax and ZBrush

[magneto]

That's cool.

Did you make that? Maybe we can make a standardized shelf tool that works in Houdini, Maya, 3dsMax and ZBrush

lol no, I saw it at cgtalk

A tool like that would be sweet.

[hopbin9]

Is there a way to read the contents of an OTL file from outside Houdini.

I'm wondering if it's possible to have the website accept OTL files, and then parse the contents in PHP so that information about the asset can be rendered on a web page.

[magneto]

Are OTLs ascii? If so, I bet you can do it with asp .net or something. I don't know php

Also on a similar note, I saw some encrypted ones I think. Is it possible to encrypt OTLs?

[hopbin9]

Are OTLs ascii? If so, I bet you can do it with asp .net or something. I don't know php

Also on a similar note, I saw some encrypted ones I think. Is it possible to encrypt OTLs?

oh wow they are ascii.

If I create one and disable compression. I can open it in a text editor, and see all the contents. Looks like a mix of XML and HScript or Python. When I turn on compression, it's partly text and binary. Maybe this is what you're thinking is encrypted?

I don't know if there is much point in encrypting an asset, since you can copy an asset to other OTL files and also unlock them to make changes. I do know, that some system DA's can't be modified but maybe they are written in C++.

[magneto]

oh wow they are ascii.

If I create one and disable compression. I can open it in a text editor, and see all the contents. Looks like a mix of XML and HScript or Python. When I turn on compression, it's partly text and binary. Maybe this is what you're thinking is encrypted?

I don't know if there is much point in encrypting an asset, since you can copy an asset to other OTL files and also unlock them to make changes. I do know, that some system DA's can't be modified but maybe they are written in C++.

Ok that could be it then. I am not sure if Houdini supports encrypting but python OPs could actually use it. You are right though better to leave it open so people can use and learn.