Update Otl Without Updating Paint Sop

[SpencerL]

Hello,

I have an unlocked otl that is being used in several scene files which has a Paint SOP inside the otl. I have made a change to the otl and want to propigate this change to the otls in the other scenes. Is there a way to do this without updating the Paint SOP in each otl? If it updates the Paint SOP it will erase the changes already made. I know this is probably breaking inherint rules of an otl, but if there is some sort of work-around, I would appreciate hearing them.

Thanks!

[michael]

short answer is no

what you could do is:

in each file that uses that OTL ->

copy the paint node

sync the OTL with it's updated definition

unsync the node

delete the paint node

pasted the one from the original file

do this for each file...

I'd love to have a new node (I think I've RFE'ed this way back) that would allow the user to insert arbitrary nodes into a locked HDA

[SpencerL]

short answer is no

what you could do is:

in each file that uses that OTL ->

copy the paint node

sync the OTL with it's updated definition

unsync the node

delete the paint node

pasted the one from the original file

That what I figured that I was going to have to do. It would be a good RFE to be able to have to ability to mask out nodes that you do not wish to update

Thanks

[Jason]

I've tried this with various levels of success and frustration where you make a compound HDA where you have two components inside a third master component. One of which is locked and is the "engine" of the whole thing and is a locked HDA. The other is a "Dynamic" network (unlocked HDA) which objectmerges from the engine and from which the engine objectmerges the result back from. The Dynamic section contains your Paint SOP and such.

It's certainly tricky and definitely not ideal :-/ I too wish there was a mechanism to tag some operations or networks as "volatile" or "unlocked"... and I don't think there is a good/easy/reliable/fun way to do this without SESI making some enhancements. Unless someone like Mr.Tucker can drop some ideas in here?

[sibarrick]

I've been asking for this since day one, but every time I bring it up they say it isn't possible.

I would have thought they could just treat it like the data for locked sop, ie it gets saved to the hip file but apparently that isn't possible...

[mtucker]

The ability to select one or several nodes inside a locked asset and mark them as "editable" has been on the RFE list since before OTLs were released. And it's certainly not impossible. I honestly don't know why it has never percolated high enough up the priority list to get it done, but somehow it hasn't.

And no, I don't have any other suggestions on how to do this kind of thing within the current architecture. There's a lot you can do with Object Merges and opinput expressions, but eventually you're always going to hit a wall...

Mark

[michael]

bla!!

I don't want that...unlocked nodes inside a locked HDA?!?!?

fooey

I just want an extra special input to HDAs that allows a 'tunnel' into the network...

then a new node (in all contexts) that can be placed in the network that imports/merges that special input into the HDA's network...

all this could be solved if we had, along with the Sub-Network Input, a "Sub-Network Output" node

this would allow sending info OUT of the HDA - to be modified, then back in to continue it's wonderful journey...

[sibarrick]

I'd go with that idea.

What I'd really like though is to be able to promote the handles (paint, edit or whatever) so it works seemlessly with the rest of the asset. That way you don't have an unlocked asset inside a locked one. You just have a node that saves to the hip file the same way a normal sop like paint or edit does. The only difference is its hidden inside a subnet.