VrayISO modifier

[HenrikBC]

Basically something like the one Dimo - http://www.dimo3d.blogspot.com/ once developed for earlier max versions.
The capability that Bercon's VrayMetaballs has with particle support is also extremely interesting.

But first of all I'm interested in the procedural detail that I could enhance my models with using the ISO modifier. To me this is nearly as big a feature as displacement mapping is. I've seen some different mention of companies developing their own in-house software for this, eg. Scanline in Germany.

It looks to me like most of the features are already there - Dimo and Bercon code combined. It "just" needs mapping features - which I believe Dimo's plugin had?
Ofcourse there may be more to it and making sure it fits with the rest of the package takes time + keeping it up to date and recompiling for new max releases and vray SP's.

Anyway - this is my request.

[HenrikBC]

bump!

Am I really the only one who would get my rocks off on something like this?

[anchovy]

Nope,I seriously want to see it resurface as well.

-Michael

[joconnell]

Yep - would be really handy for vfx work alright!

[anchovy]

I don't suppose anyone knows what happened. All I could gather was that Dimo just halted development and that no recompile was made for the current build. Ive tried to contact him with no luck. Anyone? Ive also emailed Vlado but haven't heard back.

Thanks

-Michael

[PsychoSilence]

i want it back pretty badly too! Maybe Thorsten has some insight here?

[instinct]

Well i guess for one Dieter is pretty busy these days (besides having a real life and a family :P ). On the other hand here's some insight i guess:

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbu...269#post396269

Regards,
Thorsten

[plastic_]

Developing a plugin is just too much hassle.
It's almost impossible to do it "for free".
You have to recompile it for almost every new max version, there are always tons of bugs, conflicts with other plugins, etc.

I stay with scripts, they are pretty safe and easy to fix (if unencrypted).

Unlike other programs, for example After Effects, where you can just delete a missing plugin from the stack, dealing with a max scene that uses a broken plugin is a pain in the ass.

[jacksc02]

Marc,
I think there is a blurscript to remove objects with missing plugins

[dimo]

Hi there,

as said earlier, it's almost impossible to maintain such a plugin for free. It's not only recompiling for every 3dsmax version, but also for every VRay version. Given the speed of Chaosgroup with their releases, you cannot keep up that pace in your freetime. Often people use nightly builds which makes the whole compiling a nightmare. Unless you give the code to Chaosgroup like I did with the multimatte, you cannot compile for every build.
Maybe Chaosgroup should offer a service to link code into their nightly build setup
For newer 3dsmax versions I also need a new Visual Studio to be 100% compatible, at least using the old one is not recommended by Autodesk. This means investment of several hundred euros, that I don't want to spend.
Once we upgrade here at Mackevision I can probably recompile for the new 3dsmax versions.

-Dieter

[anchovy]

Dieter-

Having coded a bunch of max maps and some odd bits I know how hard it can be to stay on top of this... That being said Id be happy to recompile the current version for you. Let me know as I gather there are a bunch of us here that would love to see it working again. Its a wonderful addition and a real shame not to have as a tool. Lord knows Id pay for a copy as would the groups I work for.

Thanks for letting us know what the the status is regardless!

All the best.

-Michael

[dimo]

Hello Michael,

thanks for the offer, but by contract I am not allowed to give away any sourcecode

-Dieter

[Dave_Wortley]

Dieter, I'd just like to say there's a bunch of us here at Taylor James who love what you created with Vray ISO, and occasionally we role back to Vray 1.5SP2 to make things like Sponge, Coral etc because there really isn't anything that comes close to Vray ISO, that said unfortunetly it is a little buggy occasionally and can be slow to work with, but the results are pretty darn good.

We're defienetly like to see a new build even if it was still just for 3dsmax9 for the latest Vray build.

In my opinion most developers concentrate too much on displacement (as it's easier) and we should be seeing more tools to make this sort of subsurface mesh that is missing from our toolset. We often get quotes on complex organic or micro models and there's very few ways to make this sort of thing.

Any chance if you don't feel like developing it any more handing it over to Chaosgroup to rebuild with the next version of Vray? If not thankyou for what you created and it's a shame we can't use it more.

[anchovy]

Sorry to harass, but any chance there could be some movement on this again? Dimo? Vlado? Any thoughts as to if this could be worked into a release?

Thanks

-Michael

[vlado]

That would be up do Dieter entirely. You may look into BerconMetaballs though, it can do similar stuff.

Best regards,
Vlado