Scripting – Writing the DataArray of an ICE attribute

Posted on November 13, 2012 by xsisupport

Here’s a little Python snippet that shows how to write to the DataArray of an ICE attribute.

from siutils import si
si = si()					# win32com.client.Dispatch('XSI.Application')
from siutils import log		# LogMessage
from siutils import disp	# win32com.client.Dispatch
from siutils import C		# win32com.client.constants

pc = si.GetPrim("PointCloud", "", "", "")
a = pc.ActivePrimitive.AddICEAttribute("MyScalarArray", C.siICENodeDataFloat, C.siICENodeStructureArray, C.siICENodeContextSingleton  )
a.DataArray = [[ 0.03, 3.33, 2.22, 3.333 ]]

a = pc.ActivePrimitive.AddICEAttribute("MyLong", C.siICENodeDataLong, C.siICENodeStructureSingle, C.siICENodeContextSingleton  )
a.DataArray = [3.1416*1000]

a = pc.ActivePrimitive.AddICEAttribute("MyScalar", C.siICENodeDataFloat, C.siICENodeStructureSingle, C.siICENodeContextSingleton  )
a.DataArray = [3.1416]

#
# Add some Attribute Display properties
# to show the attribute values
#

p = pc.AddProperty( "AttributeDisplay", False, "" )
p.Parameters( "attrname" ).Value = "MyScalar"

p = pc.AddProperty( "AttributeDisplay", False, "" )
p.Parameters( "attrname" ).Value = "MyLong"
p.Parameters( "offsety" ).Value = 16

p = pc.AddProperty( "AttributeDisplay", False, "" )
p.Parameters( "attrname" ).Value = "MyScalarArray"
p.Parameters( "offsety" ).Value = 32

I tried to do the same thing in JScript, but I couldn’t get it to work for arrays. Very frustrating.

pc = GetPrim("PointCloud", "", "", "");

a = pc.ActivePrimitive.AddICEAttribute("MyScalarArray", siICENodeDataFloat, siICENodeStructureArray, siICENodeContextSingleton  )

a.DataArray = [[ 0.03, 3.33, 2.22, 3.333 ]]
// WARNING : 3390 - This ICEAttribute doesn't refer to a 2D array: <Attribute: MyScalarArray>
//

a.DataArray = [ 0.03, 3.33, 2.22, 3.333 ]
// WARNING : 3392 - Invalid offset specified while extracting data from this attribute: <Attribute: MyScalarArray>
// <Offset: 108384008>
// 


// But this does works
a = pc.ActivePrimitive.AddICEAttribute("MyLong", siICENodeDataLong, siICENodeStructureSingle, siICENodeContextSingleton  )
a.DataArray = [3000]

PS You can find some usage of DataArray in the CrowdFX plugin (in the Softimage install dir).

Have license, will travel?

Posted on November 12, 2012 by xsisupport

Umm…not quite. The Autodesk end-user license agreement (hereafter referred to as the “EULA”) restricts license usage to the country or territory of purchase.

Section 2.1.3 of the EULA says:

2.1.3 Territory. Except as otherwise authorized in writing by Autodesk, the licenses granted in this Agreement are granted only for the Territory. Nothing in this Agreement permits Licensee (including, without limitation, Licensee’s Personnel, if any) to Install or Access the Licensed Materials outside of the Territory.

Extra-territory usage is a subscription benefit:

Extra Territory Rights – Allows usage of a license outside of the country of purchase for up to 90 days per a year. This benefit can be used by End Users. No companion license would be needed, however if installing outside the country of purchase and requiring a manual install, explanation of benefit may be needed.

So, what’s a territory? Again, from the EULA:

From the EULA:

33. “Territory” (a) means the country, countries or jurisdiction(s) specified in the License Identification, or (b) if there is no such License Identification, or no country or jurisdiction is specified in the License Identification, means the country in which Licensee acquires a license to the Autodesk Materials. If the License Identification specifies, or Licensee acquires the Autodesk Materials in, a member country of the European Union or the European Free Trade Association, Territory means all the countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association.

But what if you’re not in Europe? What’s your territory? The EULA says you can find your territory in the License Identification:

14. “License Identification” means one or more designations by Autodesk that set forth the License Type (among other things) for Licensee’s license of the Licensed Materials. The License Identification may be (a) located (i) in the Licensed Materials (e.g., in an “About” box, license information dialog box, or text file of Software), (ii) on or with Autodesk packaging, or (iii) in a written confirmation or other notice issued to Licensee by Autodesk and transmitted via email, facsimile, physical delivery, or otherwise, or (b) obtained from Autodesk on request. For clarification, License Identification does not include a designation, confirmation, packaging or other document provided by a Reseller or other third party.

I couldn’t find the license identification for my Maya ECSP license, which was purchased in Canada from the North American store. However, I did find this on the store help page:

If I purchase a product from one country’s store, can I use it in another country?
No. Software products purchased on this Store must be used in accordance with the terms of the Autodesk License agreement accompanying them; such terms include a restriction that the products may not be used outside of the country of purchase. For this site, the Territory for sale of software products is the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. Please see the Digital River Terms and Conditions.

Finally, via google, I found this “Ancillary Service Description for Use Outside Territory” document.

Screenshots of the week

Posted on November 11, 2012 by xsisupport

Wet Bunny
by Andy Moorer

Ice Topo+Kine

replacing particles instances by high res versions at render
by face

LightMap create using ColorSampler
by SI_UserNotes

Dead ICE tree after scene recovery
by druite

ICE L-Strands

Cell duplication
http://vimeo.com/52920070

Generate Strand Filled Object Node FeaturesOlder video that showed up in my RSS feed this week.
http://vimeo.com/24575360

Mia_Material_Advanced
Another older video that showed up in the Vimeo ICE Tutorials feed this week.

Out of the office

Posted on November 10, 2012 by xsisupport

I’m “on the road” for two weeks, visiting Solid Angle London for a week, and then Solid Angle Madrid for another week. I hope the weather’s good over there: the forecast for Monday here in Montreal is sunny and 16 degrees…maybe the last warm day for cycling.

While in London, I hope to check out the Softimage Creatives user group meeting.

I’ll be back on 25 Nov. Until then, I’ve pre-written and scheduled my daily blog postings, just in case I’m too busy 🙂

The Solid Angle offices in London

Friday Flashback #93

Posted on November 9, 2012 by xsisupport

1999
MANEX SHINES IN “THE MATRIX”
Without SOFTIMAGE|3D and mental ray, specifically, those phenomenal bullet time backgrounds just wouldn’t have been possible.

Help! My Arnold render channels are missing

Posted on November 8, 2012 by xsisupport

If you don’t see any of the Arnold render channels (like Arnold_Alpha or Arnold_Opacity), open up the script editor (press ALT+4) and run the SITOA_CreateRenderChannels() command.

Tip – You can avoid this by making Arnold the default scene renderer. The SITOA plugin will then make sure the Arnold render channels exist (by calling SITO_CreateRenderChannels from OnNewScene and OnStartup events).
hat tip to Francois Lord for pointing this out

# Python
Application.SITOA_CreateRenderChannels()

// JScript
SITOA_CreateRenderChannels();

Arnold gamma correction settings

Posted on November 7, 2012 by xsisupport

In this video, I take a quick look at the different gamma correction settings used by Arnold. I don’t tell you how to set up a linear workflow; my goal is to help you understand what the gamma correction settings mean.

http://vimeo.com/52957489

Rendering a world position pass with Arnold

Posted on November 6, 2012 by xsisupport

You can use the Arnold_Point AOV to create a world position pass (an AOV is the Arnold equivalent of a render channel). Here’s the Arnold_Point render channel in the render region:

A world position pass (aka a position map), is an image where each pixel’s R, G, B colour values represent the x, y, z coordinates of the corresponding vertex, in 3D world space.

If you loaded the rendered position map into the FxTree, or Composite, you can see that the RGB values correspond to the XYZ position coordinates:

FxTree: