FAQ
How do I get access?
Unfortunately, at the moment, we give access to the early builds only for selected studios. If you are representing the studio and you are interested, contact us via mail. hello@wizartsoft.com
When will the source code be available on Github?
We are working to make it available to everyone. If you are interested in testing out the software and possibly, speeding up the open-sourcing process, please mail us.
Let’s see about how this goes. Looks interesting, though I hope that it will become more of a platform with interoperability rather than only a scene compositor.
That looks pretty interesting ! I looks like the app relies heavily on plugins / extensions… Like it seems their hair system is a plugin rather than something built-in…
Pretty cool also that they build everything around USD, I’m wondering what is has to offer compared to blender, I bet the Qt interface, USD centric, and C++ plugin is a good start. Probably this is more useful to a studio as a piece of a pipeline, rather than a small team or individuals.
Anyway, I like how they took inspirations from various software too
Only one thing I am sure, is that there is nVidia Omniverse that strikes a very good approach, about focusing on lots of aspects related to “simulation” and “visualization”.
This means that putting interactive simulation is a top priority, also as well that providing hardcoded native interop as well because there will be lots of strong reliance on third-party addons.
Is really bad that Blender developers didn’t predict the future correctly and abandoned the “real time mode” for good. However talk about systems related to “virtual production” or “real time mocap”… These very tough to be glued to Blender as addons. Probably you would develop an addon that invokes features from your own custom-developed system.
Hahaha sadly not, from what I understand it’s basically a USD scene management on steroid, you can manipulate objects, render them, do quick edits on geometry, and they added plugins for hair grooming and animation if I understand correctly…
My bet is that they’ll try to copy the blender ecosystem where they provide some architecture and count on external contribution for plugins. Or maybe at some point they also sell plugins while maintaining the core app opensource… but time will tell…
Anyway, their grooming system doesn’t look ultra-advanced, funny thing is that it’s based on OSL so you can script your own behaviour for the hairs, but it’s very unlikely that it allows to do animation or simulation…
That looks like the future indeed, or at least a good part of it
Yeah I understand, I don’t think they abandoned the idea, it’s just that blender lacked a lot of optimizations to make that interesting, besides all the simulation tools that felt pretty aged.
I think it’s not yet the time but I’m sure that this will get back on the table at some point. As they are doing a lot of ground work to make the core tool and data management much faster and responsive. Maybe blender won’t be able to provide as much as reactivity that unreal or omniverse could provide, but still interactivity is part of blender’s DNA, with stuff like Eevee, geo-nodes, viewport compositor… So it makes a lot of sense to keep going forward in that direction, even if they have to manage their technical debt by updating old parts of blender from 2000/2010, where new software can implement tools with modern architecture and tools.
That said, I think blender is much closer to get there than other DCC like maya or max, which also have these tech debt issue too, but I might be wrong…
Also I agree with you that’s not something that can be made correctly with an addon !
Yeah, probably it’s best to consider buying a houdini indie licence for that, as even if they start working on porting physics to geometry node now, it would take some time before everything feels solid enough to work on real projects, but that’s just my humble opinion…
Since nothing is announced now it’s probably still a bit low in the todo yet …
Problem is you can’t ‘buy’, only rent, as indie is subscription based and even then not all that cheap.
I don’t do subscription and their ‘permanent’ license is really really not cheap, with an annual upgrade option that isn’t much better.
So all in all, I just don’t see Houdini being an option, which means, yeah, it’s a year(s) wait for Blender.
Outch my bad ! I didn’t know they switched to subscriptions for their indie licence… So now it’s either in the hands of blender core devs or some geo-node wizard who might save the day
Or maybe their might be a standalone software that can just simulate curves, IDK well the available tools as I tend to be hair phobic when it comes to 3D…
It does look promising for such an early state, even though it is technically not yet a complete DCC suite with it not having things like a modeler. It would be good to see it not wind up like Art of Illusion, Equinox 3D, or K3D, because there is evidence that monopolies are not exactly a great thing in FOSS spaces either (which Blender is currently the only game in town).
I could see them drawing away users if it in part actually winds up being the “Maya, but free” that many professionals have always wanted (as opposed to a team doing its own thing and looking to create its own innovations like the BF). Personally, I do love the fact that the BF is not interested in limiting itself to what “the industry” considers the standard, but not everyone wants that if it means having to learn a new workflow.
There could be two possible outcomes, that game graphics could have become great, and this way you keep the virtual environment. Or that the 3D software would become more interactive.
Truth is that both paradigms evolved at their own pace, and now they are about a great stage of intersection.
Good thing is that at this point in time there is also the concept of data-sharing with the standard of USD and more or less this gives you a bit more confidence to think in terms of “interoperability” and this way to embrace that intersection of technologies, in any way seems feasible.
