Hi i'm trying to render xgen generated hair ass data in houdini but unfortunately this throws some errors. I could not find any thing about this in htoa documentation .it looks like needs some external setup besides default setting done on installation time .
Do you guys have any idea on this?
Thanks
What are the errors? What does the log file say?
The ASS file has MtoA-specific shaders. So you need to add the location of the MtoA shaders (like MayaChecker) to the plugin search path.
And XGen requires Maya libraries, so you need to add some Maya folders to PATH.
For example:
https://arnoldsupport.com/2018/02/02/maxtoa-rendering-xgen-in-3ds-max/
Actually i tried this one . i added them to my system environment variable path but unfortunately did work for me.
You also have to add the MtoA procedurals folder to the Procedural Search Path.
And then get an Arnold log that shows what happens when the ass file is loaded.
you can render xgen in houdini with arnold, only if you use all arnold node for xgen shader in maya. I have done a little test, set all the env path, export xgen to ass in maya , load in houdini, it can render perfectly with htoa in out part, but I can't render out anthing in solaris, I can't figure out why, is it not support yet?
Hey, I got it working by exporting xGen as USD file in Maya and in Solaris creating an ArnoldUsd Prim (via Inline USD, see below) that reads that usd file.
def ArnoldUsd "xGen"
{
string arnold:filename = "C:/some_xgen_file.usd"
uint arnold:id = 0
}
how could you export xgen as a usd file? I tried to export xgen as a usd file with arnold or maya usd plugin, I got a very small usd file, and it can not render out anything at soloris.
thanks for the reply, I just did what you said,I think all the environment variables is setup, but I still got the " node xgen_procedural is not installed" error,finally I copy all the xgen dll files from mtoa to htoa, I can render xgen usd at Solaris,but saddly the hair lost all the shader, everything is purple color.please help me out.
@awu2500 wrote:
thanks for the reply, I just did what you said,I think all the environment variables is setup, but I still got the " node xgen_procedural is not installed" error,finally I copy all the xgen dll files from mtoa to htoa, I can render xgen usd at Solaris,but saddly the hair lost all the shader, everything is purple color.please help me out.
Instead of copying the dll files, set ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH before you start Houdini
Set it to point to the MtoA procedurals folder.
Setting the search paths in the render settings should work, but they don't and that's a bug for sure.