Released - C66 Graphics Plugin *Commercial*
Totte
Posts: 13,955
The C66 Graphics Plugin is a DAZ Studio plugin (macOS-64 and Windows-64) with a set of APIs that can be used by scripts. The reason it exists is that what you can do from a script is pretty limited, and very slow when it comes to manupulating graphics, like blur, draw lines, rects, circles.
It's required by Ultra Scenery Toolbox - Volume One and Billboard Builder, and supported by Multi Map Loader (generating 4K UV wireframe texturemaps in second rather than minutes). The plugin comes with API documentation and a sample script showing how to use it from a script. The idea is to update the plugin when I need new fuctions for new scripts, and I have some update plans for older scripts that heavliy depend on graphics to speed some performance bottleneck operations up.
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Comments
This outputs images? It couldn't be used to create dynamic procedural textures?
Theoretically yes, but that requires some intricate scipting also turning the image into something that maps onto the current UVs, The core functions are for making GUIs look better in scripts, and to do some image manipulations like getting the alpha channel of a png image as an image that you can modify, blur stuff and some other things. I have some ideas where to take this further.
"Watch this space." Thanks.
So... this:
https://www.daz3d.com/billboard-builder
Says it needs *this* plug-in?
But this is the ONLY information I can find about this plug-in.
So, how am I to use the billboard-builder if I can't find the plug-in?
Otherwise, Billboard-Builder seems like a no-brainer purchase.
If you look over at the Buildboard-Builder thread you'll see more. It seems that the plug-in was also suppose to drop today and that the store should have listed it as a Required Product. Neither happened. The developer(?) has said he's already contacted marketing.
Yes, I don't know what went wrong as this was supposed to be released today too. Marketing won't wake up until DAZ office time though I think, so we call all just join Sidney Youngblood singing ".. all we can do, is just sit and wait..."
I feel so sorry for you guys, you must be really upset. I'll put the Tool box in my cart and 'sit and wait' as well, everything's probably gonna be sorted soon. LOVE the tool, by the way!
Frustrating for you, Totte!
Both new products are in my cart, just waiting C66 Graphics Plug-In to check out. But there is at least 5 hours before 9am in Salt Lake City and first cup of coffee.
This sounds excellent, @Totte, and much needed. I have one project in particular that has been put on hold since image operations are so slow via scripting. In particular, can it be used to resize images, and copy some RGB values from part of one image to part of a new image?
- Greg
Some of that you mention is already doable in script, like resize and copying RGB values, why is not not is quick drawing, getting alpha, blur and a bunch of other things. The image scaling is very fast in script as it's all implemented in DS core. I wrote the plugin really for those things that were not doable fast enough.
I think some of it is availble in the sample script even.
var newImage= oldImage.smoothScale(newx, newy); is very fast.
Admittedly, I was messing with it years ago, but at the time I found getting/setting RGB values in an image to be slow. Maybe something changed under the hood since then and I missed it in the change logs. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
- Greg
GetPixel/SetPixel are still very slow, thats' why I wrote the render routines for rects, spheres etc. It was just scaling that is fast.
Much of why get/set pixel is slow is that transportation between the Inner Qt/C++ layers and the scripting layer, thats why if so much faster to render 1000 Rectangles and then update the GUI than rendering then one at a time (sample code shows that too).
It is live in the store
https://www.daz3d.com/c66-graphics-plug-in
Strange though. You'd think it would qualify as a new release, but if i have it with the billboard, only the billboard product gets the extra 10% off.
Could probably be due to the release issues, I don't really know though.
yup, apparently gets no new release discount yet.
It didn't occur to me to look at the product that was available - instead I searched just for the component that I couldn't find - and this was the only discussion about that. But I should have realized that DAZ would release a product before a dependency that the product requires in order to work.
Now it *all* makes sense. ;)
Thanks for the clarification.
Is there any chance this can be added to the debut new releases so it will get the extra discount ? I need the billboard plugin and have it in my cart but I am hesitant to buy it until Ican get it and the required CS66 Grahics plugin with discounts that I would get for buying 2 debut new releases.
Wait, that is actually a function in DS? Dang, I'd almost pick back up programming to create some script for automatically downsizing material textures on selected assets and automatically saving those as new preset within the products' materials folders and smart content. I'm convinced something like that should be possible! 4K textures are a big issue in iray rendering, especially for more distant and background assets, often taking an unnecessary amount of memory that can easily drop the render to CPU.
I have the Billboard Builder, Ultra Scenery Toolbox and the Graphics Plugin in my cart and can confirm that the first two products both show the extra discount; the plugin does not. So we just need the Graphics Plugin to be looked at.
There are scripts that do that, but the tricky part is teo things (believe me, I've studied this carefully)
(1) What distance to the camera would allow downsizing of textures? Sounds easy, but a small letterbox at distance yes, but that huge mountain also in the distance, absolutely no.
(2) This nice environment with many houses, all as one huge mesh, happens to use the same texturemap for the buildings in the distance and the building right close to the caemrta, and even the same material. If you sccale the distant one, the close one gets screwed up too.
Cheers!
/ Totte
Just got confirmation that it's being looked at.
I just added all three to my cart and all are getting the same discount now.
Yep, and purchased!
Nice! on to purchase :)
The possibility of downscaling maps, reapplying them and saving them, combined with a "distance" information (but YOU decide which ones you downscale), is already made in Scene Optimizer. Now I can have a look if there is a real benefit in doing the image calculation using a plugin, but as Totte said, I think this would not make such a big difference since it comes from DS Core. Totte plugin is indeed very smart and super useful for images "advanced processing", which cannot be handled such easily by DS and which would took sooo long without the pluggin.
Happy I could help!
you need a thread for plugins we would love to have because you seem to be one of the few who can do it.
Maybe animation paths that can follow terrains?
Tracking, OMG DAZ needs tracking, its one of the things I take for granted in Carrara and iClone has it too (as well as the animation paths) to be able to make a figure's hand track another object or another figure's hand, an end of a rope track something moving, reins on horses etc, it's something I use so much.
Can I ask what is the policy on upgrade to Daz studio 5? Knowing that Daz studio 5 is coming in the future and plugin is definitely going to be broken, I am very hesitant to buy new plugin without knowing daz 5 will be supported without having to pay again.