Octane for Blender // Getting Started

[@douchymcdouche169]

Thanks for these tutorials. I've been reluctant to try out Octane because of how complicated it looks. This is making my life much easier.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Glad I could help!

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Another simple solution, is by adding a default octane blend file which has most default settings already setup. That would be really helpful for beginners. Though they do miss out on that part of the learning curve, it does give a nicer experience if it was added

[@amatisart]

Thank you, man! You are the reason why I try Octane for Blender and I love it. You are doing a great job for us! I hope your videos get more appreciation!

[@AlexPearce3d]

Thank you!

[@Starrider.]

Finally explainations that face same problems as me. The most videos have a smooth ride and never speak about the first user experience! Currently I’m struggling with Fog, so would love to see a video about volumetrics, godrays and how to render them noise free:) they appear to work different from cycles Thank you again!

[@DodaGarcia]

This is so useful!! I've been hoping to mess with Octane since 2015 but never got to it due to not having a CUDA GPU. When I moved to Blender and started using Cycles (using a virtual workstation) I didn't think about it anymore, so I'm surprised to find out Octane is that much faster because I thought the only differential about it was using the GPU. I'll definitely be trying it out, thank you for this content!

[@AlexPearce3d]

Thanks for the comment!

[@cffilmmaker]

So excited for an overview on Blender/Octane texturing

[@AlexPearce3d]

sorry i sort of lost steam on octane for blender.

[@patricklevar]

Man thank you for this hope to see more from you don't think we need the on-screen it was so laggy but love your fast pace format right to the point #keepfilming😉👍

[@AlexPearce3d]

trying to make them even more to the point now, like much faster. if it's too short, people can ask questions

[@leoviolet5827]

Starting my journey in octane for blender from standalone. Its nice to have some reminder and where the tools are. It would be awesome to have some preview of how to use it for complete scene. Thx for the content !

[@AlexPearce3d]

Thanks for the comment! yeah, i need to get back into octane, it's hard with cycles x coming out and renderman too, i want to do it all!

[@markgould7402]

Just had installed Octane and this really helped get set up and started ... thanks man!

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yeah man!

[@monles_yen]

Thank you!!!!! All of tutorials help me a lot!!

[@AlexPearce3d]

Thanks for the comment! glad to hear

[@dannytsuji807]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown. Great job!

[@spark7007]

Awsome!! really nice video! help me a lot of... look forward the next tutorial for blender octane :D

[@iyadzuay6112]

thank you man, that was very helpful, keep it up great job!

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Ps for the devs of this addon. You should should add a check if there is a camera if not, then add a new one at the current location. That way a new user won't have that black scene. I've worked on a different external engine for blender and we had all kinds of funrls setup for these paper cuts

[@cevxj]

Thank god, the hero we needed.

[@AlexPearce3d]

haha no no, but happy to hear it was helpful!

[@EHSAN1943]

Cheers for the tutorial, keep up the good work sir!

[@gusmaiawork]

7:31 I'm just getting started with Octane for Blender (I'm an avid Octane user with Cinema 4d) and managed to get everything working until the material conversion part that 'Convert to Octane material' option is not showing up on mind end any idea what might be? thanks!

[@stephanstrydom6175]

It will only convert basic materials so if the images go into a group the convert option will not show. There was a plugin called Octane Helper that sorted this out a few years ago but it seems to have been abandoned so it does not support newer versions of Blender😑😑

[@RomboutVersluijs]

They should add a drop-down with all major cities of the world in that location node. Makes a easy start for users picking their location

[@gusmaiawork]

that'd be a great idea if this was an expensive industry standard piece of software, but instead Blender is a free tool used all around the words, many times used by people from small countries with bad economic systems, so that would just exclude a big chunk of their user base

[@RomboutVersluijs]

@@gusmaiawork Add Ng the cities is not much work. Some one could do it in a little hour of work or so. Perhaps you meant something else?

[@itsmi9352]

If anyone still with the “waiting for image”. Try going to Render Settings (little camera), then Octane Server, then Octane Settings, and Device Preferences, check if your gpu is checkd of.

[@mathiasrauls7790]

Device preferences button isn't working :(

[@AlexPearce3d]

Then it's most likely a driver issue. Have you tried installing the latest Nvidia driver from the Nvidia site? I usually go through geforce, but some have said to go through there

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Does this addon also have an optimizer for the viewport. In the engine I worked with we had options for scaling like 2x, 3x,4x this would give a smaller image which would be upscaled. It gives rougher look but for preview it's more convenient since 3dv would move smoother etc etc

[@kangsoo]

When running Blender Octane Edition, I would like to know if there is a way to set Blender to run at version 2.83. I have Blender version 2.83 and version 2.901 installed. When I run Blender Octane Edition, it automatically runs with Blender 2.901 and does not run as shown in the video you are describing.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Octane for Blender shops its own version of Blender, so you'd have to go on otoys website and see if you can download the older version.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

The developers should do a check on export for a camera if there is none then they add the one from the 3dview. An old engine called Thea render used to work like this, way better solutt for a simple small issue

[@lanzsantos_]

Hello is there a way to see textures on the 3d viewport without hitting render? Mine is just gray even though there are textures applied to it. Unlike in cycles workflow when you hit Z theres an option for material preview. With octane when you hit Z theres none. Are there any alternative workflow to this? It would be easier and less stress to the hardware to be able to see textures and preview them quickly without being in render view all the time.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Not really tbh

[@xapu8775]

3 things. Why sometimes bloom dont work? How to make a gradient tex? Would you share your addon ? 😀

[@sebastienmorere6925]

Hi, I made the same configuration as you but when I run the render, I only have a pixelated image and the rendering is very long, what do you think is the problem?

[@thebensimon]

100 !! Thank you! super helpful :)

[@AlexPearce3d]

Thanks for the comment!

[@LeonErrante]

i didnt knew about Octane!! im so glad to find this video!! greetings fromMexico City !! ñ.ñ/

[@DariaSigalova]

Thank you for video! There are really a lot of very important information in it. Could you please explain (maybe just some words in next video) how to work with local DB? And is it possible to import octane materials from Cinema 4d for example? Many many thanks in advance :)

[@Mukhtar_SH]

Thanks so much... this is really helpful

[@AlexPearce3d]

You're very welcome!

[@blenderzone5446]

thanks mate!

[@marcioballmann2174]

I really can't get the octane blender helper add on to work at all :S installed it and it simply doesn't show up in the preferences when I search for it.. :(

[@AlexPearce3d]

The octane helper addon hasn't been updated in a long time, I don't think. When you install, does the console tell you anything? Like if you go to window, toggle console, does it give you any errors?

[@marcioballmann2174]

@@AlexPearce3d I don't find any errors.. after installing the add-on it simply does not appear in the installed addons list.. maybe it doesn't work with blender 3.01 anymore..?

[@rolandtorda5570]

Hey, I'm into compositing cgi elements to live action footage but I had no luck creating realistic stuffs with cycles shadow catcher. Can you tell me if octane's sh catcher works decently, please? Thanks!

[@AlexPearce3d]

I havent actually setup a shadow catcher there before and I don't have time this week to test it out, sorry.

[@rolandtorda5570]

@@AlexPearce3d Its ok, I'm gonna test it soon with both luxcorerender and octane :)

[@jakekuchenbecker400]

Mostly Really great!! Thank you So much for taking the time to make this video....

[@wunstop6026]

Damn he didn’t get back with you?

[@jakekuchenbecker400]

@@wunstop6026 No I don't think so!

[@megan8494]

the convert to octane material option doesnt show for me....any suggestions? the obvious has been checked

[@AlexPearce3d]

It doesn't show when you use the search option, correct? I believe you have to go to edit preferences, and enable the developer options, which I think is in the interface tab. I didn't realize this when I made this video, cause I always just have that checked. Let me know if that solves your issue.

[@megan8494]

@@AlexPearce3d THAT WORKED! thank you Alex for the speedy reply =)

[@AlexPearce3d]

Glad it worked! Happy to help, good luck on your projects.

[@Villio.]

Wow.. that's alot of help for me🙏

[@AlexPearce3d]

Glad to hear that

[@kityoung03]

thx this was a lot of help

[@AlexPearce3d]

sweet!

[@hunter7777]

Hello...I am having problems with Blender Octane where I try to start Blender Octane Edition & I get an error where it says the application cannot start correctly (0xc000007b). If I go into Blender & try to enable the addon, I get all sorts of python errors & it says that the module _octane cannot be found. Is there a solution to this? I have tried it on 2 different versions of Blender (2.83 & 2.92), & yes I have activated the server. I have also restarted the computer & tried running in Admin mode, but nothing has helped. BTW...what is the link to your previous video where you tell how to install Octane for Blender? I found it. But I am still getting those python errors & the module not found error. Help please.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Make sure you're opening the special version of Blender, not the regular version of Blender. You may have to search where you installed it if I search on windows for Octane, I can find "Blender for Octane". Open that, not another version of Blender.

[@hunter7777]

@@AlexPearce3d Hi Alex...thanks for the response...I did exactly as you have suggested, but still was getting the errors that I mentioned, so I uninstalled it & essentially gave up for now.

[@Crats_]

My world, all it's correct, but the texture with the correct nodes looks white when i set it red. Any solution?

[@AlexPearce3d]

Are you new to octane? Are you talking about the texture on an object? Are you using the octane universal shader? You can't use the principled bsdf shader.

[@Crats_]

@@AlexPearce3d I had the clay mode on “grey” that’s why it didn’t worked. Now it works! Thanks

[@maciekowojo7870]

Very Thanks!

[@harmus640]

Thank you for your tuto, very helpful! I would like to know how long is this kind of free period? A month or a year? Thx~

[@AlexPearce3d]

Pretty sure it's indefinite!

[@kumarbrown6804]

Hi, I want to switch to Octane from Cycles, howeve how much longer will it be free? Note: I don't mind paying for it, but would like to know the long term plan. Any insight is appreciated. Thank you.

[@AlexPearce3d]

I don't have an official answer on that, but I am pretty sure it will be free forever for the "prime" version, which is not limited in any capabilities, and has no watermarks. The way they make money is in the long term. Let's say you use if for free for a year, well now you are committed to Octane, and you have a second computer that you want to render from, so you buy the studio license (which is still very reasonable). And in a few years you go to work for a major studio and they use the enterprise license, and now purchase 10 more render nodes for to work with. In my opinion it's a very smart business strategy.

[@kumarbrown6804]

@@AlexPearce3d Hey Alex, thanks so much for the quick reply. I enjoy your tutorials please keep making them.

[@3dmonkeybizz]

Another very helpful video. Many thanks once more. I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but....... why is the Blender version of Octane free?

[@AlexPearce3d]

Good question! It could be that they will have it free until it is stable and they have a ton of users who are loyal and won't mind when they switch to a paid plan? Because of the nature of it all, it's quite a ways away from being complete (including no little documentation). do they not have a free version with c4d?

[@3dmonkeybizz]

@@AlexPearce3d Back in 2016 i downloaded a C4D version with watermarks for testing, free of charge, but since then I haven't seen a free version for C4D. Fingers crossed we still have some time with Blender then!!!! 😂

[@AlexPearce3d]

Oh I see, c4d wasn't free, I thought you were saying there wasn't an octane version for free.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Blender will always be free!

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Have they actually setup the render engine correctly in the python part of octane? Normally if you add a custom render engine, you can set what nodes will show and which won't. Then you don't have that hustle of nodes from cycles and Eevee shower Ng up in the octane engine

[@RomboutVersluijs]

To explain this. Nodes for cycles and Eevee have an option called engine, in that you set for what engine it is compatible with

[@JOTABANTZ]

How do you bake textures? Sorta like Combined Bake on Cycles. Thanks!

[@AlexPearce3d]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIKqdKmvj8mYpq8

[@AlexPearce3d]

I have a video about baking lighting to textures, I added the link in a comment for you.

[@kirbyscreativity]

cant find the option in the search for convert...

[@killivan1]

I've try add daylight environment but still waiting for image, do you know why?

[@AlexPearce3d]

Could be a few things, do you have any License errors in the 3d viewport? If not, add a new default camera. Then add a light type sphere (unique to Octane), go to the shader editor and click "use nodes", then turn the texture emission power up to 1000 and scale the sphere light up a bit and see if that works. For the environment, make sure it's an Octane Daylight Environment, the out node connects to a World Output node in the "Octane Environment" input. Let me know if you get it working!

[@alexunderstands]

I had the same problem - solved by updating to the latest Nvidia Driver!

[@Leon-zx4wb]

Another solution to this problem : First choose Octane as render engine, then in Render Properties click on Devices Preferences and click on render at the level of your graphic card. It solves the problem for me.

[@ankityadav6447]

Hi Alex. I have a silly question. when I activated octane for blender as shown in your previous video it's showing activated but it will expire in a month?

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yes, but don't worry, it does not expire.

[@ankityadav6447]

@@AlexPearce3d thanks alot 🙏

[@chriscrowd4946]

Thanks!

[@PiononoMatic]

te amo, me salvaste

[@4PXLZ]

do someone knows how to fix "wrong render-server version at address 127.0.0.1"?

[@sayanbiswas7364]

I don't see any "convert to Octane material" option in search.

[@AlexPearce3d]

I think you have to go to edit, preferences, and turn on developer options (I think it's in the interface tab). That will give you a lot more options on the search bar, so definitely worth doing.

[@sayanbiswas7364]

@@AlexPearce3d this is correct. I did find the option. I guess it's besides the point that once converted it deleted my albedo texture. I still have to watch your materials video.

[@AlexPearce3d]

It didn't delete your texture, it created a new material. So you can find your old material and copy paste if you need to. I stopped making octane tutorials to focus on improving the octane add on I've been developing, ap octane.

[@jasonnehceis3267]

Why is it SO difficult to get a simple compatibility link for Octane and Blender versions?! Come on guys! This is add-on software Dev 101.

[@chris60036]

When I import an image texture the color space options are missing - anyone know why this is? Thanks

[@minaexperiment]

Great tutorial! One question. Its supposed to be free? In the activation server it says expires in mars, so its 1 month. What happens then?

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yes it's free! The "prime" version. I think when it gets to March it will then say expires on April, etc.

[@minaexperiment]

@@AlexPearce3d Thanks! Thats great, i only do some hobby renders once in a while so having free Blender and Octane is awsome.

[@MrLoser609]

Anyone else getting stuck with a “waiting for image” in the render viewport?

[@AlexPearce3d]

It's a common problem, we've all had it before. It could be several things. So you have ap octane? It's my addon to help get started in octane for blender and can trouble shoot this problem for you. You can get it at gumroad.com/alexpearce then try the first buttons like "basic setup". It could be that you don't have a camera in your scene or you don't have any compatible octane lights.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Did you get the addon and or solve your issue? I still have that waiting for image, I don't even remember what settings I programmed, I just press the addon button "setup" and it fixes it. Again it's free of you haven't got it yet gumroad.com/alexpearce#VkBZX

[@Leon-zx4wb]

First choose Octane as render engine, then in Render Properties click on Devices Preferences and click on render at the level of your graphic card. It solves the problem for me.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Did you try updating your graphics card yet?

[@AlexPearce3d]

@@jishnugopinath OK, but did you try updating your graphics card? Doesn't matter when you bought it. If you're not sure how, download GeForce experience, then find update drivers. If you haven't done that yet thats most likely your issue.

[@jamesmather7896]

F3 doesn't reveal any "convert to octane texture" :(

[@jamesmather7896]

I’m obviously doing something boneheaded. 😩

[@AlexPearce3d]

Go to edit preferences, interface and turn on developer extras, then save preferences, then you'll have access to like 1000 more options when you press f3, including convert to Octane texture!

[@jamesmather7896]

@@AlexPearce3d Woohoo! It works. Thank you Alex!

[@thecgdawn6472]

@@AlexPearce3d Thankyou

[@megan8494]

Ever run into the No Net GPUs issue?

[@kflingard5343]

I don't seem to be getting the convert to option? Could anyone help me with this?

[@kflingard5343]

installed addon all good!

[@AlexPearce3d]

Sorry i'm just responding! To see that option from the f3 button, go to edit, preferences, interface and turn on "developer extras". this will give you hundreds or thousands of more commands available from the f3 menu!

[@vitto8112]

Right now is Octane for Blender 2.92 for free. I thought that I have to get Blender 2.83 but not. Otoy give you the blender 2.92 Octane edition and the octane server edition. this Is insane

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yeah for sure!

[@zaink7]

does the convert to octane material button exist somewhere, can't find using F3 Search

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yes, under material. You can also go to edit preferences and turn on developer extras, that should allow you to access it from f3 menu

[@amatisart]

@@AlexPearce3d thank you! I now find the convert node!.

[@stephanalbrecht7889]

Is octane more a hard surface renderer or does it cover organics as well?

[@paulatreides1354]

@Pietro Figura I don't think you understood the question

[@paulatreides1354]

yeah there is some awesome render of organic stuff done with octane

[@nownezz]

i tried octane for blender in april and it worked, now wanted to get back to it but i get an error once i enter my otoy account infos. it says it couldnt find my license and tried unlocking the subscription (whatever that means) on my otoy account but still doesnt work... could somebody please give a hint how to solve this?

[@nownezz]

worked after a bit of chaotic maneuvers to make it work... in the end i reinstalled octane and the server, unlocked the licenses on my otoy account and rebooted the pc... still dont know why

[@nownezz]

well ok no doesnt work at all. my server is activated but blender tells me its inactive...

[@TheRabben]

not showing the convert to octane option to me :(

[@AlexPearce3d]

You have to turn on developer extras. Go to edit, preferences, interface and check the box that says "developer extras" this will give you like 10x more commands when you press f3 now!

[@TheRabben]

@@AlexPearce3d ooh thanks a lot!!

[@TheRabben]

@@AlexPearce3d i forgot to say thanks! its working now!

[@AlexPearce3d]

@@TheRabben great!

[@JC-wc4rj]

Does octane support RTX in blender？

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yes absolutely!

[@HeLIEl]

I installed it but i don't see octane all i see is Eevee, Workbench and Cycles i'm confused 😩

[@AlexPearce3d]

You downloaded it from otoy, right? And when you opened it, it should be called "Blender Octane Edition". If so, most likely you just need to go to edit, preferences, add-ons, search for octane and enable it.

[@HeLIEl]

@@AlexPearce3d Yeah i figured it out on my own it’s Blender Octane, but my Daz Importer is on 2.8 so if i need to rig a character from Daz i’ll import it on 2.8 then use 2.9 once i start to make scenes to render

[@AlexPearce3d]

Glad you figured it out.

[@fazearbaax6083]

As soon as i go to render viewport, it shows waiting for image... Please help

[@AlexPearce3d]

It's usually a driver issue, check if you have the latest driver, and install the studio driver from Nvidia, not GeForce experiemce and try again. If that doesn't work, download my addon ap octane (free) and click set up. If that doesn't work, try a different driver.

[@AlexPearce3d]

There's a Facebook group that is helpful as well, and you can join my discord and I can try to help further

[@thekidhb]

14:44 very scary lol

[@bigbebote]

bro, i dont see octane on add ons preferences

[@AlexPearce3d]

Octane is a special build of Blender, are you sure you downloaded it correctly and opened the right one? It should be called something like Blender Octane Edition. In the addons, there are some filters, like internal, community and experimental. Check them all to make sure it's not just hidden in there somewhere.

[@webbdzn4245]

I have installed octane 3 times and just get "Rendering- Waiting for image" PLEASE HELP

[@webbdzn4245]

Also I have a camera and the server is activated so it is not that

[@AlexPearce3d]

Do you have any octane lights? Like sphere light? You can also get my free addon, ap octane, for free at gumroad.com/alexpearce and use the Setup button.

[@webbdzn4245]

@@AlexPearce3d I set up the environment lights

[@webbdzn4245]

it just keeps saying rendering, waiting for image

[@AlexPearce3d]

You set up the environment lights through my addon? And have you tried switching to solid view then back to rendered view?

[@zossua7375]

octane db download - stuck at 50% why? Also its crashed blender on my scenes.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Did octane dB crash your computer or octane in general? If you go to your render tab, scroll to the bottom there's an option called "out of core", if you check that, it should prevent your computer from crashing. On the stuck at 50%, it automatically says 50% when you open dB. When you first open it, it looks empty, did you click on the tab at the top that says live dB? If so, did you have an object selected, then found the material you want to import, right click, and select the import option?

[@zossua7375]

@@AlexPearce3d Thanks for the tips. I think it crashed because I just pulled in a really old blender scene for about a year ago and just started to mess around. It hasn't crashed on a new scene. The importing works. The blender file crashed not my pc.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Got it. Cool thanks for letting me know and keep me updated on your progress!

[@zossua7375]

@@AlexPearce3d Thanks. I love the tutorials. You think you could do a video about lighting/volumetrics. One of the reasons I started using Octane today was because i've seen so many great renders with amazing lighting/volumetrics . I didn't think it would be so different to Cycles but it is.

[@Zero-0o0250]

I have the problem Octane is not rendering ( Waiting for image...). Someone can help me?

[@Zero-0o0250]

I saw the full vid, still have the same problem:(

[@AlexPearce3d]

Yeah its sometimes hard to figure it out :( did you update drivers? I do it through geforce experience usually, but I think they recommend going through Nvidias website. Do you have ap octane? If not, get ap octane lite (free) at BLENDERender.Co and do the setup tools.

[@Zero-0o0250]

@@AlexPearce3d hey man ! Hahahah it was the drivers that needs an update .Hey man thanks for the help !

[@AlexPearce3d]

Definitely, glad I could help! Yeah octane is super picky with the drivers.

[@Zero-0o0250]

@@AlexPearce3d hahaha yhea man thanks!

[@Andredy89]

There's no option to convert material (((

[@nowmotivation6304]

Can I use octane on CPU?

[@paulatreides1354]

no !

[@AlexPearce3d]

nope

[@makeitlastmedia]

blender dude

[@hapichteam]

When I clicked f3 and typed there is no convert selection menu poped up.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Ah, I bet that's because have developer extras turned on. If you go to edit, preferences, and look for "developer extras" and turn it on. I can't remember which tab it's in, but I think it's right at the top, like interface. Let me know if that is it.

[@mr.evening5388]

@@AlexPearce3d It worked for me

[@Grimeaper]

Man mine doesn't have a convert. Seems they tossed that option out. Oy vey.

[@AlexPearce3d]

Sorry, make sure you are in octane render engine, make sure you have an object selected and make sure that object has a material. Then go to edit, preferences, interface. Check on 'developer extras', the try again. I forget to mention that, you may not see the command with the f3 button without developer extras turned on.

[@AlexPearce3d]

And if that doesn't work, let me know

[@Grimeaper]

@@AlexPearce3d I don't seem to have developer extras at all.

[@AlexPearce3d]

hmmm. that's stange. I wish you could share a picture here. Are you on a PC?

[@cr4723]

Why are you putting your head in the screen? That disturbs. Do you think you are so beautiful?

[@glizzygobbler845]

better looking than you will ever dream of sitting in your moms basement typing a hate comment like a loser

[@thekidhb]

14:44 very scary lol

[@AlexPearce3d]

what is scary ?