Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 2, 2013. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Using an Nvidia graphics card, the GPU-based Octane renderer is intended to be capable of generating physically correct images and exporting final renders in LDR and HDR format. Thanks to the real-time engine, the final rendered image is said to be visible already in the renderer’s viewport. According to Otoy, the Octane engine in version 1.0 is physically based and makes spectral light transport, Direct Lighting and Ambient Occlusion possible. The renderer is also said to offer multiple GPU support as well as a “Deep Channel” kernel for rendering Z-depth, material ID and UV coordinates, among other things.
It is available as a standalone version and as a plug-in for 3ds Max, Maya and Poser. Even in the beta version, our DP author Nando Nkrumah liked the renderer’s photorealistic quality, its user interface and its high degree of interactivity. In version 1.0, the flexible, node-based user interface is intended to make editing, monitoring and rendering interactively possible in real time. The Node Editor is said to make it possible to create complex materials using procedural textures, colours and images, and precise adjustment of the material parameters is intended to provide reliable control over them.
Octane Renderer is said to support more than 40 different texture formats; in the area of materials, features are said to include physically based material models, bump and normal mapping, and access to LiveDB’s material database. Sharing materials, textures and emitter macros is likewise said to be possible through the use of LiveDB. Tone mapping is intended to be possible in real time via a GPU-based tone-mapping pipeline. According to Otoy, Octane Renderer can import Wavefront OBJ formats including parameters and materials.
The video provides an overview of Octane 1.0’s functions:
Octane Renderer is available for Windows 32- and 64-bit, Linux 64-bit and Mac OS X from version 10.5. On the website, a demo version is available for all three operating systems, in which, among other things, the render resolution output is limited to 1000×600 pixels; the project and render output also cannot be saved, and the LiveDB material database function is not included.
The Standalone Edition of Octane 1.0 is available for 199 euros. A three-pack volume licence is available for 559 euros and a ten-pack for 1,799 euros. The 3ds Max plug-in is available only in combination with a standalone version; this package is available for 359 euros. Users who already own an Octane standalone version can purchase plug-ins from 199 euros. The plug-ins for Maya and Poser are so far available on the website only in beta.
Here is a real-time test with Octane for 3ds Max using a Transformer model:
You can find more information here: render.otoy.com
Images: Otoy
Downloads:
