Quick Cache 2

[iamVFX]

Link is updated!

Major change of this version is that substeps now stored in a folder with cache, so if you cache cloud with different simulation step values it will be loaded properly

"Retime" button opens ppg for selected objects only should work as it says

Small annoying things that nobody cares except me is fixed also

Installation help file is now included

[Hirazi Blue]

Just a friendly suggestion: when you update the link it might be an idea to change the filename to include some kind of version number (something like "QuickCache_02.rar" for instance), so people can easily see, if they have already downloaded the most recent version...
;)

[iamVFX]

Just a friendly suggestion: when you update the link it might be an idea to change the filename to include some kind of version number (something like "QuickCache_02.rar" for instance), so people can easily see, if they have already downloaded the most recent version...
;)

Everyone who want download the latest version can download it from the first post, or check files modification time

It's seems like version from the first post is the latest one, because I have no idea how to improve it further - everything works fine for me

[bottleofram]

Well, let me spoil your party, than. Earlier i could cache the geo with regular operators applied, they just needed to be in the modeling stack. Now, it spits out this error:

Code: Select all

' ERROR : 2000 - Argument 0 (Target) is invalid
' ERROR : 2001-GetValue - Argument 0 is invalid
' ERROR : Traceback (most recent call last):
'   File "<Script Block >", line 170, in QuickCache_Cache_OnClicked
'     qc.cache()
'   File "C:\Users\alex\Autodesk\Softimage_2012_SP1\Application\Plugins\QuickCache\SIQC_Cache.py", line 197, in cache
'     if si.GetValue(path+".simulationsettings.subframesampling") != 1:
'   File "<COMObject <unknown>>", line 2, in GetValue
' COM Error: The parameter is incorrect. (0x-7ff8ffa9) - [line 169 in C:\Users\alex\Autodesk\Softimage_2012_SP1\Application\Plugins\QuickCache\QuickCache.py]
' ERROR : Property Page Script Logic Error (Python ActiveX Scripting Engine)
' ERROR :    [167] def QuickCache_Cache_OnClicked():
' ERROR :    [168] 
' ERROR :   >[169] 	import SIQC_Cache as qc
' ERROR :    [170] 	qc.cache()
' ERROR :    [171] 	
' ERROR :    [172] def QuickCache_Play_OnClicked():
' ERROR : 	Traceback (most recent call last):
'   File "<Script Block >", line 170, in QuickCache_Cache_OnClicked
'     qc.cache()
'   File "C:\Users\alex\Autodesk\Softimage_2012_SP1\Application\Plugins\QuickCache\SIQC_Cache.py", line 197, in cache
'     if si.GetValue(path+".simulationsettings.subframesampling") != 1:
'   File "<COMObject <unknown>>", line 2, in GetValue
' COM Error: The parameter is incorrect. (0x-7ff8ffa9)

I still think it would be useful if you could support non ice based deformers. Just a thought.

[iamVFX]

Well, let me spoil your party, than.

And that's totally cool! Fixed, thanks! And I removed the progress bar also to see the timeline better

I still think it would be useful if you could support non ice based deformers. Just a thought.

It's already supports non-ice operators, I wrote about this earlier

[bottleofram]

Awesome. Everything seems alright now.

If you, by any chance, need an idea how you could improve it further, heres one: tokens in path. I realize you probably made the plugin for quick-and-dirty purposes, but say you are working on different scenes (or even different projects) and forget to change that path string. Things could get messy...

In that case something like "C:\Cache\[scene]" or "[Project Path]\cache\[scene]" would come in handy.

[iamVFX]

Awesome. Everything seems alright now.

If you, by any chance, need an idea how you could improve it further, heres one: tokens in path. I realize you probably made the plugin for quick-and-dirty purposes, but say you are working on different scenes (or even different projects) and forget to change that path string. Things could get messy...

In that case something like "C:\Cache\[scene]" or "[Project Path]\cache\[scene]" would come in handy.

Great idea!

I've added [Project Path] and [Scene] (case sensitive) tokens, now path is set to "[Project Path]\Cache\[Scene]" by default, but, of course, you can change it in a SIQC_Defaults.py at any time

Link from the first post updated (33 kb overall size, not a big deal to download it again if you don't know what version do you have)

[druitre]

I've got another question/feature request:

I tried out the retimecompound you included and it didn't interpolate between frames when I set a lower than 100% speed. Is that right or does it depend on attributes in the cache - like subframes, prevpointposition, prevvelocity? Or am I just doing something wrong?

What would be really good to have is a 'cache on file'-compound with retimecapabilities built-in, with options to toggle between different kinds of interpolation - linear or splined - and an intuitive way of setting up keys. A f-curve editor with visible timelinecursor and precise editing of keyframes, I think. The ICE mini-graph like the one in your compound gives no options like these, which makes it kind of useless IMO.

Is this at all possible or is it way outside of the scope of your approach for a quick system?

Maybe this would be a compound that deserves a life by it's own, as a replacement for the factory cache on file node.

thanks, Jasper

[iamVFX]

druitre, this is not not a replacement of standard cache tools, it's just quick way to use them instead. I'm not interpolating anything, to retime it with very low speed you need higher simulation substeps number (something like 6 or 8). The reason is: I don't need that feature, so I don't care about it, sorry

[iamVFX]

[rimg=400]http://screensnapr.com/e/l5YLW4.png[/rimg]

New feature is added! "Make Notes" check box is allow you to write some lines about your simulation settings, cookies, how bad HQ viewport of SI 2013 is or whatever. Just set a flag on it and click on "Cache" button. When you'll load cache again you will see your notes in the log of the script editor

Also PPG buttons have equivalent commands now so you can use them for hot keys. Python example: Application.QC_Cache()

And some bug fixes:
Now if you stop the cache procedure it will be loaded correctly
"Not Started" and "Ended" output ports of the "Retime Cache" compound are fixed
When you loading cache files of the object with the different frame ranges it will update the "Retime Cache" compound values now

bottleofram, you can check if plugin works in a workgroup (it should be now, but I don't know for sure)

Link is updated (now on dropbox again)

[Tekano]

I've got another question/feature request:

Maybe this would be a compound that deserves a life by it's own, as a replacement for the factory cache on file node.

oh, how about this viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2293 ;) not exactly a replacement for the cache on file node but an 'addition' also this is really crude and simple way to do this, nowhere near as elegant as Iamvfx's implementation but it gets the job done for slowing down (or speeding up) a cache without having to re-cache substeps.

[druitre]

Thanks Tekano!

[bottleofram]

Workgroup installation doesnt work yet, Constantine. Its looking for Capture.preset in the user folder (even if the capture is checked off), gives me an option to locate it manually but than it seems to fail completely (both cache and reading).

In any case, thanks for trying. Currently, i have no problem installing it in a regular user folder.

[iamVFX]

Oh, my bad, sorry! I forgot about it

Now it works! Thank you for helping me out, bottleofram!

Link is updated

Great compound, Tekano, thanks!