{"id":1657,"date":"2013-02-18T12:11:21","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T17:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2013-02-19T02:22:21","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T07:22:21","slug":"ornatrix-v2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/ornatrix-v2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ornatrix V2 review"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"one_half first\"><p>4\/5 Star Rating: <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1669 alignleft\" alt=\"45_Stars_sm\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/45_Stars_sm.png\" width=\"73\" height=\"14\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By: Joe Gunn<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<p>Modifier stack flexibility<br \/>\nMassFX dynamics<br \/>\nCloth strip dynamics possible<br \/>\nMultiple rendering options including Vray<br \/>\nHair curling, Easy Clustering, Seeds values, Surface comb Sinks<\/p>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<p>Demo installer had multiple errors upon install<br \/>\nMassFX dynamics limited by Autodesk&#8217;s integration<br \/>\nDocumentation doesn&#8217;t install local with installation<br \/>\nTutorials are needed in many areas of the product<br \/>\nModifier workflow needs improvement, presets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"one_half \"><div class=\"tabcontainer tab_initial_open  tab_initial_open__1\">\n<div class=\"tab\">Product Info:<\/div>\n<div class=\"tab_content\">\n<p>Ornatrix<\/p>\n<p>Website:<a href=\" https:\/\/www.ephere.com\" target=\"_blank\"> https:\/\/www.ephere.com<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased speed due to multi-threading of many core algorithms<\/li>\n<li>Full VRay support<\/li>\n<li>Full MassFX dynamics integration in 3ds Max 2013+<\/li>\n<li>Many options added to allow a more flexible hair pipeline<\/li>\n<li>User interface enhancement and simplification<\/li>\n<li>Many bug fixes and stability improvements<br \/>\nA detailed list of changes can be found <a title=\"HERE\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ephere.com\/plugins\/autodesk\/max\/ornatrix\/forums\/builds\/thread_1637.html\" target=\"_blank\">HERE <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tab\">Pricing:<\/div>\n<div class=\"tab_content\">\n<p>1 or more licenses: &#8211; USD$499.00 per license<br \/>\n5 or more licenses: &#8211; USD$470.00 per license<\/p>\n<p>Site\/Unlimited Licenses<br \/>\n(10 or more, best deal) &#8211; USD$4500 total<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>Ornatrix is not a new hair plugin but V2.0 is a major release for this product which is why we are doing this review. Ornatrix has a long history as a great hair plugin for 3ds Max and in December of 2012 Ephere, the makers of Ornatrix, released the long awaited V2.0. At certain points in this review I will be comparing the default 3ds Max hair system against Ornatrix in order to illustrate features or concepts.\u00a0 Also note that in this review I will be using a character head instead of using a default sphere&#8217;s or other primitive.\u00a0 3ds Max already ships with a solid hair system built in and there are a number of 3rd party hair plugins available, so why would one look elsewhere? Hopefully after this review you may have a better understanding of Ornatrix and the features &amp; benefits it can provide.<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s New:<\/h2>\n<p>Ornatrix v2.0 has a lot of new features &amp; capabilities. Let&#8217;s start out by mentioning it&#8217;s great integration with Vray. Vray has taken the industry by storm and Ornatrix works really well with this render engine. Included in Ornatrix is the &#8220;VRayOrnatrixMod&#8221; modifier which allows you to render using features from the Vray toolset like GI, Vray hair shaders, Vray Motion blur &amp; more. This makes your render element workflow a breeze since you treat it as any other object you would render. No hassle with switches, buttons, or multiple light setups. This version has &#8220;Multi-Threading&#8221; all over the place now. Modifiers like Hair Curling are now multi-threaded. Anyone that has taken the plunge and is using 3ds Max 2013 can take advantage of MassFX dynamics with Ornatrix. This is a great feature as it allows you the ability to use 3ds Max&#8217;s native dynamics engine with Ornatrix hair. Ornatrix v2.0 adds directional gravity with the &#8220;Ox Dynamics&#8221; modifier (X\/Y\/Z) which is another great control when using hair for VFX. Please see the product info a full list of new features.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>UI &amp; Workflow:<\/h2>\n<p>The only real User Interface for Ornatrix is seen when it comes time to render Ornatrix&#8217;s built in render engines. There are two different engines to chose from,&#8221;Ox Hair Raytrace Fast&#8221; and &#8220;Ox Hair Raytrace Accurate&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/UI_Reng.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1699\" alt=\"UI_Reng\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/UI_Reng-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the render speeds of these Ornatrix-native render engines might seem obvious based on their names,\u00a0 I found that the Accurate version wasn&#8217;t slow at all. Perhaps it&#8217;s a sign of the times, since maybe 5 or 6 years ago you would have used the &#8220;Fast&#8221; method over the &#8220;Accurate&#8221; but not with today&#8217;s hardware. Everything else is modifier based so it&#8217;s a very familiar workflow for a 3ds Max user.\u00a0 As I&#8217;ve stated in the Pros list, the modifier\u00a0 stack flexibility is great.\u00a0 However it could use some improvements and I will explain why.\u00a0 When you first begin working with Ornatrix, it&#8217;s easy to use by choosing &#8220;Add hair to selection&#8221; from the Ornatrix main menu dropdown.\u00a0 What this does is pop on 3 essential modifiers in order to work with Ornatrix.\u00a0 This is great and if you are using the built in renderer another nice option is the Ornatrix &#8220;Setup Fast Raytracer From Selection&#8221;.\u00a0 This adds Ornatrix to the Atmospheric effects tab in 3dsmax.\u00a0 Having the ability to copy and paste modifiers, rename modifiers, stack them and reorder them is a native workflow in 3ds Max and makes Ornatrix a cut above the rest.\u00a0 One down side to this is that when setting up specific tasks such as viewport displays vs render displays or even setting up for rendering with Vray, you need to know the stack order and which modifiers to use.\u00a0 There is a big list of modifiers to get to know but over time, like anything else, it becomes second nature.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/OXmodlist.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1703\" alt=\"OXmodlist\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/OXmodlist-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Ornatrix modifier workflow is also where some improvements could be made.\u00a0 For example when using MassFX dynamics it&#8217;s suggested that no other modifiers above this modifier be active.\u00a0 At the same time it should be placed above the guides and below hairs.\u00a0 While I&#8217;m familiar with hair dynamics and their limitations and processes not everyone is aware of these things or workflows.\u00a0 So it would be great to have more quick &#8220;Add&#8221; options like &#8220;Add hair to selection&#8221; to help on those tasks.\u00a0 But even with this issue, a positive note is the ability to do all this via maxscript.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Grooming &amp; Materials:<\/h2>\n<p>Grooming your hair with Ornatrix is easy and highly controllable. You can setup hair on objects or splines. You can also use multiple modifiers to control the grooming and styles of your hair. If you need to use a set of guide splines that you&#8217;ve had previously created like I did in this review it&#8217;s no problem. It&#8217;s a nice feature to have since some guides will come from apps like Zbrush or other 3d apps for that matter. Grooming is very flexible with Ornatrix especially through the use of attractors called &#8220;Sinks&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/GroomSinks.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1711\" alt=\"GroomSinks\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/GroomSinks-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Using the &#8220;Surface Comb&#8221; modifier you can draw &#8220;attractors&#8221; on the surface of your hair object which flow the hairs in a direction. This is a super fast way to groom your hair. If you are putting fur on a character this would be the perfect starting point.\u00a0 Grooming brushes work similarly to the way the default 3dsmax hair works.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/GroomBrushes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1713\" alt=\"GroomBrushes\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/GroomBrushes-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can comb hairs in the viewport with several different brushes.\u00a0 I found the interactivity very controllable even more so than the default hair system in 3ds Max.\u00a0 You can control hairs at the root or tip and even braid selected hairs if you wish.\u00a0 Again because of the modifier stack workflow with Ornatrix you have a lot of power when it comes to grooming.\u00a0 There are many features to explore like, &#8220;Ox Strand Curling&#8221;, &#8220;Ox Strand Frizz&#8221;, &#8220;Ox Strand Symmetry&#8221; just to name a few.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/vrayShader.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"vrayShader\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/vrayShader-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a>\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/OrnatrixHshader.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"OrnatrixHshader\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/OrnatrixHshader-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s move on to talking about materials and how you can make the hairs look good.\u00a0 In this review I used an older character that I used with the default 3ds Max hair system along with Vray.\u00a0 It was a fitting choice to use for this review as Ornatrix works really well with Vray.\u00a0 Ornatrix can use the Vray hair shader and all the controls they offer.\u00a0 You can also use a standard 3ds Max material with the Ornatrix shaders &#8220;Ox Hair Cheap&#8221;, &#8220;Ox Hair Expensive&#8221;, or &#8220;Ox Hair Translucent&#8221;.\u00a0 Along with the shaders provided by Ornatrix you can use maps in many of the parameter slots to get some very fine control.<\/p>\n<h2>Lighting &amp; Rendering<\/h2>\n<p>Ornatrix will work with standard 3ds Max lights and can be rendered with the scanline renderer &amp; mental ray which are the two main native renderers inside 3ds Max. Vray has a nice integration with the &#8220;VRayOrnatrixMod&#8221; modifier as well. Testing with standard spotlights and omni lights in max gave some nice results quickly. Using a standard light gives you several shadow options that you must use in order to get shadows on the hairs. &#8220;Ox Deep Shadow Maps&#8221;, &#8220;OX Hair Shadow&#8221;, &amp; &#8220;OX Raytraced Shadows&#8221; are the options when using standard 3ds Max lights. In this review I was not able to test photometric lights so at this time I have no comments for photometric lighting. To get a fair comparison in regards to lighting &amp; rendering with hair I used as close to the same exact setups as possible for testing with the default 3ds Max hair system &amp; Ornatrix.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/lighting.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1725\" alt=\"lighting\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/lighting-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In my test I used a file that was created originally in 3ds Max 2010 with Vray and the default hair system. I used that same\u00a03ds Max file and set it up as closely as possible with Ornatrix to do a straight comparison. In order to do that I extracted the hair guides to splines from the default hair system in\u00a03ds Max which was already groomed. I then used &#8220;Ox Guides from Shape&#8221; modifier applied to those extracted hair guides which gave me exact results. Next I grounded those to my hair cap with the modifier &#8220;Ox Ground Strands&#8221;. After that I just created hairs from those guides. Then to get it very close to the default\u00a03ds Max hair system I used the Frizz &amp; Cluster modifiers from Ornatrix and rendered with the &#8220;VrayOrnatrixMod&#8221;. Both the default\u00a03ds Max hair render &amp; Ornatrix render used the lighting setup from the Vray Studio Light Rig from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agtoolcompany.com\" target=\"_blank\">A&amp;G Tool Company<\/a>.\u00a0 Some additional notes on the setup I used are that the character used Vray&#8217;s subsurface scatter shader and global illumination during these renders.\u00a0 Please view the image below to see a side by side comparison with render times and hair counts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/HairCompare.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1726\" alt=\"HairCompare\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/HairCompare-300x188.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/HairCompare-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/HairCompare-1024x644.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/HairCompare.png 1242w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ornatrix rendered in about half the time and the lighting quality is much better.\u00a0 Also note the hair counts are very low and this was due to limitations in the native\u00a03ds Max hair system.\u00a0 Using a higher hair count made the native\u00a03ds Max hair system renderer times not worth the wait.\u00a0 However with Ornatrix it wouldn&#8217;t have been a problem as it seems to eat high hair counts with no problem.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Dynamics:<\/h2>\n<p>This is still a rough area for all hair systems. While Ornatrix has integrated with MassFX, the Nvidia based dynamic system inside 3ds Max, it has both pros &amp; cons. This is an area that really could use some advancements in the tech side of things and let&#8217;s hope we see some Siggraph breakthrough&#8217;s soon.\u00a0 Now the pros about Ornatrix and MassFX integration is that it works with MassFX like in any other MassFX setup. You apply the dynamics modifier and you press &#8220;Play&#8221; on the MassFX toolbar. If you want to bake your animation, you do it the same way you would with any other MassFX object. It&#8217;s pretty interactive but does suffer the limitations that come with using MassFX and there are a lot of them. For example if you have a character walking around with long hair and you need the hair to collide with the deforming character mesh you are out of luck. MassFX does not support deforming meshes in 3dsmax 2013. Another thing that you will run into is a lot of errors and maxscript crashes using MassFX.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Dynamix.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1733\" alt=\"Dynamix\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Dynamix-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Maybe over time someone will find the right settings and what works best in this workflow but in my testing it wasn&#8217;t very usable. This isn&#8217;t a slight on Ornatrix but a limitation of this thing called MassFX. For very simple situations this may work out fine and might be even a good solution for other types of things like moving grass or leaves, etc.\u00a0 Now with that being said Ornatrix still has the great ability to use the &#8220;Cloth Strips&#8221; method for simulating hairs. This method allows you to use the power of 3ds Max&#8217;s cloth system which is a fast, stable and powerful tool-set.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/hairstrips.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1735\" alt=\"hairstrips\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/hairstrips-200x75.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion:<\/h2>\n<p>Ornatrix v2.0 is a solid hair system that seems to be the better choice among other solutions.\u00a0 If you haven&#8217;t taken a solid look at Ornatrix in a while it&#8217;s time to do so now. For those that do not use the default\u00a03ds Max hair system and are interested in finding a good hair solution you should take a peek. The flexibility in the way this hair system is designed gives you more control and it is a lot easier to work with. The integration with Vray is a must if that is your renderer of choice. While the dynamic solution isn&#8217;t better than the current standards out there Ornatrix provides you with options.\u00a0 At the time of this review Ornatrix lacks in the areas of tutorials which is a major Con in this type of technical product.\u00a0 Michael McCarthy from Ephere has stated that they are in the process of making tutorials based on the basics and production examples.  Also another note on documentation.  You have the ability to download the help file in .chm format to view locally.  I give this product 4 out of 5 stars.<\/p>\n<div class=\"iconbox\"><span class=\"iconbox_icon\"><img src='https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/themes\/shoutbox\/images\/icons\/iconbox\/person.png' alt='' \/><\/span><div class=\"iconbox_content\"><h3 class=\"iconbox_content_title\">Joe Gunn<\/h3><p>Author Notes:<br \/>\nJoe Gunn is a visual FX Arist &amp; Technical Director with over 12 years of experience.\u00a0 He has previously authored &#8220;Hair 3dsmax&#8230;out of the box&#8221; hair training DVD.\u00a0 Also has a background in both feature film and the commercial industry.\u00a0 You can find out more about his work &amp; background by visiting his <a title=\"joegunn3d\" href=\"http:\/\/www.joegunn3d.com\" target=\"_blank\">website.<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview: Ornatrix is not a new hair plugin but V2.0 is a major release for this product which is why we are doing this review. Ornatrix has a long history as a great hair plugin for 3ds Max and in December of 2012 Ephere, the makers of Ornatrix, released the long awaited V2.0. At certain [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fcmain","category-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/OrnBanv03-940x390.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":77,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc3d.org\/3dwp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}