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Plugins and Scripts > trueSpace > Rendering

YafaRay for trueSpace7.61

Plugin and Scripts to use the YafaRay Render Engine

Download Links: yafaray icon

Download YafaRay4tS v1.0.0 - YafaRay4tS.zip

yafaray icon Click here for Sample Scenes

A pdf manual with the most up to date information is included in the zip archive.

YafaRay v3.5.1 was released on July 13, 2020

Simple Installation for the Unofficial Updates

This installer is not needed for the Unofficial Updates v10

Changes relative to the Unofficial Updates - higher UI font contrast in some panels, toolbar small difference

Base Installation - no Unofficial Updates

Installation.htm for more information

united3dartists forum discussion for YafaRay4tS v0.9.9: https://united3dartists.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5686

Click here for the Online Help Manual (slightly out of date)

Original Yafaray manual for Blender

Convert a Lightworks scene to YafaRay

  1. right click the render icon to initialize yafaray in the scene
  2. open the d3d material converter - found in the material editor of the unofficial update or default tab on YafaRay4tS - Open Scene Utilities and press the D3D Materials button, or download a single panel version from here and press the toolbar button

  3. default aspect, uncheck Selected Only and press the Convert button
  4. stop now and now ready to render if the scene has no textures/bitmaps
  5. open the yafaray scene utilties - YafaRay4tS Default panel, Open Scene Utilities button
  6. press Gather Textures for Sharing to extract the texture files from the scene needed by yafaray
  7. press Process Imported Scene to assign the texture files to the materials
  8. now can render
  9. optionally convert materials to yafaray materials for greater control and flexibility

The process does not work on old pre 7.61 workspace scenes because of the different structure of the scene nodes

Model View Processing

Allows YafaRay4tS to render model view animations while protecting the workspace view from model view changes. It makes it possible to combine workspace and modelspace animations into a YafaRay render.

Protect Workspace

protect workspace panel

The first step in working with model view and workspace view is to protect workspace from random model changes. The Protect Workspace panel can be opened from the side panel settings tab, Protect Workspace toolbar button if installed manually, or it can be opened in the YafaRay4tS Anim aspect. Use the Backup button before opening a Model view to help prevent item name changes, movement, material changes and camera and light attribute changes caused by Model view processes. Use the Restore button after closing the Model view to revert any Model view changes.

Model Mesh (Special Mesh) Processing

Only needed if the model view has shape change animations of NURBS, metaballs or deformations.

  1. Anim aspect activate the Model Mesh Processing checkbox
  2. Model Processing will also need to be activated before the render

Notes:

  • Do not activate if it is not needed.
  • will make trueSpace unstable for layout changes
  • will slow down the render process

Perform the render

  • Protect Workspace Backup button and save your scene
  • open the main view to a Model view
  • open a new Workspace 3D view
  • Anim aspect activate the Model Processing checkbox
  • press the Render Animation button

Does not work with standalone deformations. Almost any action that protects the workspace will damage model view standalone deformers.

If rendered with a floating model view trueSpace may crash after the render or may become unstable and crash later

Scene Utilities Notes:

scene utilites panel
  • The top section of the panel is for sharing YafaRay4tS scene files or moving scenes to a different computer.
  • "Process Imported Scene" - one button press to update a scene, will replace the YafaRay4tS node in the scene and copy all the old settings excluding the yafaray install path. if the render path from the scene does not exist then a default path will be assigned. then it updates the texture paths based on the Texture Source Folder.
  • "Gather Textures for Sharing" will collect all the scene texture files and copy them into the Texture Source Folder
  • The bottom section is for updating older YafaRay4tS scene files to the currently installed version.
  • "YafaRay4tS Script Node" - will replace the YafaRay4tS node in the scene and copy all the old settings excluding the yafaray install path. it does not update the render path like the import scene process
  • "YafaRay Materials" - will replace the scene's old version YafaRay Materials, non-YafaRay materials are not converted
  • "YafaRay Lights" and "YafaRay Camera" will replace the scene yafaray lights and cameras with their updated YafaRay equivalents. regular lights and cameras are also converted
  • "D3D Materials" opens a material converter utility and can be used to convert basic d3d materials into a yafaray materials or convert basic compiled d3d materials into non-compiled versions which are read by YafaRay as basic/no options Glossy materials.
yafaray icon

YafaRay4tS is a collection of trueSpace scripts for YafaRay(Aug 2020 archive), a free open-source montecarlo raytracing engine.

Random Notes:

  1. Make Names Unique - button on YafaRay4tS default aspect renames renderable items where the name have already been used
  2. much more stable to open modelspace in main window, floating window more crashy
  3. convert to yafaray materials - limit on the number that can convert at one time to 200, with a message saying don't run more than 4 times. so full limit of about 800
  4. Protecting materials will destroy modelspace standalone deformations
  5. blend mixes between the material color and texture
  6. tested up to yafaray v3.5.1
  7. does not work with instanced materials

TODO

  • dev note: meshlight, should not be material, but doesn't matter yaf wont see any material on the object, only the meshlight color matters
  • sunsky previews best with sun behind the camera, dev for in front was stopped by many crashes
  • dev note: Step shader component node - InputX must be the base value, InputY the dynamic compare value - not verified because of crashes, todo test it
  • note: sunsky sunsphere will scale based on distance to try to maintain a fixed preview render size
  • dev note: shader crashes solved using popups disconnect input script

July 12, 2024

  • still more changes coming from tB

July 9, 2024 - actual final - not released yet

  • render defaults to match Blender YafaRay defaults
  • camera panel - cycle camera(trueblue), camera main view, camera new view and entrypoint
  • camera panel operates on the render camera instead of the selected item
  • new mesh normals buttons and panel
  • trueblue - indiviual background panels
  • fixed some nondescript or confusing control labeling
  • background sphere warnings only show in non-UU

April 8 2024 - final - pre-release, installer not tested

  • updated documentation - pre-release final
  • trueBlue - fix camera toolbar button
  • trueBlue - fix camera panel view button - works with non-UU, but dont know what it does
  • trueBlue - IES code break out if invalid file
  • scene utilities will copy animation nodes
  • shiny diffuse add flat material option
  • removed extra items from installer libraries
  • trueBlue - YafaRay4tS scene
  • new portal light material
  • "Set Camera" button on Yaf Camera panel fix so open with no grid
  • fixed defaults so bg shadows is on by default

March 24, 2024

  • sun sky background panel show/hide error fixed
  • reset defaults include scene utiltites texture source folder
  • full yaf node reset during install
  • non-UU will not open offline renderer in stack on context reset
  • camera will install for UU

March 23, 2024

  • new camera view button - open 3d view from camera
  • easier animation cancel via a panel button
  • fix yafaray camera naming bugs
  • ui cleanup by trueBlue
  • sun sky preview enhancements
  • brighter spotlights by default - increased power from 5 to 15
  • improved area light
  • new YafaRay4tS.RsSLgts from tB
  • add boxtest.png to textures for orco sample scene
  • image viewer from trueBlue
  • background light rigs use fewer undos
  • updated to latest pdf manual preview

March 17, 2024

  • fix yafaray camera name - camera from the library is NOT the yafaray camera
  • dont use clipboard when animating with modelspace
  • anim panel opens floating for easier render cancel when modelspace is included
  • new open camera 3d view button
  • new backgrounds
  • sunlight select, selects the directional light, not the sun sphere
  • new light direction controls
  • change select sunsphere to open panel for sunskyobject
  • show/hide for sunsky and yaflightrig nodes
  • fix external render frame # bug
  • both yaf bg and hdri will check each other for pre-existing previews/background spheres
  • removed moonsky sphere and light
  • fix light count in bg preview
  • general sunsky preview improvements - limited by many crashes during material edit
  • opt viewer and image viewer will not close each other
  • darktide night colors for sunsky nodes
  • can move background lights closer than background sphere for improved shadow preview quality
  • background changed default diffuse and caustic photons to true to match blender

February 25, 2024

  • support for djv(recommended) external viewer
  • support for the 3delight i-display external viewer
  • clipboard based non-blocking render option
  • new background previews for constant and gradient type backgrounds
  • new image background via hdri scripts
  • fixed actor rendering - no longer requires morph or sds to render
  • scene utilities more undo friendly - only kill history if convert plain bitmap value or when gathering textures for sharing
  • fix broken code from camera name change
  • simpler imported scene process - 1 button
  • remove nonoperational gamma in and z channel controls
  • equirectangular camera option

January 28 2024 third release of the day

  • complete revamping of gamma handling
  • Gamma Out only valid control for lighting methods panels, Gamma In no effect and to be removed later
  • updated lights, backgrounds and materials gamma - light gamma 2.2 others no gamma
  • preview spheres removed nodes for gamma
  • sky sphere preview fixed cloud texture and now matches sun sky more closely
  • darktide defaults exposure and brightness to 1.0
  • sun sky turbidity default to 2.0

January 28 2024 second release

  • fixed moon sky sphere file written over sun sky sphere file
  • night option preview - make darktides only
  • background previews copy no undo versions from tB

January 28 2024

  • add lock node to background preview spheres
  • sunsky background sphere - enable object mode
  • revert some changes to opt display to make it prettier - only very small # undos reintroduced
  • add preview background light for sppm lighting method when IBL is checked

January 27 third time today

  • color matching was backward - reverted changes to constant color preview sphere and gradient preview sphere
  • apply gamma out inverse to light colors
  • apply gamma out inverse to material colors
  • apply gamma out inverse to background colors
  • re-copied toolbar from uu, but I've been told it installs the wrong one so...
  • note: just found that latest blender yaf wont translate the glass scene properly?

January 27 again

  • wrong yafaray volume - fixed
  • wrong sunsky sphere and light - fixed

January 27, 2024

  • install includes yafaray4ts setup library when installed to UU
  • copied cameras from uu - think he said they changed
  • image background preview sets adjusts images for hdr or ldr
  • bg color and gradient removed preview gamma corrections
  • copy toolbar from uu
  • removed background type of None and refactored the preview controls
  • changed render code to use plugin based no-undo commands - reduced history events
    animation will still create 1 undo for each frame - no-undo set value does not work
  • changed uu clear history option to false
  • opti display preview/animation render is in sync with latest image - was 1 image/version behind
  • fixed volume positioning - -x value

January 22 2024

  • darktides sun sky default color space not _blank
  • some manual rough draft changes
  • pre-release to share information

January 21 2024 - not published

  • add support from noise volumes
  • add missing single scatter atten grid size control
  • copy from uu10 - LMB command, RMB command
  • copy from uu10 - SaveImage but added "All Files" to the filter
  • copy from uu10 - /YafaRay4tS/Sequence Player/Get Image File
  • copy from uu10 - /YafaRay4tS/Image Viewer
  • new YafarayVolume.RsObj needs to be copied manually when installing to the UU

January 14 2024

  • fix "S"/"s" bug in utilities Update YafaRay Render Node for the tenth time
  • trueBlue - remove YafaRay conn if old Yafaray creates it
  • trueBlue - new about panel frame
  • trueBlue - dont open toolbar if already open
  • update pdf, still no where near complete

January 13, 2024

  • update to UU10 toolbar and install over UU so UU9 gets it
  • open toolbar from prototype instead of from popup script, removed YafaRay4tS toolbar.RsObj popup script
  • check for scene instanced materials and warn
  • preliminary pdf help file to replace chm help file
  • remove old renderpass.txt file - no longer type in the options
  • render to file added "missing" save as sequence inputs
  • materials added per materials samples
  • materials added wireframe, already existed in the render passes
  • render pass panel open with normal button, no automatic enable disable

January 7 2024

  • some minor fixes and cleanup
  • fix UU lights update install

January 6, 2024

  • Convert Lights and Convert Cameras update to not copy attenuation or threshold values and try to maintain LE positioning
  • new lights provided by trueBlue
  • YafaRay Scripts node update provided by trueBlue
  • YafaRay4tS.RsScn provided by trueBlue added the setup library
  • YafaRay4tS toolbar.RsObj provided by trueBlue added the setup library
  • YafaRay4tS.RsSLgts provided by trueBlue added the lights library

January 5, 2024 - ERROR, update was never uploaded

  • updates from Jan 4 into the non-UU installer
  • fix sphere light - radius was double the true value
  • fixed yafaray lights for non-UU
  • make single installer - having 2 creates problems

January 4, 2024

  • update Convert Lights and LightsFnSet to use simpler logic
  • optdetector viewer save image enhancements
  • optdetector viewer save png question for 32bit image save via extension
  • only UU version updated - waiting for new lights library from trueblue

January 3, 2024

  • fixed render viewer when iOptDetector chosen but does not exist

January 3, 2024

  • removed useOptDetector reset from the installer - didn't hurt but does not do anything
  • camera default to the view instead of a specific camera
  • typo bug in the scene utilities - fixed the error
  • Trueblue said, "Installer shouldnt load the yafaray node into the scene" - done

January 3, 2024

  • fixed texture coordinate Generated option
  • fix non-UU installer to not install bad lights from the UU library
  • fix non-UU installer remove all lights from the UU library - remaining lights collection file is still bad
  • optdetector set as the default viewer - TODO: test for not installed case

January 2, 2024

  • fixed about panel version display
  • removed yafaray version check code - only works with v3.3.0 and up
  • animation aspect was missing modelspace checkboxes and protection button
  • recode internal viewer selection - removed "whack a mole" behavior
  • removed help file from the uu version installer
  • map new projection mode input
  • map new No RGB checkbox
  • experimental stencil node which didn't work out, linked here for reference

December 31, 2023

  • fix broken animation when render from tS standalone version
  • UU installer

December 30, 2023

  • fix blend mode values - xml docs wrong or bug in yaf exporter
  • fix 3D vs 2D procedural xyz offset scale preview inside tS
  • fix blend material for procedural textures
  • fix scene utilities to update procedural texture and blend materials
  • updated version numbers inside script to 1.0
  • yafaray restore script removed assumption of uu9 installed

December 29, 2023

  • use updated procedural textures
  • new rsx plugin version 1638450
  • split c3dreset into 2 scripts one for scripts and one for yafaray and alter reset.js to call them both
  • fix bug when try to render compound non-yafaray materials from older tS sample file
  • fix area light bug
  • read procedural texture nodes from the compositing library instead of duplicating them
  • procedural textures open in floating panels to prevent other stack panels from closing
  • procedural textures new 3D offset and scale processing, negative option, texture coordinates option, blend mode options
  • fix procedural texture color output
  • use status message plugin

Older version links:

YafaRay4tS (090 old version) download is here - YafaRay4tSv090.zip

April 24, 2016

Notes

d3d lights need denser geometry to work with, based on vertices

veronoi actual distance exports as minkovsky, so does minkovsky 4

Original Blender files converted from yaftests.zip, user guide scenes recovered from the Internet Archive website. https://web.archive.org/web/20121010064719/http://static.yafaray.org/testscenes/yaftests.zip

go back to the trueSpace Rendering Plugins and Scripts list
June 12, 2018