A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a project

Anything and everything that's related to OGRE or the wider graphics field that doesn't fit into the other forums.
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PontiusPirate
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A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a project

Post by PontiusPirate »

Hello everyone,

I'm looking at using Ogre for some upcoming personal projects, with the intention of demonstrating it's applicability for use in the company I work for. I work in the simulation industry and am quite keen to use Ogre based on the visual fidelity and open architecture (I've been doing some of the tutorials and have been impressed with the simplicity of it, good work guys!)

I am a software engineer (C++) in my real job but also have a degree in games art so am quite well versed in both subjects.

So, the questions I had are:
  • PBR/PBS - I will want to be making sure we use a PBR pipeline for all rendering looking into the future. What version of Ogre is PBR implemented in and is there a definitive reference page regarding how to configure it?
  • Substance Designer - A lot of our artists use Substance designer, as do I. Is there any support for substances in the later versions of Ogre?
  • Helper objects on models - This one is a bit more specific. In 3ds max it is quite common practice to link 'helper' objects to models and then reference them in code. For examples sake, we could use a helper object on the top of a characters head that signifies where the hat entity should be attached. The question is: Is there an easy way to access such 'helper nodes' via the Entity class? Would they be exported as subMeshes?
    This one is quite important as we will be using these a lot for things like linking telegraph poles/fences etc.
Thanks for reading, I'm sure there will be more queries in time but I will leave just these for now :)

PP
al2950
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Re: A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a proje

Post by al2950 »

Welcome!

I currently run a team producing simulations using Ogre, so hopefully I can point you in a sensible direction!

To use PBR/PBS you will have to use Ogre 2.1+, this will mean quite a few of the tutorials you may have done will be out dated. (We really need to work on a new set of tutorials). However there are a lot of tutorial samples that come with 2.1. I would give the FAQ a quick read;
http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/tiki-ind ... ef_id=2191


There is currently no direct support of substances in Ogre, although I would be interested if it was added! I currently actually use 3D-coat to our PBR textures.

Helper objects are an interesting topic (no really!). Currently my team will create helpers in 3D-Max and these get exported as SceneNodes (Entities Or Items attach to SceneNodes). Then via code or script we look up these sceneNodes by name. On characters we add extra bones to the skeleton. We have done this for quite a few years now, however it is not without its issues. We rely on naming conventions, but even in a small team this can cause headaches. As a result I am designing a new system, which will involve creating our own sandbox editor.

So you would not access your helper via the entity class. Ideally you would have a model which is represented in a scene file;
http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/DotScene

This would describe your meshes and other graphical components that make up your model, as well as your helper nodes, which will just be sceneNodes with nothing attached.

I am not really sure I have answered all your questions, your last one is quite a large topic! But ill try and answer any more that you have.
PontiusPirate
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Re: A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a proje

Post by PontiusPirate »

Thanks Al2950!

So would I be right in thinking that the standard 3DS max exporter will export helper objects as scene nodes by default?
Also, would it be ok to use a .scene file to load in a 3D model such as an entity/house/car etc? Or are they linked to a particular type of object? - This question is somewhat vague, so to add some clarity, would it be fair to compare a .scene file to a 'prefab' in Unity3D?

Also, I notice you are from Bristol here in the UK, me too! I'd be keen to hear about what you're up to, PM me if you don't mind sharing.

Thanks again

PP
al2950
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Re: A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a proje

Post by al2950 »

Yes helper objects are exported as sceneNodes, but the 'standard' 3DS Max exporter that I use is OgreMax, which is now no longer available. I would now use 'Easy Ogre Exporter' http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/tiki-ind ... e+Exporter, but I do not know how it would export helper objects, I would assume it would treat them similar but I do not know.

Scene files are a fairly rough standard, and can describe an entire scene, or as I do, a single model. Its up to you and how you read the data, they are certainly not linked to a particular type of object. EG I use 1 scene file to describe a helicopter, and another to describe a Car. You can think of it like a unity prefab, although a prefab is more concrete, and can contain more stuff I think ( I have never actually used unity in Anger).

Ill PM you in a minute!
frostbyte
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Re: A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a proje

Post by frostbyte »

To use PBR/PBS you will have to use Ogre 2.1+
that is actually not very accurate, since ogre 1.10 have a backPort of HLMS with a very nice and easy to use PBR pipeline
but it is true that ogre 2.1+ is the way to go, since its being actively developed and is much more modern and fast
anyway if you ask on the ogre2.0 sub-forum, you'll get direct answers from ogre developer dark_sylinc( aka matias )
the woods are lovely dark and deep
but i have promises to keep
and miles to code before i sleep
and miles to code before i sleep..

coolest videos link( two minutes paper )...
https://www.youtube.com/user/keeroyz/videos
PontiusPirate
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Re: A few questions about Ogre before I adopt it for a proje

Post by PontiusPirate »

Thanks all,

I'll migrate this question over to the Ogre 2.0 subforum when I get a moment! :)

PP
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