Open Vdb From Dreamworks

[Rodney]

I'm not smart enough to get A:M data into it but I'm sure there are some folks out there that are.

 

Dreamworks Animation recently released one of their proprietary tools:

 

OpenVDB is an open source C++ library comprising a novel hierarchical data structure and a suite of tools for the efficient storage and manipulation of sparse volumetric data discretized on three-dimensional grids. It is developed and maintained by DreamWorks Animation for use in volumetric applications typically encountered in feature film production.

 

 

http://www.openvdb.org

 

I found this while researching a project management program that I'm hoping will work well with A:M.

[John Bigboote]

It says that Houdini is implementing it:

 

OpenVDB will be fully integrated into the next major release of Houdini, the high-end 3D animation package from Side Effects Software. This release will include a suite of nodes for sparse volume processing.

[fae_alba]

Sounds like Data Cubes, or a new up and coming approach for databases. While I haven't looked into the Dreamworks approach, it sounds like they have created their own database utilizing data cube storage. The api is nothing more than the programmatic interface into the database. I'd hazard that they use this to store/archive movie assets during a project life cycle. From the data cube databases I've reviewed for work the reputed compression factor for files is close to 70 percent, perhaps better than winzip, with the added ability to retrieve records through the api.

 

Using it with A:M would be fairly simple to do. Perhaps a hook into the project that instead of saving a model to a disk file, it is written into the database...sounds good to me.

[robcat2075]

To me it sounded like something for simulation data, like for fluids or gases?

[Rodney]

Sounds like Data Cubes, or a new up and coming approach for databases. While I haven't looked into the Dreamworks approach, it sounds like they have created their own database utilizing data cube storage. The api is nothing more than the programmatic interface into the database. I'd hazard that they use this to store/archive movie assets during a project life cycle. From the data cube databases I've reviewed for work the reputed compression factor for files is close to 70 percent, perhaps better than winzip, with the added ability to retrieve records through the api.

 

Using it with A:M would be fairly simple to do. Perhaps a hook into the project that instead of saving a model to a disk file, it is written into the database...sounds good to me.

 

When I first encountered SVN this is where I thought it was heading... toward a realtime database of production assets. I believe Martin did too but there wasn't enough interest (beyond TWO) to sustain it.

 

So we been having to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

[fae_alba]

When I first encountered SVN this is where I thought it was heading... toward a realtime database of production assets. I believe Martin did too but there wasn't enough interest (beyond TWO) to sustain it.

 

So we been having to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

 

SVN is a little different. I don't like it myself...it's tough to maintain when multiple users are involved. The database hook is much nicer, but then I'm a db guy to start with

[fae_alba]

So Robcat is on track with his post of "sounded like something for simulation data, like for fluids or gases?". It comes down to a method of storing volumetric data to allow unlimited, faster calculations for volumetric effects. Cartoon Brew has a good description here.

[Rodney]

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply Open VDB was like SVN.... I was just responding to the idea of Open VDB as being useful for storing production assets. While it's been said to mean several things at different stages it's name literally means Voxel Databse.

 

At SIGGRAPH one of the developers (Ken Museth) had this to say about Open VDB:

SIGGRAPH 2012 : Dreamworks Animation Open Sources Volume Data Format

I sat down with Ken Museth of Dreamworks Animation, to discuss their

latest in a series of open source software development efforts - Open

VDB. Open VDB is a set of core programming libraries that seeks to

simplify the writing of programs that deal with volumetric CG

elements. These include clouds and smoke, but also fire, water and

other spatial phenomena that are often difficult as well as expensive

to implement.

 

The main advantage of the Open VDB approach to storing the data is

that it's very efficient at describing not only the data and its

memory footprint on disk, but it is also fast to access that data at

run time from within the software applications that use it.

 

It is a multi-resolution sparse grid description which means that only

the data necessary to describe an event needs to be stored. For

instance in a cloud, only the data representing the outside surface of

the cloud needs to be stored at a high resolution. The inside, where

most of the cloud volume is uniform, only needs to be described once.

This offers huge potential savings over more traditional octree data

storage methods.

 

Another unique aspect about DWA's release of OpenVDB is their close

working relationship with Side Effects Software which means that Open VDB

will be supported as a built in, first class, type in Houdini and will

soon be ready to use right out of the box. This is potentially a huge

win for small and medium sized VFX facilities that don't have the R&D

resources to build the middleware necessary to leverage many open

source contributions.

 

Dreamworks is very committed to being an ongoing leader in the open

source software community. This latest offering sees them raising the

bar even higher.

 

I was going to start a different topic to discuss another open source program that focuses on a more SVN-like approach to resource management but with a focus on production management. That program is called 'Tactic'. Look for a topic to be started on it in the near future... or if someone can't wait... they can start a new topic on their own.