Alembic export not respecting the renderable flag. #89594

New Issue

System Information
Operating system: Windows 10
Graphics card: nvidia Quadro K4000

Blender Version
Broken: 2.93.1

When exporting an alembic file, when the option to only export renderable objects is checked, the objects flagged as "disable in renders" in the outliner are still exported.
Effectively, the checkbox doesn't seem to do anything, or at least doesn't behave as expected.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error
In the default scene, duplicate the cube, move it to the side and flag it "disable in renders" in the outliner.
Export an alembic file.
Delete all objects and import the alembic file you just exported.
Both cubes will be there in the alembic file, and both will be set as renderable.

This is important to fix for example in scenes which use low res geometry for animators to work with, but high res geo for the render.
We need to be able to only export the renderable geo reliably.

**System Information** Operating system: Windows 10 Graphics card: nvidia Quadro K4000 **Blender Version** Broken: 2.93.1 When exporting an alembic file, when the option to only export renderable objects is checked, the objects flagged as "disable in renders" in the outliner are still exported. Effectively, the checkbox doesn't seem to do anything, or at least doesn't behave as expected. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** In the default scene, duplicate the cube, move it to the side and flag it "disable in renders" in the outliner. Export an alembic file. Delete all objects and import the alembic file you just exported. Both cubes will be there in the alembic file, and both will be set as renderable. This is important to fix for example in scenes which use low res geometry for animators to work with, but high res geo for the render. We need to be able to only export the renderable geo reliably.

Added subscriber: @BeornLeonard

Added subscriber: @lichtwerk

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Confirmed'

Confirmed, will check

Added subscriber: @PratikPB2123

Looks like the option to only export renderable objects was broken for a long time.
If checked, it seemed to be working (objects marked non-renderable in the Outliner were pruned from the export), however unchecking that option did not include them in the export

a95f863596 made it so if "renderable_only" is set, it will still export (is now more dependent on the Visible Objects option

Looks like the option to only export renderable objects was broken for a long time. If checked, it seemed to be working (objects marked non-renderable in the Outliner were pruned from the export), however unchecking that option did not include them in the export a95f863596 made it so if "renderable_only" is set, it will still export (is now more dependent on the `Visible Objects` option

Added subscriber: @dr.sybren

@BeornLeonard when exporting to Alembic, objects are evaluated in "render" mode anyway, so "Visible Only" already actually means "Visible When Rendering". Would that solve your problem?

Renderable Objects only and Visible Objects only are really the same thing, no?
If we find something that makes Visible Objects not sufficient in some usecase, and define how things should work, we can make the option work that way, otherwise removing it seems actually like the way to go I think.

`Renderable Objects` only and `Visible Objects` only are really the same thing, no? If we find something that makes `Visible Objects` not sufficient in some usecase, and define how things should work, we can make the option work that way, otherwise removing it seems actually like the way to go I think.

Changed status from 'Confirmed' to: 'Needs User Info'

@BeornLeonard: will wait for a possible usecase before taking further actions.

@dr.sybren I'm not sure I understand, and perhaps there's something I'm missing.
When I click "Disable in Renders" in the outliner, and export an alembic with the option "Only Renderable Objects" checked, all the objects still get exported, regardless.

What am I missing?

@dr.sybren I'm not sure I understand, and perhaps there's something I'm missing. When I click "Disable in Renders" in the outliner, and export an alembic with the option "Only Renderable Objects" checked, all the objects still get exported, regardless. What am I missing?

In #89594#1185927, @BeornLeonard wrote:
@dr.sybren I'm not sure I understand, and perhaps there's something I'm missing.
When I click "Disable in Renders" in the outliner, and export an alembic with the option "Only Renderable Objects" checked, all the objects still get exported, regardless.

What am I missing?

That option to only export renderable objects was broken for a long time.
If checked, it seemed to be working (objects marked non-renderable in the Outliner were pruned from the export), however unchecking that option did not include them in the export
But true, it changed - for the worse if you like - in a95f863596 which made it so if "renderable_only" is set, it will still export (is now more dependent on the Visible Objects option)
Atm. the Renderable Objects option does not do anything

Please try the Visible Objects option, does this work for you?

> In #89594#1185927, @BeornLeonard wrote: > @dr.sybren I'm not sure I understand, and perhaps there's something I'm missing. > When I click "Disable in Renders" in the outliner, and export an alembic with the option "Only Renderable Objects" checked, all the objects still get exported, regardless. > > What am I missing? That option to only export renderable objects was broken for a long time. If checked, it seemed to be working (objects marked non-renderable in the Outliner were pruned from the export), however unchecking that option did not include them in the export But true, it changed - for the worse if you like - in a95f863596 which made it so if "renderable_only" is set, it will still export (is now more dependent on the `Visible Objects` option) Atm. the `Renderable Objects` option **does not do anything** Please try the `Visible Objects` option, does this work for you?

@lichtwerk
I tried to outline my use case in the original report, but here's some more detail:
In a production it is common to use low res geometry to give animators better performance.
In the outliner, the low res meshes are flagged as visible, but not renderable, and the full res meshes are often flagged in the opposite way.
(Actually the visibility is generally switchable as animators will want to see the high res mesh in the later stages of polish).
When it comes to exporting a mesh cache, we want only the high res meshes exported, and I would expect the exporter to ignore all meshes that are flagged as not renderable.

Does this clarify things?

@lichtwerk I tried to outline my use case in the original report, but here's some more detail: In a production it is common to use low res geometry to give animators better performance. In the outliner, the low res meshes are flagged as visible, but not renderable, and the full res meshes are often flagged in the opposite way. (Actually the visibility is generally switchable as animators will want to see the high res mesh in the later stages of polish). When it comes to exporting a mesh cache, we want only the high res meshes exported, and I would expect the exporter to ignore all meshes that are flagged as not renderable. Does this clarify things?

In #89594#1185931, @BeornLeonard wrote:
@lichtwerk
I tried to outline my use case in the original report, but here's some more detail:
In a production it is common to use low res geometry to give animators better performance.
In the outliner, the low res meshes are flagged as visible, but not renderable, and the full res meshes are often flagged in the opposite way.
(Actually the visibility is generally switchable as animators will want to see the high res mesh in the later stages of polish).
When it comes to exporting a mesh cache, we want only the high res meshes exported, and I would expect the exporter to ignore all meshes that are flagged as not renderable.

Does this clarify things?

This can be achieved with the Visible Objects option.

> In #89594#1185931, @BeornLeonard wrote: > @lichtwerk > I tried to outline my use case in the original report, but here's some more detail: > In a production it is common to use low res geometry to give animators better performance. > In the outliner, the low res meshes are flagged as visible, but not renderable, and the full res meshes are often flagged in the opposite way. > (Actually the visibility is generally switchable as animators will want to see the high res mesh in the later stages of polish). > When it comes to exporting a mesh cache, we want only the high res meshes exported, and I would expect the exporter to ignore all meshes that are flagged as not renderable. > > Does this clarify things? This can be achieved with the `Visible Objects` option.

@lichtwerk :
Ok, I see what you and @dr.sybren were getting at.
The "visible objects" flag does indeed stop the non renderable objects from exporting.

In that case, can I suggest changing those labels? Right now it doesn't match the labels in the outliner, and seems a bit anti-intuitive to the user.
But any way, this solves my issue for now. Thanks

@lichtwerk : Ok, I see what you and @dr.sybren were getting at. The "visible objects" flag does indeed stop the non renderable objects from exporting. In that case, can I suggest changing those labels? Right now it doesn't match the labels in the outliner, and seems a bit anti-intuitive to the user. But any way, this solves my issue for now. Thanks

@dr.sybren: so plan of attack is:

remove Renderable Objects option
improve UI text of Visible Objects? replace "Export only objects in visible layers" with "Export only objects visible in rendering"?

@dr.sybren: so plan of attack is: - remove `Renderable Objects` option - improve UI text of `Visible Objects`? replace "Export only objects in visible layers" with "Export only objects visible in rendering"?

Yes, let's remove "Renderable Objects".

As for the "Visible Objects" option, what I think is a better approach is what I aready added to the USD exporter: a choice whether Render or Viewport evaluation is used. When that choice is explicit, it's also clear which visibility actually matters.

These could be done in two separate commits, as I think the removal of "Renderable Objects" is already a good start.

Yes, let's remove "Renderable Objects". As for the "Visible Objects" option, what I think is a better approach is what I aready added to the USD exporter: a choice whether Render or Viewport evaluation is used. When that choice is explicit, it's also clear which visibility actually matters. These could be done in two separate commits, as I think the removal of "Renderable Objects" is already a good start.

@dr.sybren Just checked out the USD exporter, and indeed that is a much more clear way of presenting it, IMHO.

This issue was referenced by cb1601ddf3

This issue was referenced by cb1601ddf37f41f2ff653e66e20fd673c2e720f1

This issue was referenced by 834e87af7b

This issue was referenced by 834e87af7bbf719e18acd7ae8adc0d9403681a1b

This issue was referenced by 7b94e7cca4

This issue was referenced by 7b94e7cca49ab4f84149215ed452fd4978f46d27

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This issue was referenced by 8f5a4a2453887e37b51bb131176b0efbd0e9b42e

Changed status from 'Needs User Info' to: 'Resolved'

So removed "Renderable Objects" and added the evaluation mode like in USD.
Will set this to resolved since all issues should be addressed now.

So removed "Renderable Objects" and added the evaluation mode like in USD. Will set this to resolved since all issues should be addressed now.

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Alembic export not respecting the renderable flag. #89594