OctaneRender® creates packages containing macro nodes otherwise known as node graphs. ORBX packages store all the geometry, materials, animation data, textures, and everything else related to the scene into a single archive file. This feature replaces the older method of embedding images in .ocs files. Each ORBX package can then be stored locally or even uploaded to the Octane LiveDB as a shared resource for other Octane users to access. The ORBX file format can also be exported from applications such as Maya, Cinema 4D, or 3DS Max that have the Octane plugin installed and licensed. This makes it possible to move scenes and materials from host applications to Octane Standalone and the Octane Render Cloud, though editing of these resources in ORBX format is limited.


orbx loader object in live viewer


Typically, ORBX files are exported from Cinema 4D via the Live Viewer menus, discussed here. However, you can also import an ORBX file into a Cinema 4D scene, via the OrbxLoader, also located in the Cinema 4D Live Viewer menus (Live Viewer > File > Import Orbx...) or via the ORBX object (Live Viewer > Objects > Orbx object). The ORBX object requires manually loading the desired ORBX file into the ORBX object itself, as shown in the illustration below. 


orbx loader — file tab


To load an ORBX file, select the ORBXLoader object in the Object Manager. Then, in the Attribute Manager, select the File tab and add in the ORBX file via the file dialog that appears when the ellipsis button is selected.


Once the ORBX file is loaded, you will see a series of bounding boxes drawn in the 3D view windows. These bounding boxes represent discreet objects as defined in the in the orbx file. If the ORBX file had previously been created in Cinema 4D, these bounding boxes would equate to individual objects as listed in the object manager.


If you wish to see more detail, activate the Display tab of the ORBX Object and disable the Bounding box toggle, as shown in the illustration below.


orbx loader — display tab


When the Bounding box toggle is disabled, object vertices are drawn instead, controlled by the Level of Details edit box. A value of 0 will show the minimum number of vertices. A value of 100 will show all of vertices in the loaded ORBX object.


In some cases, it is possible that nothing will display in the 3D Views, regardless of the settings in the ORBX Loader object. This means that no discreet objects are defined in the ORBX file, or no polygonal data is in the file itself. This will occur with Vectron objects, for example, as there is no polygonal data contained within that data type.