Install process/instructions needs to be much easier

[Speldosa]

The second sentence under the heading 'Installation' reads:

If you want to compile the plugins from source, you may either use the provided Unix Makefile, the Xcode project, or the Visual Studio project.

I can guarantee that a majority of potential users will scroll down, read that, go 'Huh?', and then eventually giving up after trying to understand the rest of the instructions for 5 minutes (I know I did, and I'm actually quite well-versed when it comes to nerdy computer stuff compared to most other people). I don't know how important it is to get these people onboard, but if you want them to use the software, you definitely need to make the installation process much easier (e.g, Create a dmg file for OS X) or make the installation instructions much easier (e.g., In which directory should I place the binaries? Wait, is 'a binary' the same thing as 'the source'? Can I move/delete the files after the installation process is complete? Do I need to move anything myself?).

[olear]

The majority of the users will use the plugins through Natron (where they are bundled), no instructions needed.

Users of other hosts may copy the plugins from Natron, or build them manually (the plugins are easy to build).

[MrKepzie]

The software official binary distribution can be downloaded at http://natron.fr/download/ if you cannot bother with the source installation.

Edit: didn't see this was on the openfx-misc repository. If you need a binary distribution, just download Natron and copy the plug-ins to your other software distribution. If you want to just build the plug-ins, then the instructions could not be easier.

[devernay]

This is a source code repository, and the README is for the source code.
This is intended to be compiled by someone who knows how to do it. Any C/C++ developper will (hopefully) understand that sentence.
Anyone has the right to make a binary distribution out of this and distribute it at will (btw @MrKepzie the Natron binary distribution is certainly not the best option to use these plugins with other software).

I know that many Resolve users are asking for windows binaries, and they would prefer one binary per plugin (no "multibundle" in the OFX language), but I can't compile on windows myself, and I just don't have time to do it.
If you don't understand that sentence from the README, please find a developper who is able to understand it, and if that developper gets stuck somewhere in the build process I may be able to help him or her. That's all I can do, sorry.

[devernay]

And by the way, the installation instructions are not reduced to that sentence: there are three sections after it detailing how to compile. Tell me what part you don't understand, and I can try to improve it.

[olear]

Multibundle is on my TODO list, I'm free this week to fix various (Natron/Plugins) stuff.

[niczee]

@devernay and everyone else, thank you for your efforts with this project.

Can someone with a kind heart, please help a 'laymen' figure out how to use these plugins with Davinci Resolve 12? A tutorial or something?

I am the one @Speldosa is speaking about, except I installed VS2015 and tried to "Build Solution" using the Misc.vcxproj file. After it did something (see txt files), I added all the .obj files (60 of them) from the Debug folder to the file path below. Nothing. No plugins in Resolve 12. Tried the same thing from the Release folder.

I also DL'ed Natron, and did as @MrKepzie suggested, "If you need a binary distribution, just download Natron and copy the plug-ins to your other software distribution."

When adding the plugins from Natron to C:\Program Files\Common Files\OFX\Plugins they do not show in Resolve 12.1.

Sorry for the naivety, but I feel I gave it all my effort (and about 5hrs of time) to figure it out on my own without success.

Thank you!

@devernay we mourn and stand with France. 🇫🇷

21 Errors and 295 Warnings.txt
output.txt

[olear]

@niczee :
Plugins extracted and modified (manifest and dll changes) for use with other hosts (works in Nuke, others don't know), taken from Natron v2 RC3:

• http://downloads.natron.fr/~olear/openfx-misc/Win64/CImg.ofx.bundle.zip
• http://downloads.natron.fr/~olear/openfx-misc/Win64/Misc.ofx.bundle.zip

Extract to C:\Program Files\Common Files\OFX\Plugins

EDIT: Does not work in Sony Vegas, plugins are present, but effect don't apply, seems to be a problem with OpenFX, since it affects all Natron plugins, and I know they work earlier.

[niczee]

@olear Thank you so much for your time and help. I really appreciate it.

I did as you instructed, however, the plugins are still not showing up in Resolve 12.1. Perhaps there is an issue with Resolve.

Thank you again sir.

[olear]

Sorry for late reply, some of the plugins from Misc.ofx show up in Resolve here, but I'm unable to test due to unsupported hw (no OpenCL)

EDIT: Also Arena.ofx shows up

[mash-graz]

on my resolve 12.1 windows installation i can neither see Misc.ofx nor Arena.ofx if i move the Natron bundle to system ofx-plugin location. but the version olear in this thread works.
(see also: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=41914&p=245022#p245022)

[olear]

You can't just copy the plugins from Natron to other hosts on Windows, as they requires several dll's included with Natron, you need to edit the manifest and run 'mt' on the ofx binary, as I did with the plugins linked earlier in this issue.

[mash-graz]

oh! -- i see!

it would be really fine, if a more compatible binary of the plugin would be available.

btw: did you try to make a version of IO.ofx that works in resolve too?
it may sound strange, but i would really like to have this kind of alternative import to compare the real performance of a libav based import to the quicktime based default implementation in resolve.

[olear]

Will see what I can do. I can package the plugins, but are unable to actually test them in Resolve.

"Native" Read will probably always be faster than using a OpenFX plugin (feel free to correct me).

[mash-graz]

I can package the plugins, but are unable to actually test them in Resolve.

if you need any help testing resolve related binaries, just send me a note!

"Native" Read will probably always be faster than using a OpenFX plugin (feel free to correct me).

yes -- but the quicktime system libraries on windows are using legacy 32bit code that doesn't utilize actual multicore cpus very well and do not see any further development anymore. they are used by many commercial products chiefly because of legal reasons concerning MPEG, prores etc. licensing. that's why you can not use MP4s in nuke non-commercial on linux, while it's supported on windows and macintosh boxes via quicktime for example. but from a technical point of view this status quo doesn't look very satisfying. therefore it's useful to have practical workarounds and convincing ways to demonstrate the shortcomings of quicktime. openfx can not be seen a as a full-fledged alternative in practice, because of it's missing audio support etc., but it's the only way to extend resolve right now.

[...but that's perfectly off topic -- sorry!]

[imattci89]

@olear the links don't work anymore. Could you explain how to do what you said here:

Plugins extracted and modified (manifest and dll changes) for use with other hosts

It'll be useful info for the future as well. Thanks!

[olear]

You need to add the shared dll's from Natron to the Win* folder, and then add them to the manifest and run mt.exe.

Will produce new binaries.

[olear]

Try this: http://downloads.natron.fr/~olear/OFX/openfx-misc/Misc.ofx.bundle-20160224-Windows-release-64.zip

So, if you want to update, just copy 'Misc.ofx' from the latest Natron installer/zip, put in the Win64 folder, then run (from a mingw terminal in the 'Win64' folder, you can of course use the normal windows terminal):

mt -manifest manifest -outputresource:"Misc.ofx;2"

Note that the dll's sometimes get updated, if so copy them from 'bin' in Natron.

[imattci89]

Thank you thank you thank you!

The one you sent works!

[pzdm]

Hello there and sorry, the link you shared above does not work anymore, is still possible to download it?

thanks, Pavel

[olear]

It has been deleted, I will make a new build when I get the time.

[pzdm]

many thanks for your reply, so I can´t forget to check it again in the future, i would like to share it with my upcoming class/students, because we will use Resolve instead the Premiere Pro (and avoid warez at their notebooks and so on) and want to share them some plugs.. Anyway, many thanks for your work!

[abaeyens]

Hi all, a noob with problems here! I use Resolve and would like to use the nice openFX plugins.
A few things are unclear to me:

• In the Win64 directory of Misc.ofx there's no manifest nor any .dll files (with the Arena.ofx there are). I understand that I should get the .dll's from the bin directory in the Natron .zip? From were should I get the manifest for Misc.ofx?
• The mt command isn't recognised by the MinGw terminal nor by the Default Windows one. The 'Developer Command Prompt for VS2015' (run as administrator) doesn't throw errors and seems to work.

I've tried a lot of combinations and nothing seems to work. When starting Resolve, the plugins aren't visible. I installed a false colour plugin to be sure plugins work at all on my PC and this one works. But the OpenFX don't.
All help is really appreciated.

BTW, why isn't there a 'simple' installer that downloads those openFX and installs them?

[olear]

The plugins shipped with Natron are only meant to be used with that bundle, but you can use them with other hosts if you make a manifest and include the needed DLL's. Misc.ofx require libgcc, libstdc++ (and probably winpthreads, use depends walker to get a complete list). Add the DLL's to a manifest (use the Arena manifest as a template), then run the mt command and copy the DLL's to the Libraries folder inside the bundle folder.

openfx-misc don't have an installer because the Natron team only prioritize (of course) Natron, supporting and maintaining binaries for other applications don't make sense at this moment.

I can however make an installer later this year, but Natron related task will always come first.

[olear]

So, to avoid more questions regarding building the plugins, here is a static version (no DLL's etc) of Misc.ofx and CImg.ofx for Win64:

• http://fxarena.net/software/openfx/openfx-misc/Misc.ofx-Windows-64-release-20161102.zip
• http://fxarena.net/software/openfx/openfx-misc/CImg.ofx-Windows-64-release-20161102.zip

Enjoy :) (note that I didn't test any of the plugins)

[abaeyens]

Wow, many thanks!
I just tested them, they both work in Resolve!

[devernay]

@olear thank you very much, that's great!
could you provide precise build instructions?
Can you also make a Mis-nomulti binary including all plugins in Misc?
Does it include the latest EdgeDetect commits?
Could we make these (static Misc-nomulti, static Misc, static CImg) in our Natron snapshot/release process (at least on windows, I'll work on a mac version) ?
This will help improve compatibility of our plugins with other hosts a lot!

[olear]

@devernay

make CONFIG=release LDFLAGS_EXTRA="-static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -Wl,-Bstatic -lstdc++ -lpthread -Wl,-Bdynamic"

I built latest master, so I guess EdgeDetect is included (I didn't test the plugins).

I can modify the (Natron) build process on Windows to include static versions of Misc/CImg. And/Or I can make a separate installer for openfx-misc for use on other applications.

[olear]

Misc/CImg are now static (on Windows), so users can now copy Misc/CImg from Natron (2.1.8+) and use them on other hosts. Shadertoy is also static, but requires osmesa dll (I can fix a manifest).

Note that I forgot to build CImg.ofx-Windows-64-release-20161102.zip with openmp support.

[jamesd1]

x-tech writer in computer field, 20 years in computers, unable to understand and apply any of the many instructions on how to install openfx plugins in davinci resolve. Was hopeful when I say "So, to avoid more questions regarding building the plugins, here is a static version (no DLL's etc) of Misc.ofx and CImg.ofx for Win64" above but links are broken. Theses still exists somewhere or other clear method laid out somwhere?

[CameraRick]

@jamesd1 as @olear stated, you don't need these links anymore as they are now static in the common release of Natron. So you download Natron, copy the .ofx plugins from it in the designated OFX directory on your computer, and you are done :)

on topic: as olear stated, the OFX Plugins are only static on Windows, not on OSX. Is there any way to achieve the same for OSX? AS I use OSX at my workplace, I can not compile anything myself here (not that I know how to, but also I don't have any sufficiant rights for this here)
I'm mainly interested in Cimg, but Misc would be nice to have, too :) I want to use them in Nuke, not Resolve though.

[devernay]

@CameraRick Misc.ofx macOS binary should work on an libc++-based platform, eg osx 10.9 and later, but I never tested it. Just try to copy it from /Applications/Natron.app/Contents/Plugins/OFX/Natron/Misc.ofx.bundle to /Library/OFX/Plugins/Misc.ofx.bundle.
Note that if you use Resolve from the Mac app store, you can add the Macintosh HD as one of the configured volumes in Preferences, and this could give all plugins access to anything under “/“.

[CameraRick]

Hi @devernay, before I posted here I copied the Misc, Shadertoy and Cimg ofx files from Natros .app to the designated location; however, only Shadertoy gets picked up, the rest seems not to be there. I used Nuke, but I just tested again with Resolve Studio (Standalone, not Appstore), there it's also not coming up. Could this be the issue that @olear talked about? It seemed it was only fixed on Win?
I'm on OSX 10.11.6.

[devernay]

I'll try with Nuke. Resolve is a completely different beast (far less OpenFX-compatible)

[CameraRick]

Thank you! :)

On Windows, I managed to load the OFX into Resolve nearly a year ago, you helped me with DenoiseSharpen back then. Unfortunately I don't have Nuke as full version on WIndows, so I can't verify for that :( I never tried reading OFX from Natron on a Mac before, so no idea what could be wrong :(

[danaron]

Hi,
anybody successfully loaded OFX into Resolve 15 on Windows 10?

The readme is not very clear to me and google is desapointing me this time.

Do I really have to install Visio Studio Community to load the Effects?
As far as I understand, is do have to "build" the plugins somehow.

What I tried:
Download the files https://github.com/NatronGitHub/Natron/archive/RB-2.3.zip unzipped and tried to copy the folders and the files on first level into the folder: C:\Program Files\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Plugins

This would be to simple ;-)

The I tried to open Shell (cmd.exe)

git clone https://github.com/devernay/openfx-misc.git
cd openfx-misc
git submodule update -i -r

Does not work. Who is the heroine to tell me how to make this work?
Thanks!

[devernay]

You can get pre-built plugins for windows
from https://ci.appveyor.com/project/NatronGitHub/openfx-misc/build/artifacts

[Randrianasulu]

I tried cmake way of building things on Linux (like create build directory, cd to there, run 'cmake ../' from there and only then make) and resulted makefiles install into /usr/local/*.bundle directories by default, while self-compiled Natron looks into /usr/local/Plugins/OFX/Natron/

laughability ensured ... like, Natron can't open any png file.

symlinked files like this

root@slax:/home/guest/botva/src/openfx-misc/build# ls -l /usr/local/Plugins/OFX/Natron/
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 Oct 31 15:07 IO.ofx.bundle -> /usr/local/IO.ofx.bundle/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Oct 31 15:07 Misc.ofx.bundle -> /usr/local/Misc.ofx.bundle/

not sure if this is expected behavior with Cmake?

[rodlie]

The standard location for OpenFX is /usr/OFX/Plugins.

[Randrianasulu]

well, I first installed Natron from ROSA Linux rpm repo, and faced missed plugins, turned out package installed them in /usr/lib64/ path .... All those issues definitely fixable (even in GUI, if you know where to look for specific files), just might be surprizing for self-builders.

May be specific note in readme about Cmake being NOT preferred building method, (and about default cmake install path on Linux) might be useful