All you need to do is lock at the time.clock()…

# We need this for OS detection:
from platform import system as OStype
 
# Step 1: tick, tock...
from time import clock
start_time = clock()
 
 
# Step 2: ???
# (You do your procedures here.)
# You NEED to do SOMETHING. Don't leave this blank!!
 
# Here's a filler of nothingness:
from time import sleep
sleep(0.05)
 
 
# Step 3: calculate duration
timeTaken = clock() - start_time
 
# In Windows clock() returns seconds but in Linux it's milliseconds, so:
units = ["seconds" if OStype() is "Windows" else "milliseconds"][0]
 
msg = "It took "+str(timeTaken)+" "+units+" to process your code."
 
Application.LogMessage(msg) # if you're in Softimage,
# otherwise use print() or whatever.

I tried to make the snippet above as generic as possible, but if you’re using Python in Softimage, you can use XSIUtils.IsWindowsOS() for detecting Windows instead of my OStype stuff.

Fiddling with the ExtrudeOp options

Try this yourself:

1. Get a sphere. (My screenshot example was a half-sphere.)
2. Select all polys. (Press Y to enter poly mode then Ctrl+A to select all.)
3. Press Ctrl+D to Extrude.
4. In an Explorer open your object’s operator stack, find the ExtrudeOp and open its PPG.
5. Turn off Merge, then fiddle with Length, Inset Amount and Subdivs.
6. Then in the Transform tab, play with the sliders there.
   You can get some very interesting (and often abstract) results!

*UPDATE [21/05/10]*: A buddy of mine who uses Maya informs me that the mayan Extrude has options to do this as well if you peek in the channel box. Just so you know.

[CLICK TO SEE VIDEO]

BREAKDOWN:
1. Set an OK center position with "Move Center to Bounding Box" / "Move Center to Vertices".
2. Enter "Center" mode. (top right)
3. Right-click on "Ref" button (below Local) and choose "Pick Polygon/Edge/Point Reference".
Click an object to select it and highlight the desired components.
4. While still in both "Center" and "Ref" modes, reset rotation to 0,0,0 then go back to "Object" mode (top right), go "Local" mode and reset rotation to 0,0,0 again. — That’s it!

FORUM THREADS: [xsibase] [xsiforum.com]

** Download Example Scene (XSI 6.02+) ** — Raw Rotation & with post-blur [QT MP4]

Why?

The fast skinshader (mentalray) material that comes with XSI off the bat is pretty awesome, but it has one downfall which is the lack of a transparency input.

How?

A Refraction node combined with Binary Alchemy’s wonderful SSS shader, from their (freeware) "Essentials" shader collection, available for download on their site.

BA’s SSS shader doesn’t do transparency or refractions off the bat, and it won’t let you plug in a material, so that’s not an option. However, a Refraction node (or Transparency node, though that would look wrong) can be plugged into its "Replace Color" input no problem. Plug your transparency map to the weight input and you’re set.

The final rendertree looks like the following:

But why would you need skin to be transparent? Humans aren’t transparent, you crazy nut!

True, however… what about fish? Certain fish can be almost completely transparent and most are at least partially so.
Not only that, but in the areas that they are, they refract light, too. Behold some evidence below:

What is the refractive index of transparent skin?

That’s a good question…. and I’ve no idea. (If anyone knows, get in touch.) I’d guess it’s something around that of some sort of plastic or silicone.
(In my example scenefile I used refraction of 1.2 just to see if it was working and by no means whatsoever is that the correct refractive index for skin.)

Ok… it’s transparent, but shouldn’t it be a bit blurry too?

Absolutely! And that’s where the magic of post-production can kick in. One way to do it is to have a pass of your transparency as black on white, and use that to selectively blur the transparent areas to give the illusion of blurry refraction. [Another way, potentially slower to render, is to use an Architectural node instead of the Refraction one to get blurry refractions off the bat. -- Thanks ghonma for the tip.]

I’ve provided my simple approach to doing the effect in post using XSI’s own FXtree:

(Click on the picture to the right to download a QT .mov of the animated rotation after post-production.)

If you see any mistakes or feel the need to correct any of the methods described above, let me know so I can make this document more accurate.

[SEE VIDEO]

FORUM THREADS: [xsibase] [cgtalk] [xsiforum.com] [indocg.com] [xsiforum.de]

NOTE:
Sometimes, enabling “Sample Displacement Before Rendering” under the Optimization tab in the Renderer Options may drastically speed up your render even more.
Bare in mind disabling it means mentalray doesn’t get accurate bounding boxes for the displaced geo, which means BSP calculations can be affected.
This will not affect render quality though, only overall render times.

*UPDATE* [03/01/10] This tutorial was made in XSI 6 and you should know that the “sib_interp_linear” node is the “ChangeRange” node in present versions.

Here it is if you’re looking for it: (clicky clicky)