Topics

166

[Max] General Discussion / "Basic configuration" section

« on: 2013-03-23, 18:09:55 »

Keymaster, could you reveal some secrets about the "basic configuration" section? My questions: what is "Do shading" checkbox, what differences are there between different kinds of Random samplers? I think "Optimal 1S" works pretty nice, especially with antialiasing bright lighst, but I'm not sure.

167

[Max] Corona Goodies - User Contributions / Iridescent shader

« on: 2013-03-19, 22:18:40 »

Post written as a reply to this question:
http://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,576.0/topicseen.html

Here's a quick but effective (I hope so) setup:

1. Create new CoronaMtl
2. In "reflection" slot assign CoronaColorMapper
3. In CoronaColorMapper a Gradient control pop-up window will appear, chose a colour gradient you wish.
4. In "input map" slot assign a standard Falloff map (optionally change mixing curve).
5. Adjust material's glossiness, reflectivity, etc.

I'm attaching the scene file if you want to experiment with my gradient. ;)

168

Work in Progress/Tests / FED5B - c&c please

« on: 2013-03-06, 23:14:39 »

Here's my latest render. I'd like to hear some criticism to make it as good as it can be. What would you change? What looks good, what looks bad? Any suggestions? Tips on composition?

169

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Blurring of maps

« on: 2013-03-06, 13:06:56 »

I know this is an old bug, but I've found out that it changes when scaling objects. Here's an example: exactly the same object. Shot 1. - size about 50x30x50mm, shot 2. - scaled to 500%, size about 250x153x250mm. Is this useful? If not or if it's already fixed, then delete this thread.

btw: in both cases, this map's blur parameter is set to 0,01 (can't be lower)

170

[Max] General Discussion / The Art of Rendering

« on: 2013-01-31, 11:53:36 »

Found an article today, I think it's a must-read for every rendering addict.

http://www.fxguide.com/featured/the-art-of-rendering/

You should also read Keymaster's master thesis if you haven't yet.

171

[Max] General Discussion / IOR guide

« on: 2012-11-27, 18:13:30 »

I was trying to create a _more or less_ realistic glass with liquid and ice cubes inside. At some point I realised I'm completely dumb when setting proper IOR for different surfaces. My worst problems are:

-Air bubbles inside ice cubes (visible from air). air -> ice -> air? (yellow arrow)

-The part of ice cube that is under the surface of liquid. (air -> liquid -> ice), what material should it have?? Ice or liquid? (red arrow)

-The liquid/glass surface. If we assume that IOR for glass=1,55 and for liquid=1,33 then if we are looking from air, at the liquid, through the glass, this IOR should be 1,55/1,33=~1,16. But what if we are looking from above the glass (pink arrow) so that rays travel like this: air (ior 1) -> liquid surface (ior 1,33) -> liquid/glass surface (NOT 1,16 this time and it's the same surface!)?

I couldn't find any sensible explanation of this on the web. Is there any simple way to do it as realistic as possible?

172

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Core usage

« on: 2012-11-10, 21:40:34 »

Ok, I have completely ZERO KNOWLEDGE about processor cores, RAM and utilizing them but it seems like there's something strange going on during "parsing scene" pass.

cores.jpg and cores2.jpg show what's happening during "parsing scene" after hitting F9 in a scene with lots of polys

ok.jpg shows what's happening during path tracing in the same scene with this heavy geometry hidden

If I'm mumbling something without sense, just delete this thread. :)

173

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Apply bump mapping to reflection/diffuse only

« on: 2012-11-07, 21:46:48 »

Mental ray style bump mapping: apply bump map to reflection only or to diffuse shading only. Good for coated materials.


btw last night I had a dream about Corona, seriously :O

174

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Light size

« on: 2012-11-06, 22:07:54 »

This is what happens when I change spherical light's radius to some higher values. Number in file name is light and sphere radius in cm. Light and sphere radius in max has the same value. Changing it to higher values makes it even more insane - light becomes tiny or invisible.

On those 2 screens with viewport you can clearly see something is wrong, radius was 600cm.

175

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Infinite ground plane?

« on: 2012-11-05, 16:23:37 »

Would be nice to let ponies run and run and run without falling down!

176

Work in Progress/Tests / Apartment

« on: 2012-11-03, 22:58:11 »

A scene that will hopefully evolve into something more sophisticated. I always have trouble with starting and finishing stuff, I usually start doing something and give up after a few failures. Maybe this thread will force me to develop this scene. Models are crappy because I made them. Render time 56 minutes.

177

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Tiny little...

« on: 2012-11-02, 22:14:18 »

"displacement" checkbox to globally enable/disable displacement :)

178

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Displacement + Motion Blur

« on: 2012-10-29, 21:13:05 »

Haven't seen any motion blur tests yet, so I decided to make one.

Uploading two renders - one with displacement on, one with displacement off. Guess which one is which. ;)

The dice are uvw mapped chamfer boxes, the faces with displaced holes in them are single faces. Displacement projected size is set to 1px.

179

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / RAM limit

« on: 2012-10-29, 19:37:41 »

I'm not sure if it works this way, but would it be possible to set a memory limit to prevent system freezes when Corona eats up too much RAM? For example when rendering very detailed displacement or having only 4GB of memory like me? :)

180

[Max] General Discussion / Stupid questions

« on: 2012-10-27, 22:40:24 »

(not sure if this belongs here or to "tutorials and guides")

I'd like to ask some questions that would clarify my vision of how Corona works. I think they might be obvious for those who have more theoretic knowledge about rendering systems, but I'd really like to know this. Maybe other forum users have similar questions so this thread might serve us as noob centre. And yeah, Keymaster, I promise some day I will read whole your Bachelor and Master Thesis. :]

1. When I use HD Cache only, rendered image comes out as a mix of random paint-like splotches all over the scene. I bet that's how it works, pretty much like Light Cache in vray, right? Averaged samples from a certain radius?

SO

What happens when I use Path Tracing + HD Cache? Does it use data collected from HD Cache to speed up path tracing? What's that green-coloured stuff shown in precalculations? Areas that are considered too important and will only use path tracing?

I'd also like to know how certain "thresholds" work. To make the GI calculations more precise and slower, should I lower some parameter, or make it higher. For example:

-Interpolation sensitivity (dir/pos/norm) - I bet making them HIGHER than default values will make HD Cache calculations more precise OR will force it to use Path Tracing in more areas (?).

-Glossy threshold - lowering it will make reflections use less HD Cache and more PT thus making them more precise?

---

Oh, and one "bug" about the Corona Render Settings website ( http://corona-renderer.com/doc/ ). It's neat, but when I scroll down and want to read about some values that are listed at the bottom of the page, the popup frame doesn't fit on screen and I can't see lower part of it. Maybe it's a matter of my browser (Firefox) or screen resolution (1680x1050)?