Topics

1

[Max] General Discussion / Material Library / Management

« on: 2021-11-02, 22:22:45 »

Hello Forum!

Simple question-- what do you all recommend in terms of the best way to save out highly-tailored Corona Materials into a beautiful, easy-to-use library?  I don't need a crazy asset management system-- really just materials.

Ideally, it would be something that would automatically scoop the texture-maps and re-save them in a folder structure automatically.  I've used KStudio and design connector in the past a bit-- but wasn't sure what's good out there these days.  I NEED to stop re-creating the same materials over and over again and/or importing models just to grab textures.

Cheers!

2

[Max] I need help! / Layered Material / ID Masks

« on: 2021-10-20, 14:24:41 »

Hello!

Apologies if this is covered, but kind of dug around and didn't get a clear answer unfortunately.

Layered Materials / ID Masks
How can I create a render pass (like ID Masks) where I can mask each layer of a layered material via the masks within the material.  A prime example is intricate labels on high-end bottles where I have metallics, spot colors, varnishes..etc in each mask.  Simply looking how to have it broken up so I can tweak layers in PSD when clients get picky.

Cheers!

3

[Max] Feature Requests / GPU New Caustics Solver / Keyshot 10.2

« on: 2021-06-07, 18:48:58 »

Devs,

First, thanks for adding caustics a bit back-- amazing.  I know there is a lot of noise right now on the daily builds about slow development... but I wanted to get your take on this to raise the bar...
https://blog.keyshot.com/rendering-keyshot-caustics-gpu

I've never been a huge fan of Keyshot workflow (for product visualization), but I just checked out the newest release and am absolutely blown away by the new caustics solver.  Is there something you guys can learn from this in future iterations?  I'm very tempted to give Keyshot a try for certain projects based on this alone.

Cheers!

4

[Max] I need help! / Product Imagery / Transparent Backgrounds with Shadows

« on: 2021-02-04, 17:57:56 »

Hello Forum!  Looking for some advice on how to streamline a specific type of consumer product shots (3dsmax).

Question:  How best to get higher-volume products shots on transparent background with shadows on their own layer (typically in a PSD or TIF file).  There are a couple of small things that come up that I would love to streamline if anyone has suggestions...

Here is my typical workflow...

MAX:
1.  Place product on shadow-catcher and set to compositing mode.
2.  I typically have a set of lights used just for the shadow I'm looking to achieve
3.  Render just the product (typically use render-selected option).  Save as PNG w/ Alpha
4.  Change the product property to setting to 'not visible to camera'
5.  Render shadow catcher and save as PNG w/ Alpha

PHOTOSHOP.
6.  Drop in shadow layer.
7.  Apply a slight blur to the layer to get ride of noise **this is because the de-noiser does not clean up the alpha channel**
8.  Drop in product
9.  Apply a de-fringe to layer **the products always seem to come in with a small black fringe from Corona**
10. Name things and save to TIF or PSD.

Sometimes I simply use the MaskID pass to separate out the product vs. shadow so I don't have to render twice, but the problem I face is I apply a blur to the shadow layer to get rid of noise which then muddies against the product since it doesn't go underneath it (hence, why I render twice and set the product to not be visible to camera so I can get the shadow underneath it).

Seems like a couple unnecessary steps for higher-volume product shots so any thoughts, advice would be appreciated!  Cheers

5

Hardware / Second Workstation vs. Home RenderFarm vs. Online?

« on: 2020-10-28, 03:01:24 »

Hello!

Question for you advanced users... what's best for a $6-$10k USD investment in hardware here in 2020 for an individual freelancer to supplement an already decent system?

Situation:
After years in the agency world, I've been freelancing from home for a year now and ready to up my hardware.  I'm currently on a 2990x / 64gb / Max setup which has been, for the most part, been great.

Problem:
I am constantly trying to find ways to get work done faster - either by offloading renders to an online farm (but prefer to have the control of it while rendering and always run into problems with cloud rendering), or reducing the cores while rendering and attempt to work on two projects at once (which of course is always a challenge).

Do I....

Get a new blazing fast 3990x / 128gb setup and have two workstations that I can switch between to easily work on multiple projects at once so I can easily check on renderings while they are going (and use distributed rendering whenever possible)?

Do I...

Find a dedicated online workstations that actually work - is that a thing yet?  Feels like in 2020 I shouldn't be buying more hardware, but haven't found any other solution yet.

Do I...

Get more sophisticated and start to build a renderfarm via deadline/backburner?

In other words- what would you do?  Thanks in advance for your advice!

6

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Help / Exclude from Depth of Field?

« on: 2020-06-04, 19:18:46 »

Help!

I tried searching around and think this was discussed at some point- but looking for some help on a simple workflow.

I often am dropping products into photography (think putting a beverage can into a table-top photo).  Simple enough.. a couple of shadow catchers and mimic the lighting- done.  However, many of the photos I'm asked to work with have a lot of depth of field going on, and I often scatter products withing the photo and use the depth of field on the camera to get the right effect on the products.

Problem- when I do that it obviously puts the depth effect on the photo as well which I don't want.

Now this isn't too big of a problem as super easy to fix in post w/ a separate shot of the backplate... but when I'm doing a whole bunch of these and clients are looking for iterative imagery to test out concepts... it adds time.

Is there a solution I'm missing here where I can get my desired results right out of the VFB.  Is it possible to exclude the backplate/shadow catcher from the depth of field from the camera?

Thanks!

7

[Max] I need help! / Bitmap Displacement Issue

« on: 2020-04-10, 17:22:41 »

Hello!

I'm sure there's an easy explanation, but what causes this unwanted effect when using bitmaps for displacements (quick example attached)-- only get it when using bitmaps vs. procedural inputs.

Cheers!

8

Gallery / Friday Cocktail

« on: 2019-12-13, 04:31:24 »

Now that the weather is terrible, something fun to reflect my state of mind coming into the end of the week...

Max + Corona 5

9

Gallery / Beer!

« on: 2019-08-30, 21:23:56 »

Hello,

Had a free day to brush up on glass/liquids/condensation so created a simple fictitious beer brand.  Happy to receive any input to make the approach better!

Max / Corona 4