Messages

1

[Max] I need help! / Re: Glass Refraction

« on: 2016-05-20, 15:36:49 »

Could it be possible that each "lens" is allowing some rays to refract out of the chain into the scene and therefore with each lens a percentage of the input light is lost.....resulting in dimming effect? Agree with Juraj that you would get a sudden change to black (no light) once you reached the bounce threshold. This was a common problem back in the day

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: Material Settings Sketchup

« on: 2016-05-18, 15:06:03 »

Are you using SketchUp's Opacity setting? It shouldn't be used for glass -see attached. Use refraction instead and opacity set to 1.
Anyone disagree?

Issue (which we have discussed here) is that the model geometry will also appear solid now...which can be a pain!! Controls need to be separated I feel....for diffuse too, or at least a checkbox allowing the choice of replacing or being separate per material/channel.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Gear VR - Spherical camera / resolution

« on: 2016-05-18, 14:16:46 »

Just following up on my post: Found a reference to the 1024px multiples advice I gave.... https://developers.google.com/cardboard/vrview#supported_formats

Note, this is advice for maximum compatibility on web browsers etc. and might not be an issue for your applications but its worth recording here.

Quote:
Image Specifications

    VR view images can be stored as png, jpeg, or gif. We recommend you use jpeg for improved compression.

    For maximum compatibility and performance, image dimensions should be powers of two (e.g. 2048 or 4096).

    Mono images should be 2:1 aspect ratio (e.g. 4096 x 2048).

    Stereo images should be 1:1 aspect ratio (e.g. 4096 x 4096).   <<<Note again for web and you'll want to go higher for 8196x8196 say....>>>

Video Specifications

    VR view videos should be stored as mp4s encoded with h264.  <<<note Vray guide suggests that h264 compression (and other high-compression formats) introduce too much artifact which exposes seams. Less of an issue for equirectangular image format that cubemap but still something to think about. Anyone else want to offer some animation/video advice?>>>

    Mono videos should be 2:1 aspect ratio.

    Stereo videos should be 1:1 aspect ratio.

    Some older devices cannot decode video larger than 1080p (1920x1080). If maximum compatibility and quality is a priority, we recommend that users provide both a monoscopic 1920x1080 video and a stereo video at 2048x2048 or higher.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Gear VR - Spherical camera / resolution

« on: 2016-05-17, 14:48:06 »

I've been using 6144x6144 (for GearVR tests) or 8192x8192 (for CV1 and Vive tests). Working in multiples of 1024; I think I picked up this habit from IrisVR early beta or from a GearVR tutorial that claimed there was some downsampling happening for large images and therefore multiples of 1024 would perform better.

Have a read through this guide if you haven't already - sorry for the publisher....but good VR information that gets to the point is hard to find...

https://labs.chaosgroup.com/index.php/portfolio/guide-to-virtual-reality-2/
http://www.chaosgroup.com/public_images/VRguide_v1.pdf

For eye separation I have been using 63.5mm - but I guess it's time to get measured. Check you eye height settings carefully, make sure camera target is level with camera etc etc. For "Converge Eyes" always disabled. Everything I have read recently have said that there is no place for toe-in in VR...

Hope there is something useful in that for you.

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: SketchUp 2015 no longer supported

« on: 2016-04-23, 13:16:01 »

Can you remove the SU2015 install option from the Beta MSI? I ran it for a bit of fun and it makes 2015 unusable :) Removing the install fixes the problem thankfully....

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: Warning messages at startup

« on: 2016-04-23, 13:12:55 »

Hey there - I'm getting a start-up error from the latest Beta in SU2016.
Anyone else in the same boat?

7

[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: Material Editor Suggestions

« on: 2016-04-01, 03:53:15 »

BYV - see the "Selected" tab - it works well for me.

I'm also keen to see Corona lights or emitter material properties :)

8

[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: Camera Clipping for SketchUp

« on: 2016-03-17, 17:13:02 »

I have requested the same feature via email - but wanted to add to the thread here: it would be good to render the section with geometry cut away AND have the choice of casting shadows or not casting shadows from the cut-away geometry (and lights etc active/not active). I have never seen this choice in other SKP render engines. Would be very useful for architectural scenes/diagrams/sun studies.

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: First test renders on Sketchup

« on: 2016-03-17, 17:08:32 »

Hey Spadestick - I had no idea about VIZ - thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

My post was just me thinking aloud - I'm not a coder so I don't know what's possible for CoronaSKP. I said at the end; I understood from earlier posts that the end goal is to create a 100% featured version of CR - so if that's possible then obviously this is the best outcome and I wont look back to 3DS.

I guess I was just trying to say that if that's not the plan or not possible considering the limitations of SKP then this version should contain the essentials only, focus on being as fast as possible, and be packaged in a really neat UI - then offer excellent portability to other applications = Less is More. Don't aim for 95% like a few of the competitors....am I making any sense? I'm not trying to cast doubt on the skills of the Corona team...! I hope it doesn't come across that way.

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: First test renders on Sketchup

« on: 2016-03-16, 12:47:51 »

Great to hear the SKM Lib method will work Ithil! Thanks for mentioning that. I was just about to test.
This is a little off topic - but its in line with the Material Converter question and the SKM library. I'm a little confused about what I want from CoronaSKP.

Initially I was thinking that it should be a really light weight engine with the basic material properties that now been added - supported by an excellent live link feature to the other Corona environments (3DS for me) or the standalone so that work can start in SketchUp and then be taken further in a specialist environment. Interoperability would take some of the pressure of CoronaSKP development and maintenance (heard calls for node based material editor for instance - to me that sounds like a lot of work to design and implement...?). If Corona materials from the SketchUp file were equivalent to those in the 3DS environment (actually the SAME material just displayed "Lite" in SKP and full functioned in 3DS) they one could use materials interchangeably, share them with 3DS Corona users etc.

But, the downside is obviously that each user would would need to purchase a program like 3DSmax to access the full feature set. Does this cut down the market too much?

I don't think the Corona Team is approaching it that way. Sounds like the plan is to add all features over time... If its possible, I'm in... Just saying, I'm also in if its Lite but seamlessly connected to Corona 3DS - which in turn adds DR, better animation controls, Slate editor, etc etc.

Great tests everyone by the way.

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[Max] Daily Builds / Re: Daily Builds

« on: 2016-03-16, 12:23:42 »

I've got to say - de-noising is pretty bloody incredible.

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[Archive] Chaos Corona for Sketchup / Re: First test renders on Sketchup

« on: 2016-02-18, 12:52:20 »

Up and running - test 01 using a model that was set up in SKP for use in 3DS. I can see my future self being very happy with CoronaSKP!

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Porting and API / Re: Corona for Sketchup Discussion

« on: 2015-09-08, 13:53:14 »

SketchUcation forum would be the place to seek out potential coders - a lot of talented folks there. ThomThom comes to mind as number one as he has some experience in architecture studios and based on my experience working with his plugins. Tidy!