Messages

46

General CG Discussion / Re: DOF in Post - DOF Pro

« on: 2021-02-01, 16:56:58 »

I've never had great success recreating DOF in Photoshop, but there are many more plugins available for After Effects or Fusion.

The added bonus being that it's also easier to animate the effect directly in those apps too - the below was created in Fusion, it's by far from perfect, but it was quite effective in the scheme of the whole animation (created from a single still image)...

Edit: not sure if that gif loads properly here, doesn't for me... but if you right click and open the source image you can see

47

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2021-01-13, 17:02:08 »

1 - The general advice seems to be Noctua NH-U14S, but how many other case fans to people generally fit?
2 - 64GB of memory @ 3200Mhz - does it make any difference between 2x32 or 4x16 (with 8 slots, still have spare for the future)... I also have no idea on CL... 16? 18? Do timings make much difference for rendering?

Just to update on this one - after some further reading, I went for 4x16 3200 CL16.

The CPU and motherboard came to just over £1000 which seems like an absolute bargain for a 3970x (plus around £500 for other bits).
All now built, and seems to be doing the job nicely so far. Not 100% sure on good CPU temps, but have space in the case for an extra fan or two if needed!

48

[Max] I need help! / Re: Saving two image files for the same view in Batch Rendering

« on: 2021-01-06, 16:10:58 »

Another solution could be to render an additional Beauty Pass, and have that save to a different file format or settings (e.g. without the Alpha) - but as Maru says, you shouldn't need to render an additional version with or without alpha - you just need your post production software to ignore the alpha.

49

Hardware / Re: Threadripper & Ryzen only builds (3rd Gen starts on page 50)

« on: 2020-12-29, 12:14:56 »

Hiya - apologies in advance for silly questions...

I've picked up some decent components for relatively low prices (an AMD 3970X + MSI TRX40), but wanted any thoughts on:-


1 - The general advice seems to be Noctua NH-U14S, but how many other case fans to people generally fit?

2 - 64GB of memory @ 3200Mhz - does it make any difference between 2x32 or 4x16 (with 8 slots, still have spare for the future)... I also have no idea on CL... 16? 18? Do timings make much difference for rendering?


I think I've got spare other bits (case, GPU, SSD) - it will just be a render node for now, so basically a headless CPU.

50

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Animation & Scene Parsing

« on: 2020-11-26, 15:09:41 »

+1

When I'm testing camera angles and lighting setup, I'll often keep an IR window running - and flick from one camera to the next - which parses almost instantly - it seems frustrating that each view takes so much longer each time to parse / calculate when rendering a 'proper' image.

51

Gallery / Re: Mid Century Modern 3D virtual tour

« on: 2020-11-10, 09:56:56 »

As always James, these are outstanding. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

52

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Camera Bracketing Render Element

« on: 2020-11-05, 15:53:36 »

Aha nice have not seen that one, Im slow on the updates :)

I guess its somewhat the same technique!

It doesn't actually have this option - this is my suggestion of how it could be possible (Beauty Element with Bloom + Glare on or off is available currently - but I can't imagine adding a version with Tonemapping and Lightmix configuration files would be super different for the developers?)

53

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Camera Bracketing Render Element

« on: 2020-11-05, 12:00:02 »

This could be achieved with a new setting in the 'Beauty Element' render pass similar to the 'Apply Bloom + Glare' checkboxes... see attached suggestion? Likewise this could offer a function to output additional Beauty Passes with alternative LightMix arrangements?

Could be a good route to multiple output options without having to manually edit, or redo in CIE?

54

[Max] I need help! / Re: Backburner VS DR RAM usage

« on: 2020-10-23, 10:47:26 »

Just to add a +1...

I've experienced this on many occasions: scene renders locally on workstation fine (e.g. using ±45GB RAM) but pushes upwards of 64GB on DR node which is doing nothing else - workstation always completes more passes than the DR machines. Using the 'conserve memory' function did reduce the load on both workstation and DR nodes, but as Dave expresses this compromises on speed - and doesn't explain the difference in memory usage.

Switching over to Backburner and the render on the nodes return normal (50GB) memory usage.

I don't have a specific scene to share, it seems to be "just how it works"... 🤷🏼‍♂️

55

[Max] I need help! / Re: Interior Design Out of Windows Objects

« on: 2020-10-17, 16:23:02 »

Hey! The best starting point would be to think about how these spaces would all be photographed in real life, and then apply that to your CGIs.

Both of your examples from Behance have very small window openings - so to get a good image, the 'photographer' would have to increase the exposure of the image so the interiors are light. This then over-exposes the view outside the windows, creating the 'bright and misty' effect you mention.

By comparison, your example has a very large window - so to get a good image, the 'photographer' would probably be able to expose the photo correctly for the inside and outside space, which wouldn't give you the same effect.

Without changing the design of the space / windows etc, you could also create this effect by making the sunlight much stronger, and playing with the direction of the sun. This would make your exterior much brighter, and you could use the direction of the sun to still give your interior a soft diffuse light.

56

[Max] I need help! / Re: Backburner / Noise Limit Tweak

« on: 2020-10-16, 17:05:19 »

Thanks - yeah, for now I solved it by opening the Backburner saved Max file, changing the Noise Limit in those files and re-saving (and re-zipping)... at least it meant I didn't have to open the master scene and re-send to Backburner...

The prerender script sounds good, at some point I'll try to create something similar!

57

Work in Progress/Tests / Re: The Trail to Machu Picchu

« on: 2020-10-15, 13:24:01 »

Super good in all aspects - idea, execution, art direction... lovely stuff. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

58

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: Corona Renderer 7 for 3ds Max - Daily Builds Discussion

« on: 2020-10-15, 13:22:46 »

Node based tonemapping sounds great. Ive been doing alot in fusion recently and really like the workflow.

I'm ok with nodes. Don't see anything wrong with it.
I wouldn't be able to go back to the compact material editor for example.
I'm in.

+1

I'm always surprised when I see amazing artist tutorials and they're still using Compact...  likewise, used Fusion for a few short animations and really enjoyed the node-based approach.

59

[Max] I need help! / Re: Copy + Paste in VFB - what bit depth?

« on: 2020-10-13, 11:37:20 »

It seems like a mystery to everyone! Adobe Support said they think that Copy + Paste within Photoshop will retain the highest level of bit depth possible, but couldn't back it up with any documentation... and I don't know how/when the native OS clipboard interfaces with software/app clipboard.

For now I'll have to assume that every form of Copy+Paste will downsample to 8bit.

60

[Max] I need help! / Backburner / Noise Limit Tweak

« on: 2020-10-13, 10:45:06 »

Hiya - I'm rendering a project via Backburner, I'd expected the images to take longer to render so had set quite a high Noise Limit. Since completing a few frames, I'm now wishing I'd set a lower Noise Limit...

Is there any way to change just the Noise Limit without having to cancel and re-submit the jobs to Backburner (there are several scenes / lighting setups queued in Backburner) - I've looked in the obvious 'Edit Settings' function of Backburner but there are no Corona settings within there. Am wondering if there is an instruction about Noise Limits somewhere within the Backburner Jobs folder / files?

Thanks!

EDIT: After further reading, I'm 99% sure there isn't a quick way to do this - I'm trying a slightly more manual route (accessing the Backburner Jobs folder -> opening the Max file for the job -> changing the Noise limit, resaving -> restart the job in Backburner) - not sure this will work but it's worth a go.