Messages

166

[Max] I need help! / Re: Round Edges 1.6

« on: 2017-04-27, 19:15:13 »

It works in the same way as if you put actual physical chamfer modifier on top of it. If you did that to your current setup, you would need to attach and connect those meshes too.

It doesn't though, if you see the examples posted by maru, 2 different objects create a round corner where they meet, this is not how a chamfer modifier would work, but it is incredibly helpful.

In that case, Corona is smart enough to recognize that the 2 objects have the same material and are intersecting, so it assumes they are the same object.

I think the same assumption can be made for 2 objects with the same material that have absolutely no gap between them, or even 2 objects that intersect but share a face. 

I think this image shows that this is indeed a bug, look at the 4th and 5th examples, if Corona is treating the 6th example as a single object, it should do the same with all of the others IMO.

Also notice what happens when I add the chamfer modifier to the second image, the images don't match.

If you are used to modeling in Polygons, this is not an issue, as you have absolute control and you probably wouldn't build your scene like that, but working with CAD data is very different and this "bug" is a problem for imported geometry.

167

Gallery / Re: The Studio

« on: 2017-04-18, 04:26:28 »

Amazing renders, I feel kind of bad pointing this out...

In the bookshelf, avoid distinctive books if you are going to use repetition.

HADID, NEW YOUR, THE ART OF

Those pop out intermediately when I see the image.

168

[Max] General Discussion / Node minimum requirements

« on: 2017-03-29, 05:29:14 »

Hello,

I can't find recommendations for node builds anywhere. I'm trying to keep it as cheap as possible with Ryzen 1700x and I'm wondering how a bare-bones node should look like?

I think I can save a lot in ram compared to my main system, but I'm unsure as I've  never worked with nodes.

Would something like this work? ... Ryzen 1700x, Cheapest Mobo, 120GB SSD, 8GB Ram, no graphics card? 

My very limited understanding is that Corona won't benefit from a graphics card, but I don't know how ram hungry it is...  My main system has 64 GB of ram.
Also, if I'm using a Ryzen 1700x computer as my main system, having a node with the same processor essentially slashes render times in half? What about 4 system or 8? Is there a point where you start to get diminishing returns?

Thanks for your patience :)

169

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Time to ditch sRGB/Linear as default (?)

« on: 2017-02-22, 02:15:50 »

Ondra said in another thread that Corona DOES NOT SUFFER FROM THIS. I'm glad :) but I tried the desaturation example shown in the video in Corona 1.5 hotfix 1 and it seems to suffer from the same "problem" described in the video.  I won't pretend to understand any of the underlying technologies or processes, but shouldn't the colors desaturate as exposure/light intensity increases?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Can you clarify?

Passes might be essential in composition and VFX situations, however, I think the ultimate goal of a render engine is to be as easy to use as a camera. It comes down to market size. I think there's a lot more people who would use a virtual camera than people working in the VFX industry.

Architects, Designers, Engineers, Markete, Hobbyists etc..

I know that when you are inside of an industry, it seems like the whole world should conform to that reality. But the world is quite diverse and most people don't have time or interest in specializing in composing, or understanding the workflow.

Should a render behave ONLY as a camera? of course not. Once you done all that work, you might as well offer the possibility for people to draw outside the box. But should it be the standard? I think it should. 

170

General CG Discussion / Re: Does corona suffer from this as well?

« on: 2017-02-20, 23:29:16 »

Just for clarification: there is A LOT of misconception in this video. I strongly suggest to not watch it. Ever. Corona handles everything mentioned in this video automatically, and does it correctly.

Maru, I tried the desaturation example in Corona 1.5 hotfix 1 and it seems to suffer from the same "problem" described in the video.  I won't pretend to understand any of the underlying technologies or processes, but shouldn't the colors desaturate as exposure/light intensity increases?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Can you clarify?

Thanks :)

171

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Time to ditch sRGB/Linear as default (?)

« on: 2017-02-20, 01:17:19 »

Saw that video today, I was disappointed to remake the test and see the "bad " behavior on light saturation. I'm a total idiot regarding color but felt like the video was into something, I was unsure on what to even say or propose, I'm so glad someone else took the time to post it and Ondra actually recognizes it as something worth doing :)

Thanks!

172

Hardware / Re: Buy new monitor: dual HD or UHD?

« on: 2017-02-01, 17:59:43 »

You mean a wacom tablet? I use it with a regular mouse.

The thing is, some stuff is unconfortable to run full screen, like Photoshop. I usually have it scaled down to something a bit bigger than 1440p at the center of the screen, but it's great to be able to use the space around it, or in some cases make the window bigger to fit all the content. 

173

Hardware / Re: Buy new monitor: dual HD or UHD?

« on: 2017-02-01, 04:55:49 »

This recommendation is not for everyone, but I've never been happier with a monitor since I got the massive 43" 4k Philips bdm4350uc.

Get it only IF:

-You will run it at 100% scaling, 3840 x 2160 of USABLE space. Can't be matched.

-Your work doesn't depend on 100% color accuracy. It's not bad at all, I do render, video editing, graphic design and product design without issues. But for sensitive (print) work I sometimes double check in another monitor.

- You have good eyesight. To fully take advantage and to see the whole thing you need to have it a little further back. Some people struggle reading text when they work at my desk, although I find it comfortable.

- You are not bothered by slight "burn in" of images that stay on screen for long. I'm usually very bothered about this kind of things, but it is very slight and I've learned to live with it. the burn in disappears after a few seconds when you change the image.

- You are willing to pay $750 - 850 for you monitor.  I saved for a year. worth every cent.

If you can get around those issues and feel constantly constrained by your workspace, get this monitor. I moved from a dual 1440p monitor setup and I'm never going back.

174

[Max] General Discussion / Corona@home

« on: 2017-01-03, 02:00:11 »

Owning a computer does not make sense for a big percentage of people. Just like owning a car will soon stop to make sense.

It's like installing a coffee maker for each person in the office, there is a huge computational potential that's just wasted :(

There are a few programs like SETI@HOME, Folding@Home or GIMPS that harness idle computing power to calculate some extraordinary stuff...

Now, I've used renderfarm services and I know "distribuiting" a render is not easy, you need to send the whole scene...

But I'm wondering, is there some part of the render work that can be easily distributed among other corona users?

I'm not saying exactly what a renderfarm does, it's most definitely not practical.  I know enough to understand why this idea sounds stupid, but not enough to be sure is completely impossible.

MAYBE there is some number crunching that takes a lot of computational resources and could be shared? Maybe corona users can rent their idle machine in some way?

Is that even possible?

175

[Max] I need help! / Re: Material Slot Quality

« on: 2016-10-26, 00:17:50 »

Thanks :)

176

[Max] I need help! / Material Slot Quality

« on: 2016-10-25, 23:49:57 »

Sometimes people post screenshots of their material slots with great quality render, the default is only a few passes, how can I increase the number of passes/render time of the material slot.

I realize it's a stupid answer but I've been searching for hours. Hope my Corona license is not revoked for asking such a stupid question :)

177

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Re: AUTO-Exposure please!

« on: 2016-10-14, 22:50:40 »

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an expert on how Corona works, but if I'm able to change the exposure while it's rendering, shouldn't Corona be able to do the same ?

Also, if you are rendering a video, you don't want abrupt changes in exposure, so even if you transition from a dark place to a very bright one ( getting out of a tunnel ) It would be acceptable for Corona to take some time to get used to it. I don't think a 1 frame delay is a big deal, but as I said, Maybe exposure can be set just before saving.

178

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Re: AUTO-Exposure please!

« on: 2016-10-14, 20:56:33 »

http://www.timelapseplus.com/blog/2014/10/1/firmware-20141001-released

look at the video of the sky here to see how well this approach works.

179

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Re: AUTO-Exposure please!

« on: 2016-10-14, 20:50:25 »

There might be a way to adjust exposure dynamically for animation, the same way Timelapse triggers (who don't know the future) adjust exposure dynamically.

It's called automatic BULB RAMP, in real life photography we change the exposure time over time, and the only way to do that easily is to set the camera into BULB mode and let the trigger control the exposure time by how long in presses the shutter, anyway, that's why it's called BULB RAMP. Of course corona could much easily change the exposure.

Here is an example of a sunset simulator and how the automatic BULB RAMP feature adapts over time. http://firmware.timelapseplus.com/sunset/

This will only require to look an the previous rendered frames, and adapt future exposure slightly over time using a PID filter.