Messages

151

Off-Topic / Project Management Tools

« on: 2018-09-15, 18:10:40 »

Hi,
I was wondering if you guys use any sort of app or online service for project management? Something that helps you control work progress and tasks sharing within the team, or alows your clients to keep track on changes and comment on images? I've been looking for some tools recently and feel quite overwhelemed by what's available on the market. We have a small team of 3 people and simple written to-do lists or chat work quite well, although I'm eager to try something new.
So far I decided that I will give Trello and Asana a try, will see how it goes. Feel free to share your approach to this matter, what tools do you use and how do you use them ;)
Cheers!

152

[Max] I need help! / Re: Rendering gets stuck on first pass

« on: 2018-07-12, 13:31:16 »

Hi Maru,
Thanks for keeping track on this topic. Sorry for not getting back with more information.
I will try to send and and test all he stuff you mentioned in the next couple of days.
Cheers!

153

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Corona doesn't seem to support Forest Pack's ''Frame from map'' feature

« on: 2018-06-18, 15:26:58 »

So I just got the confirmation from iToo that this feature is not supported by Corona renderer yet and this has to be resolved on your side.
https://forum.itoosoft.com/forest-lite/randomise-and-control-animated-geometry-support-for-corona/

Could admin move it to "Feature requests" board?
Also, Corona Team, do you have any idea when this could be implemented?

Thanks!

154

[Max] Feature Requests / Corona doesn't seem to support Forest Pack's ''Frame from map'' feature

« on: 2018-06-14, 18:52:07 »

Hi,
I'm just doing some tests with animating objects using Forest Pack and I think Corona is not supporting some of it's features.
When I try to control animated object's scale using map, rendering output is different from what I see in the viewport. (see attached screenshots)
After converting scene to Vray everything works as it should.
Anybody has experienced similar issue?
Thanks

-----
Corona 1.7 (hotfix 4)
Latest version of Forest Pack Lite

-----
Just tested it using Vray RT and it's giving me the same wrong result like Corona

155

[Max] I need help! / Re: Rendering gets stuck on first pass

« on: 2018-06-13, 17:16:10 »

i think you don't have enough RAM for your scene

Thanks sprayer, although as I mentioned, when I render exactly the same scene on another workstation it all goes well. Both machines have 32GB RAM so I don't understand how being low on RAM would affect Xenon but won't bother i9?

156

[Max] I need help! / Rendering gets stuck on first pass

« on: 2018-06-13, 16:48:29 »

Hi all,
For some time already I have problems with renderings on one of the machines in the office. Some scenes stuck on first pass while rendering, I tried to identify the source of a problem but without success so far.

1. It all starts with quite slow scene parsing and GI calculation.
2. Once that's done the first pass starts to clear up but never progresses further, estimated rendering time rises to infinity (see attached)
https://ibb.co/hM5WHy
3. I've attached mini dump file from the 1st pass stage. I've also some minidumps from GI calculation stage if needed
https://we.tl/p5qewQM47U

Few points to note:
-the problem starts mostly at the very final project stage when we render stuff at higher resolution (5000px wide), lower resolutions (2k, 3k) would normally work fine
-it only happens on machine running on dual Xenon E5-2680 0 @2.7 GHz, 32GB RAM, Windows 7, latest Corona 1.7 (hotfix 4, although the problem was there on hotfix 3 too)
-I have chacked the machine itself to make sure it's not a hardware issue and it's definitely not. High load tests using OCCT are all fine

-exactly same scene, same settings will render without problems on other (slightly stronger) machine, i9 7900x 3.3GHz, 32GB RAM, Windows 10,  latest Corona 1.7 (hotfix 4)
-if I render the scene using DR, with i9 as a Master PC and Xenon machine as a slave, it will again get stuck on 1st pass. So adding faulty machine as a slave is spreading the problem onto the Master PC
-I work mostly on heavy scenes (file size usually exceeds 1GB), but I didn't have the problem in the past, optimising the scene rarely helps
-both, dusk and dalight scenes suffer from this issue

In general I must say that Corona's performance on Xenon machine seems to drop with every next release. I feel like 1.6 was faster and less problematic, especially regarding IR.
I would be grateful for any advice, right now Xenon machine is not reliable at all, I never know if it's going to render the file or not.
I haven't used to have this kind of troubles with earlier Corona releases, nor have I experienced it with other rendering engines, so I believe it must be some sort of Corona related problem.

Thanks!

157

Hardware / Re: BEST MONITOR FOR 3DMAX CORONA , PHOTOSHOP

« on: 2018-05-10, 17:23:45 »

I know that this topic is quite old but didn't want to create a new one for single question.
Does anybody use Dell S2718D Monitor?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-S2718D-Response-Ultrathin-Connectivity/dp/B06Y2XRYB2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Or can somebody advise if it is worth purchasing? I would normally go for U2715H, it might sound funny though, but one of my boss' requirements for the monitors is that they're silver from the back, which U2715H doesn't meet.
Thanks a lot!

158

Gallery / Re: Northern Wisps

« on: 2018-04-30, 11:40:19 »

This is crazy beautiful! Stunning work.

159

General CG Discussion / Re: Exporting from Archicad to 3DS

« on: 2018-03-22, 13:49:47 »

Hi,
Exporting models from Archicad is my standard daily routine.
The workflow that so far proved to be the most efficient is saving Archicad file as .obj.
Make sure you select everything as per attached image.

160

[Max] I need help! / Re: Default simple exposure

« on: 2018-03-20, 17:45:37 »

Great, thanks a lot for clarification.

161

[Max] I need help! / Re: Default simple exposure

« on: 2018-03-20, 17:23:23 »

Thanks a lot Nicolas.
So it makes it a bit more clear now, according to what Juraj wrote:

"But it works like this: You put simple white color into environment (255/255/255), create some object ( Teapot with 128/128/128 Grey color ), hit render, and the teapot at EV=0 will be exactly 128/128/128."

And that seems to be correct. When I use white background in environment with EV=0 it does work as expected (see attachment).

But then while using corona sun in environment slot, I have to lower EV drastically (-4, -5) cos otherwise it's all just white (see 2nd attachment).
From what I understand now, all of you have to adjust EV the same way then?

Thanks!

162

[Max] I need help! / Default simple exposure

« on: 2018-03-20, 16:27:44 »

Hi there,

I'm using Corona for quite a while now, but today I got a bit confused.
For all that time I have been using photographic settings to set up my lighting. By doing that I was able to qickly get physically correct setup.  After reading couple of posts on the forum I came into conclusion that using simple exposure might actually be better, more flexible solution. Although...

With a default Corona Sun (intensity: 1) I get my images super overexposed. I usually have to set the simple exposure to something like: -5, -4 to get it all right...
Why is that? Shouldn't the default EV-0 value be giving me the neutral, more or less properly exposed images?

Is it just me? Some wrong scene settings? Or maybe all of you, while using simple EV settings, usually have them around -4, -5?

Thanks,
Michal

163

Gallery / Re: Castlefield II Facade Details

« on: 2018-03-16, 13:30:46 »

Hi, I have exactly the same question. How did you manage to create 3 external lighting scenarios in one light mix? From my experience it won't let you use multiple suns or HDRI's?

164

Hardware / Monitor advice needed, Apple Cinema Displays in the office

« on: 2018-02-15, 15:10:37 »

Hi guys,

I would need your advice regarding alternative monitor to the currently owned Apple Cinema Display.
I am working as a visualiser in architectural office where majority of staff works on Macs. 3D vis team is working on PCs, using some spare 27'' Apple Cinema Displays.

We're now looking for change in our dual monitor setups. That means leaving one ACD as a supportive monitor and buying the better one for the main screen.
And here are the questions:

1. How would you compare the quality of ACD display to other monitors available in the similar price range (~500gpb)? Perhaps current 2x27"'ACD is rather a decent setup?
Personally I can't complain about the ACD, but I've never really worked on anything else within this price range, so it's hard for me to compare. (I own Dell U2414H at home)

2. Is it worth getting 4k monitor, and having 27" ACD as a secondary screen? I've read some opinions that 4k monitors are not the best for 3ds Max and Corona use?
But maybe using 4k for Photoshop, and 27'' ACD for 3ds Max would be a good option?

3. If in your opinion everything BUT Apple Cinema Display will be better for Archviz then what models would you recommend within this budget? Was looking at Dell U2715H, can you suggest anything else?

Thank you!

165

Work in Progress/Tests / Re: Juraj's WIPS/Theory/Questions //Update with few PDFs from my recent presentation

« on: 2018-02-09, 17:48:24 »

Hi Razzow,

I personally use these:
https://masteringcgi.com.au/product/dirt-textures-pack-01/

...and can really recommend them. Suit all my needs (mixing maps, adding dirt, adding scratches, improving glossiness maps etc...)