Messages

16

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-04, 14:35:20 »

Theoretically yes.  Practically/Optimally no.  Especially when Vray Clipper is a simple checkbox to achieve the exact same thing.

Shouldn't it be possible to incorporate this option into the slicer material?  Inside/Outside checkbox?  Do you need me to make an official feature request?

17

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-04, 10:03:42 »

Hey Aram

I tried to explain further up, but not having this feature does directly affect how big my phoenix grid needs to be which in turn affects the simulation time drastically.

As you can see in the video I linked to, the last step is reducing the final grid to just the area of focus, then enabling 'ocean' mesh to fill the rest outside of the sim grid, and then clipping the ocean mesh to your desired shape.  But we can't do that because slicer won't let us.  As you've said yourself, you'd need to shell and then clip, but how do you create an infinite shell to clip an infinite ocean?

So instead, we have to use 'Cap Mesh' instead of 'Ocean Mesh'.  Cap mesh unfortunately doesn't have the same effect as ocean mesh in terms of filling outside of the sim grid.  So I have to make the sim grid slightly bigger than the pool in my instance then clip using the shell method.  But this means my sim grid is now wayyyyyy bigger than it would be if I could use ocean mesh.

See attached, you can see my two sim grids in green.  If slicer allowed us to clip in the same way as vray clipper, then I could reduce that larger sim grid covering the entire pool to roughly the size of the one i've drawn in blue, as i'm only interested in the splash/foam at the base of the waterfall and not the entire 12m long pool

18

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-04, 00:09:11 »

Unfortunately that won't work in this situation as i'm trying to clip an infinite ocean.  It's a really neat trick to keep Phoenix sims efficient.  The video I linked to explains it really nicely.  So I'm having to increase my simulation grid to the entire size of the pool (12m x 6m) and use cap mesh instead of ocean mesh and then clip as you've described.

19

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-03, 19:39:38 »

Boolean modifier? In recent 3ds Max boolean was reworked to the level that there's very little excuses not to use it.

I found it incredibly unstable (and slow) when working with heavy geometry.  I dread to think what it's like with a high density phoenix sim but I'll give it a go.  Still would be nice if Corona had a 'clipper' that was as fully featured as VRay's

20

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-03, 19:36:19 »

i.e. keep the inside bit and slice away the outside bit.

At the moment you cann't do that.
A solution shoud be to create the slicer geometry "inverse".
Some times ago i asked for option like: Slice_inside / Slice_outside.

Sigh, another half baked entry to add to the list.  It was introduced in V8, seems like a pretty basic feature to have implemented by now.  If that one feature existed I could reduce my phoenix sim time by hours/days

21

[Max] I need help! / Corona Slicer

« on: 2024-03-03, 14:30:24 »

How do I get Corona Slicer to do the opposite of what it's doing in my attached screenshot?  i.e. keep the inside bit and slice away the outside bit.

I'm trying to replicate the setup here done with Vray Clipper (14 mins) and clip a Phoenix Ocean Mesh to to specific shape

22

[Max] Bug Reporting / Re: Huge bug - double rendertimes with black backdrop

« on: 2024-02-26, 20:49:24 »

Here is one test, Corona 11 HF1. The scene looks fairly simple, but it has lots of objects and takes over 20 GB while rendering.
The one with black direct override actually rendered a bit faster. Other than that, the stats are almost the same (rays/s).

What's it like using noise threshold instead?  Also 20GB is small :)  The example I posted used over 120GB

Also could it be the massively overexposed sky causing the other one to render slower?

23

[Max] Bug Reporting / Re: MtlOverride - Preserve Glass

« on: 2024-02-21, 11:36:20 »

I think nested material override exclusion is not supported, it may work e.g. for Multi/Sub-object but not for Blend or Rayswitch.

This will be more like a feature request for material override exclusion to support possible nesting.
In your case, I think it is much easier to simply select objects with Select material and just exclude them by adding to the list.

Normally yes, but in this instance the glass is attached to the window frame geometry and it's not practical to detach it all first.  I can work around it, it's all good.  But let's add it as a feature request

24

[Max] Bug Reporting / MtlOverride - Preserve Glass

« on: 2024-02-20, 18:37:01 »

See screenshot.

My glass material 'Glazing' is respected by the 'Preserve' feature usually, but if, for example, i put it inside a Ray Switch then the Mtl Override no longer displays it as Glass despite them all just being instances of each other

25

[Max] I need help! / Re: "Thin Shell"

« on: 2024-02-19, 14:19:34 »

I mean in the very material (CoronaPhysicalMtl or CoronaLegacyMtl) itself:
Base level 1.0, base color white, refraction 1.0, roughness 0.0, thin shell enabled.

Just tested this and it makes zero difference.  The only thing that makes a difference is the IOR.

Base Level 1, Base Colour White, Refraction 1, Roughness 0, Thin Shell, IOR 1.52 = darker scene

Base Level 0, Base Colour White, Refraction 1, Roughness 0, Thin Shell, IOR 1.52 = same as previous

Base Level 1, Base Colour White, Refraction 1, Roughness 0, Thin Shell, IOR 1.00 = brighter scene

Base Level 0, Base Colour White, Refraction 1, Roughness 0, Thin Shell, IOR 1.00 = same as previous

26

[Max] I need help! / Re: "Thin Shell"

« on: 2024-02-19, 09:56:48 »

This way the base layer may still have effect, this is how physical material (and probably the physical phenomenon too) works.
If you put the base layer to full white, it should be as if it was hidden. Give it a try.

Do you mean in my Rayswitch example?

27

[Max] I need help! / Re: "Thin Shell"

« on: 2024-02-19, 00:32:50 »

Yup - as I say, it's a super basic shader.  There isn't even a refraction colour in the Physical Material.  As I say it could be working as expected.  I'm just trying to clarify.  I guess the issue with physically reducing the IOR to 1 would be the reflection strength, so assuming I don't want the 'darkening' I can get around it using RaySwitch and just set IOR to 1 in the GI slot version of the material.

28

[Max] I need help! / "Thin Shell"

« on: 2024-02-18, 21:48:02 »

If I've got some window glass setup as 'thin shell' should the glass block light at all?  I was always under the impression it stops the objects being refractive (the equivalent of ior 1) and from casting shadows/blocking light as the light is now passing straight through and not being refracted.  Now I think my understanding is wrong.  I'm just testing an interior scene and when hiding the glass the brightness of the whole interior increases quite a lot.

It's a super basic shader.  0 diffuse, thin shell, 1 refract. 1.52 ior.

A bit more testing and leaving Thin Shell ticked but changing the IOR to 1, I get the same result as if I'd hidden the glass.  So what exactly does 'thin shell' do.  Does it simply stop light rays bending?

29

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Camera Film width setting

« on: 2024-02-16, 10:40:24 »

I'm correct in thinking you also need to change it when camera matching to a backplate shot in portrait mode?

For example my camera sensor D810 - is 35.9mm x 24mm.

So when I'm matching to a landscape shot I pretty much leave it at 36mm, but if I'm matching to a portrait shot then I'd change it to 24mm

30

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: WireColor pass by Layer Color

« on: 2024-02-13, 11:55:04 »

Just run this script first? https://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/random-wire-color-tools