mayaToCorona feature requests

[haggi]

Please post any requests here. Thanks.

[juang3d]

Hi there.

IMHO I think the first things we need are the different engines, so Corona can be leveraged in different type of scenes.

Right now there is no control for that, and it's one of the most basic things to unleash Corona's power :)

Cheers.

[juang3d]

Another feature request...

Link Corona Scatter to Maya xGen.

ACtually xGen is a very powerfull instancing system, but at the current time the only way to take leverage of it is working with mental Ray, I'm not sure if Vray is compatible or not, but Corona could be one of the few render engines that can use Corona

Cheers!

[Ondra]

but Corona could be one of the few render engines that can use Corona

Can't argue with that ;)

[juang3d]

hahaha my mind playing tricks on me, I'm on a work rush moment, and I'm without rest... forgive me please XD

You know what I mean... one of the few that can leverage xGen :)

Cheers.

[haggi]

Implementing XGen is a good idea. It is a bit complex, but I'll have a look.

[haggi]

Link Corona Scatter to Maya xGen.

Is there a scatter option in corona which can be used from the API?

[juang3d]

I hope that question is not for me because I don't have a clue hehehe

I was just sepaking my thoughts loud, and since Corona have Corona Scatter, maybe this is something from the inside :)

Glad you like the idea.

Cheers.

[Hamburger]

Hello - how is "linear workflow" handled in Corona for Maya?

In V-Ray we have the linear workflow tickbox which takes care of most things, does Corona do this internally? Or since Maya has it's own Color Management system since 2015Ext1 will it use that method?

[haggi]

Currently I did not yet care about color management. I think this will come with the next release. I suggest to use a strictly linear work with Maya2015 what means all textures should be linearized as well as the Corona gamma settings. Everything else can be done in maya what results in a better workflow because colors are transformed and not only gamma corrected. e.g. a sRGB conversion has a better result in the dark areas than a gamma 2.2 transformation.
With Maya2014 and Maya2015-pre-Ext you can handle it as you like. One problem in the current version is that there are a few places (e.g. background color) where you can connect a file texture which is not yet handled by OSL but with the native corona texture. That means that any modification or gamma setting will not work for these textures. So there is still some work for me, but it will come ;)

[Hamburger]

I spent the last couple of days or so in Corona and Maya I have to think that the biggest feature should be matching 3DS Max as close as possible first in terms of the core shaders and default render settings. Currently the coronaSurface has only half the parameters that of 3DS Max coronaMtl and some defaults in the render global settings and especially coronaSurface are very different to each other. I tried modifying the maya scripts, but all I ended up achieving was crashing maya!. I wrote a long list though if it is of use.

Personally, I just think if we can first get the render settings and coronaSurface to exactly match 3DS Max then adding in coronaAO, coronaLightMtl, coronaFrontBackMap, coronaWireText it would be then a good solid platform to then build on other things later in development.

FWIW, Vlado said xgen was very difficult and pain in the ass to develop xgen support. He mentioned it is harder too because Autodesk break (i mean develop) things every 6 months. So I really think it would make sense to get corona up to closely match 3DS Max first and in the meantime I'm sure xgen will be mature enough to start on when Autodesk settle down on it before adding support.

Just my two cents! :)

[haggi]

I spent the last couple of days or so in Corona and Maya I have to think that the biggest feature should be matching 3DS Max as close as possible first in terms of the core shaders and default render settings. Currently the coronaSurface has only half the parameters that of 3DS Max coronaMtl and some defaults in the render global settings and especially coronaSurface are very different to each other. I tried modifying the maya scripts, but all I ended up achieving was crashing maya!. I wrote a long list though if it is of use.

Oh, yes please. I'd like to see this list. You are right, a few attributes are still missing on the coronaSurface shader. But on the other side, several attributes are seperated into a multiplier and a color. In maya there is only a color for these attributes. I'll try to find a way to do the same what is not so easy as it sounds :)
It is on my list to set all default values to the same as they are in 3dsmax.

Personally, I just think if we can first get the render settings and coronaSurface to exactly match 3DS Max then adding in coronaAO, coronaLightMtl, coronaFrontBackMap, coronaWireText it would be then a good solid platform to then build on other things later in development.

Well, in fact you already have the coronaLightMtl. Corona only has one surface material, as soon as you turn on "emission" in the shader, you have a light material. Maybe a simple preset could help here.

FWIW, Vlado said xgen was very difficult and pain in the ass to develop xgen support. He mentioned it is harder too because Autodesk break (i mean develop) things every 6 months. So I really think it would make sense to get corona up to closely match 3DS Max first and in the meantime I'm sure xgen will be mature enough to start on when Autodesk settle down on it before adding support.

Yes, I already had a look at the xgen, and it's quite complex. But there are arnold and mentalray examples, so it should be possible to implement. But it will take time.
Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

[haggi]

I just had a look at the mayaToCorona coronaSurface material. I only could find exact two attributes which did not match the defaults, IOR and Reflection Fresnes IOR. Did you find more?

[juang3d]

One comment about the light material.

The light material does not sample equally than the "self illumination" in the standard material, the first one cleans a lot faster than the second one when it is used as the main source light, at least in max, I'm not sure about Maya.

Cheers.

[Hamburger]

I just had a look at the mayaToCorona coronaSurface material. I only could find exact two attributes which did not match the defaults, IOR and Reflection Fresnes IOR. Did you find more?

Hi Haggi, here is the list to what I noticed (a lot of what I wrote is obvious and you already mentioned diffuse/reflection and refraction levels needed integrating);

Missing diffuse level input (by default 1) and diffuse color should be 128 128 128
Translucency swatch should be default 255 255 255
Alpha “mode” should be moved to under “advanced options”
Technically Round Corners should also be under “advanced options” but it may actually work as is! :) 3DS Max also has it indicating that it uses millimeters as a radius which it might be useful to have maya using cms.
Reflection swatch should be default 255 255 255
BRDF options are hidden in 3DS Max, but they are present in Maya
Missing reflectivity level input (by default 0)
Fresnel should have a default of 1.52
Anisotropy should be default of 0
Refractivity swatch should be default 255 255 255
Missing refractivity level input (by default 0)
refraction index default should be 1.52
In 3DS Max there are options for “caustics” (off by default) and “thin (no refraction)” off by default. Is this referred to as “glass mode” in Maya?
3DS Max has coronaLightMtl and coronaVolumeMtl instead of Volume rollout and Emission rollout (already mentioned in this thread).
3DS Max has an absorption rollout with distance (millimeters) and color parameters. The default of the color parameter is 128 128 128

Missing under the advanced rollout is an “enviro portal” check box and “invisible in masks” check box. Also G-Buffer ID override. I think Maya handles it differently with the "enviro portal" being on the shape node as an attribute - I think this makes more sense (how you have it already) than a material to be honest!

I also found more bugs, so I'll add to the bugs section as this is not the thread for it.

[haggi]

Great! Thanks a lot for the detailed list. The multipliers/levels are already implemented, I'll correct the color settings.

The question is: Is it necessary to implement light and volume materials or is it more useful to handle them via material presets? They are nothing else but corona surface shaders with some features automatically set what could be done with a preset as well.

[Hamburger]

The question is: Is it necessary to implement light and volume materials or is it more useful to handle them via material presets?

It is a very good question! I think that since Corona for 3DS max has both of these as separate materials, so too perhaps Maya should since the self-illumination parameter is different to the light material.

Maybe @keymaster has an opinion?

[haggi]

I already talked to him and I'll implement seperate light and volume shaders so we have the same setup as in 3dsmax.