Integrating 3D models with photography
Interested in integrating your 3D work with the real world? This might help
# 1 28-11-2010 , 03:08 AM
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HDR Glass tut and 3 Point light tut

Well I think this was a very informative tut Nilla, I learned quite a bit on how to create a good glass render.....I also have done the lighting tut in tandem....both are excellent tuts. For those who havent done them...do them!

I failed in the end with the glass tut...I couldnt get the lighting right...I will redo this glaas one at some stage...interesting stuff.

As for the lighting tut...wow...I did learn a hell of a lot in a short time Nilla. It certainly can make a difference between model > bloody good model! I recomend both of these tuts to the raw cadets out there. Guys it will make a diffrence and give your models a much better presentation. Obviously there are many things to learn but both of these tuts will actually make you appreciate your own work so much more.

Thank you again Nilla.

cheers bullet

Edit : I will be doing the glass one again at some stage...Im not happy with my effort.

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# 2 28-11-2010 , 03:11 AM
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and here is my jerry can with 3 point light..I wont get to texture the can anymore..too many other commitments....any of you noobs out there that didnt have a go at this mini challenge...you missed out on some fun and also some learning. I had a go and from what I have watched and learned from it was wonderful.

Thanks to ctbram for the model and hammer for the start up inspiration...and all who participated..thanks for the fun!!

cheers bullet

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# 3 28-11-2010 , 05:06 AM
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bullet, you will indeed be making another glass render in the very near future because I will force you to do so until it comes out perfectuser added image It bleeds like water because you need to turn the color gain of the IBL down.

Are you sure that second render is three point lighting? Because it looks like IBL to me as well, it's got those very distinct patches on the floor plane that comes from not having the final gather settings high enough with certain probes.

But not to worry, a week from now I will have nagged you enough for there to be a perfect glass render insteaduser added image

# 4 28-11-2010 , 08:20 AM
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No Nilla...the glass I used the campus probe but the jerry can its just lights. I coloured the floor but then changed back...and yes I know I have to keep practicing LOL.

cheers bullet


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"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
# 5 28-11-2010 , 09:52 AM
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OK, we worked it out. For those of you who are new to rendering and happen to be reading this post I just wanted to add what the problem was because it's something that's good to keep in mind when you download other peoples models and light them.

When you open a new scene in Maya the render settings will be at default but when you open someone else's scene the render settings they have will carry over. In this case the model ctbram uploaded had final gather turned on, so when bullet added his three lights the scene rendered with fg and instead of taking a few seconds it had to calculate all the fg points which took about 40 seconds instead. So a good idea is always to check the render settings when you light someone else's scenes.

Also the reason for the extreme hotspot on top of the can was caused by a spot light with an intensity of 8 without decay which caused the overillumination, this is why I thought bullet was using some sort of strange HDR probe.

# 6 03-12-2010 , 01:11 PM
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Ok I have attempted this again...and again epic fail. I will now divert myself away from this for now and go back to re-visit the spitfire tutorial and see if I can make headway on my models...I have so many in the wings and have not really finished any of them.

sigh.....

sigh again..this is so frustrating not having the time to put into my work, I shall be a noob forever at this rate! Anyone want to offload a nano particle of skill to me would be nice...I feel the twang of abandonment of Maya a lot lately.

cheers bullet

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# 7 03-12-2010 , 03:15 PM
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I wouldn't say epic fail, you're getting there. You've got the wrong material, that's your main problem it's the blinn with a mapped chrome environment and it doesn't work with the IBL. You should be using the mia_material_x for this, switch materials and you'll see a huge improvement straight away.

# 8 03-12-2010 , 04:57 PM
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increase the render settings too.
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# 9 03-12-2010 , 06:41 PM
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...You should be using the mia_material_x for this, switch materials and you'll see a huge improvement straight away.


Agreed. The blinn doesn't have BRDF qualities so you'll have a surface that is equally reflective regardless of the viewing angle (unless you get a sampler info node involved) user added image Lol these smilies are awesome.


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# 10 03-12-2010 , 08:07 PM
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Agreed. The blinn doesn't have BRDF qualities so you'll have a surface that is equally reflective regardless of the viewing angle (unless you get a sampler info node involved) user added image Lol these smilies are awesome.


I included a part on the blinn shader and rendering glass in maya software to be able to go through the fresnel effect and how a glass shader is constructed instead of going straight for mental ray. So that shader there should have a sampler info node and ramps it must be the mapped reflections and ibl. You can't really beat mia_material_x though, I was on a mission a while back to see how well I could get glass in maya software with blinn and no indirect illumination and it's impossible to get blinn glass that comes anywhere close to mental ray shaders. Dave was lighting a similar scene in maxwell at the time and laughing like crazy at meuser added image

I like your blog btw Genny, it's very clever.

# 11 03-12-2010 , 10:12 PM
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I included a part on the blinn shader and rendering glass in maya software to be able to go through the fresnel effect and how a glass shader is constructed instead of going straight for mental ray. So that shader there should have a sampler info node and ramps it must be the mapped reflections and ibl. You can't really beat mia_material_x though, I was on a mission a while back to see how well I could get glass in maya software with blinn and no indirect illumination and it's impossible to get blinn glass that comes anywhere close to mental ray shaders. Dave was lighting a similar scene in maxwell at the time and laughing like crazy at meuser added image

I like your blog btw Genny, it's very clever.

Thank you very much! user added image Lol I tried that as well, guess I'm a sucker for punishment. The mia_mat is a swiss army knife or sorts, I know I never looked back.


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# 12 03-12-2010 , 10:36 PM
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Not done much glass thought I would give it a try hope you dont mind Bullet..........dave

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# 13 04-12-2010 , 12:12 AM
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No dave not at all...looks better then mine. No Nilla Im not using a blinn...I am using the mia_material_x with the campus IBL...I have changed my lights...render settings etc etc...I have missed something out. When I turn on caustics and photons my laptop dies...so it is even more frustrating. I shall try again...user added image

Ok I have stuffed around with all the settings again...aaarrrrr...yes it WAS a material_x but my settings had to be really tweaked...is there a reset to default???? for the render settings...I shall look.

Here we go...Im going back to the Spitfire now...this has had me buggered for a few days....I HATE software that carries over settings etc etc WITHOUT being told to do so. I have to deal with that crap ALL the time as a Surveyor and nothing gets me madder than a machine that reboots and comes out in feet and inches and Northing, Easting instead of Easting , Northing etc while you have a Supervisors tapping his toes ready to yell at you (not thats a worry Im pretty big LOL). user added image

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Last edited by bullet1968; 04-12-2010 at 01:07 AM.
# 14 04-12-2010 , 09:11 AM
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Hi Bullet
I used the glass preset and just change a few setting...............dave




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# 15 04-12-2010 , 11:13 AM
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So did I dave....but the first one didnt come out...my render settings must use a previous set or something...I had to mess around to get what you see here...I must be saving something?? dunno Im happy with it for now...I will try again next week...doin my Spitfire now. I find if I cant get to the root of the problem...I wont sleep because I hate leaving a puzzle!! but I will leave it for a few days and do some modelling instead of tuts...clear the cobwebs I hope.

cheers bullet


bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes
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