DAZ Studio Pro BETA [Project Iradium] - version 4.8.0.9!

DAZ_BrianDAZ_Brian Posts: 345
edited May 2015 in Daz Studio Discussion

DAZ 3D is pleased to announce the next public version of the DAZ Studio Pro BETA - version 4.8.0.9!

What is a BETA?

Despite our best efforts, DAZ 3D cannot possibly test the software under all possible conditions. So, we are providing a version of the application to the general public in order to uncover problems that were not discovered during internal/private testing. We expect that there will still be problems and we hope that when users encounter any problems, they will report them to the Bug Tracker so that they can be validated, prioritized and fixed.

As with any software classified as being in the BETA phase of development, you should expect to encounter bugs. Any bugs you do encounter while using BETA software can vary in terms of severity, from minor features that do not work correctly to problems that cause your computer to crash. Before choosing to use BETA software for production purposes, you should decide whether the benefit of new features and bug fixes provided by the BETA version outweighs the risk of instability you may encounter.

Public Build, BETA, what is the difference?

Public Build is a release channel, while BETA is a phase of development.

DAZ Studio is distributed through four separate channels:

- Production Build - This is where the General Release build is distributed and is open to the general public.

- Public Build - This is where the builds that are not considered stable yet are provided for testing by the general public; this channel typically provides a build that is in the BETA phase of development, but technically can provide a build in the ALPHA phase.

- Private Build - This is similar to the Public Build channel, except it is limited to a select group of individuals that serve as the "front line" or the "canary in a coal mine" for a time before the build is promoted to a less restricted channel; this channel is more likely to see an ALPHA build than the Public Build channel is.

- Dev Build - This is for a much smaller group of individuals; this channel provides "bleeding edge" ALPHA builds; sometimes referred to as "nightly", although the builds are not limited to one per night nor to strictly occurring at night.

Will this Public Build replace the General Release?

While builds in the Public Build channel do eventually replace the build in the Production Build channel, the existence of a public build does not preclude builds that are currently in the Private Build channel from replacing the General Release before one in the Public Build channel does. One of the reasons we provide a Public Build channel is to gain broader coverage of the various fixes/additions. Sometimes fixes/additions in the Public Build channel are validated more quickly than others and can be integrated into the Production Build channel while the remaining, more risky, changes are allowed to "bake" a while longer.

What is new in this version? Do I need to update my copy?

The 4.8.0.9 version resolves several issues and implements several improvements since the 4.7.0.12 General Release. More detail on specific fixes/changes/improvements can be found in the Change Log, which can be viewed online within the Documentation Center portion of our site. All new downloads of the DAZ Studio Pro BETA product (SKU: 12000) will be of this version.

Public BETA 1 highlights

Public BETA 2 highlights are:
1) Fixed a consistency issue with [geometric] normal direction; NVIDIA Iray vs 3Delight.
2) Reworked NVIDIA Iray Advanced Render Settings; Hardware; Canvases - Light Path Expressions (LPE); prepare for additional pages.
3) Added support for light categories to light nodes; 3Delight.
4) Added Decay and Intensity Scale controls to default spot and point lights; 3Delight.
5) Fixed a crash with n-gons in Geo-Grafts
?) PENDING - Updates will be posted over the course of the next week.

Has the Content Management Service (CMS) been improved?
If you are already using the PostgreSQL based service, no.

If you are still using the Valentina based service, yes it has. The existing Valentina based service is still included and supported, however a new PostgreSQL based service is proving itself to be much more stable and much less prone to the data corruption issues that many have experienced in the past. The new PostgreSQL based service has also proven to be somewhat faster.

With this new solution, there is no longer a need to start a service that runs in the background. Normally, the PostgreSQL server starts when the application starts and stops when the application stops; unless another application, like Install Manager, is connected to it - in which case it will stop when the last application connected to it closes. Explicit control to start the service is provided via an action [in the Content Library pane option menu] and a button [in the Smart Content pane] without ever needing to leave the application. Explicit control to stop the service is also provided via an action [in the Content Library pane option menu].

To help get you up and running with the new PostgreSQL service, we've added a separate package in Install Manager that will automatically migrate any existing data from your Valentina database; you simply install it after the PostgreSQL server is installed. We've also included an "Import Metadata from Valentina" script with the Built-In content. The amount of time required to migrate the data will vary depending on the amount of data you have and your system specs.

*Note: While the PostgreSQL server is installed, Install Manager will not install any data to the Valentina database.

What is the Application Improvement Program about?
It's about improving the DAZ Studio user experience. Support tickets and bug reports provide important clues as to the needs of you the customer, but they are only hints. This improvement program will allow us to to "see" how the features of DAZ Studio are actually performing and where users are getting hung up.

If you choose to participate in the program, the statistics we will collect are anonymous and contain no personally identifiable information. We respect your right to privacy. That said, if you choose not to participate, we respect that too.

We encourage you to participate. In doing so, your use of the application will have a greater influence on where we focus our efforts.

Has the Genesis Starter Essentials, the Genesis 2 Starter Essentials (Male/Female), or the Default Lights and Shaders packages been updated too?

"Genesis 2 Starter Essentials", "Genesis Starter Essentials" and "Default Lights and Shaders" have not been updated beyond what is already currently available with the previous beta or general release.

A "Public Beta Iray Support Content" package, which contains materials specifically intended for use with NVIDIA Iray, was added with the previous beta.

*Note: Install Manager users are notified of product updates when they occur.

How do I get the latest version?

If you have previously added the DAZ Studio Pro BETA product to your account, launch Install Manager, log into your account and type "DAZ Studio * Public Build" into the filter field to filter out anything else. Then simply download and install as you would normally.

*Note: The current version of Install Manager has a new Public Build download filter that is disabled by default. You must enable this download filter to see packages in your Ready to Download list that are tagged PublicBuild.

Optionally, you can locate, download and install the BETA from the Product Library [once you are logged into your account] by entering "DAZ Studio Pro BETA" into the text field near the top left of the page and clicking the "Filter" button, or by clicking here. Then, simply click the "download & install" button.

If this is your first time downloading DAZ Studio Pro BETA, simply follow this link, click the "Add to Cart" button on the page and then follow the checkout process.

*Note: This BETA version is not available as a standalone installer. It must be downloaded and installed using Install Manager. This does not impact the General Release, which will be made available through Install Manager as well as a standalone installer.

Can I have the General Release and the BETA installed at the same time?

Yes! You can have both the General Release and a Public Build (as well as a Private Build, for those involved in that endeavor), of the same major version, installed at the same time. Please be aware that the settings for each of the builds are stored independent of each other. This includes mapped content directories, layout, style and style colors, among many others.

What about the plugins I have?

The DAZ Studio 4.5 SDK has not changed in any way that causes it to be binary incompatible, which means that any plugins created for a previous version of DAZ Studio (4.5.0.114+) should continue to load and function with this build. That said, as with any new release, there is always the possibility that a plugin has had bugs fixed or features added, so the latest versions should be downloaded and installed if they are provided.

Plugins that are currently built/produced by DAZ 3D will provide a separate package specifically intended for the Public Build. 3rd party plugins that DAZ 3D creates install packages for will be updated to allow simultaneous installation into the General Release and the Public/Private builds. These packages will display as "Product Updates" within Install Manager once they have been updated.

Is there any documentation?

Yes, there is. And we're actively working on more.

Check out the User Guide and QuickStart Guide that we've posted in the DAZ Studio 4.x Documentation section.

The Reference Guide is also in the process of being populated/updated; updates will be posted over the course of the beta.

- Render Settings Pane : Editor Page : NVIDIA Iray
- Surfaces Pane : Editor Page : Iray Uber Shader

*Note: Some pages are still being built. If you see "permission denied" for a page, that page is not live yet.

Post edited by rbtwhiz on
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Comments

  • MBuschMBusch Posts: 547
    edited March 2015

    I have some questions about Photometric lights:

    1) You can attach an IES profile just to the Point light. Is it not better attach an IES profile to the Spotlight to direct the light using the light camera view?

    2) What is the function of Light Geometry in a Point light? I made a render test and when using an IES profile I was able to get soft shadows turning the point geometry in a rectangle. Other than this, I cannot see what is the geometry function in a Point light.

    3) The Shadow parameters in Photometric lights seems not have any effect at all. Why this parameters are there?

    4) When switching the Light geometry in a Photometric Spotlight to a cylinder, the cylinder just loads transversally to the light. Is this a bug? Seem it is.

    One more question not about lights:

    1) I read somewhere that 3Delight applies a 3 level SubD when rendering HD geometry. I really don’t know if this statement is correct. Anyway, when rendering with Iray should I set the Render SubD level to any number? Is this value recognized when using Iray?

    Post edited by MBusch on
  • Curved DesignCurved Design Posts: 61
    edited December 1969

    What is the difference between 4.8.0.4 and 4.8.0.9?

    Is it just bug fixes?

    P. S. I also noticed that Collada Import & Export seems to be improved in 4.8!

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited March 2015

    I installed the update before doing a final render in a series, and it reset some things. Or so it seemed. I was using a DistantLight for the SS Sun Node, but the sun wasn't in the same place. I also noticed some strange shadows on the figure. After changing the SS Sun Node to a couple other items in the scene, I settled on one of the two cameras. I'm loving the light. A lot less glaring, perhaps because the position of the camera puts the sun lower in the sky.

    I also noticed a setting on the camera I hadn't noticed before: "Visible In Render." Is that new to this update? I'm thinking it is, or the perhaps the default setting of On is new. Anyway I think it was the camera casting the weird shadows that weren't there on previous renders of the figure.

    While rendering, I notice the viewports in DS had gone white. That had me nervous at first. But I can see how blanking those out during a render would leave more video memory for the actual render. But if I'm mistaken, and it's not on purpose, now you know. FYI, I'm running with CPU Only.

    EDIT: After the render below completed and was saved, I left DS4.8 Beta open while posting here and in other threads of the forum. After about 1.5 hours, I went back to the program. The only thing I did was click on an "eye" to hide an object from the scene, and it stopped responding. I had to have Windows force it to close. I hadn't saved my changes, so I was able to poke around the cameras. Setting them to not render in the image didn't change the weird shadows that were showing up. But setting SS Physically Scaled Sun to off did. I haven't messed around too much with environment settings and I don't think that was set to off before the update, but it might have been. Anyway, changing that setting solved my problem.

    Here's the last image in the series. (I was testing the hair with both 3DL and Iray shaders.)

    Asteria-hair-test-Iray-Shaders-Iray-Render-01x1000.png
    1000 x 667 - 982K
    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,142
    edited December 1969

    MBusch said:
    I have some questions about Photometric lights:

    1) You can attach an IES profile just to the Point light. Is it not better attach an IES profile to the Spotlight to direct the light using the light camera view?

    2) What is the function of Light Geometry in a Point light? I made a render test and when using an IES profile I was able to get soft shadows turning the point geometry in a rectangle. Other than this, I cannot see what is the geometry function in a Point light.

    3) The Shadow parameters in Photometric lights seems not have any effect at all. Why this parameters are there?

    4) When switching the Light geometry in a Photometric Spotlight to a cylinder, the cylinder just loads transversally to the light. Is this a bug? Seem it is.

    One more question not about lights:

    1) I read somewhere that 3Delight applies a 3 level SubD when rendering HD geometry. I really don’t know if this statement is correct. Anyway, when rendering with Iray should I set the Render SubD level to any number? Is this value recognized when using Iray?

    1.Point lights are omni-directional, and better suited to IES profiles; which may map light in multiple directions.

    2. Light Geometry provides basic primitive shapes that influence the distribution of light; think simple mesh lights. Each shape produces different results; some more obvious than others; dependent on placement and the surrounding environment.

    3.The shadow properties (among others) in photometric lights are inherited from their non-physically-based counterparts. Work is being done to automatically hide/show the appropriate properties, given the context of the active render engine.

    4. The orientation of a light is easily transformed. The default orientation of a cylindrical photometric light is not a bug.

    And on the last question:

    3Delight renders the limit surface for Catmark/Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, regardless of level set. Iray doesn't implement subdivision in the same way and so does use the values set.

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited March 2015

    Fixed a consistency issue with [geometric] normal direction; NVIDIA Iray vs 3Delight.I am quite curious how that would effect something like skin surfaces and such. I know in 3delight, it makes a drastic change in how a surface looks.

    Reworked NVIDIA Iray Advanced Render Settings; Hardware; Canvases - Light Path Expressions (LPE); prepare for additional pages.
    This I am looking forward to, thanks.

    Added Decay and Intensity Scale controls to default spot and point lights; 3Delight. Is this the "Menu" spotlight for example? I guess only the dedicated "shadow samples" is the only difference between these and the DzSpotlights at this point?

    (EDIT)
    Did I just see a "Visual C++" update there!? I know what Visual C++ is, what was that update that blinked in front of my eyes for a split second?

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,714
    edited December 1969

    (EDIT)
    Did I just see a "Visual C++" update there!? I know what Visual C++ is, what was that update that blinked in front of my eyes for a split second?

    No idea if you did or not. :) Although it did update C++ 2005, so you might have.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 96,203
    edited March 2015

    3Delight renders the limit surface for Catmark/Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, regardless of level set. Iray doesn't implement subdivision in the same way and so does use the values set.

    To amplify this a bit: 3 is the recommended setting if you want to export the mesh, as OBJ for example, as it is the level at which most HD morphs are made. As Cris says, 3Delight doesn't need a setting as it renders to the limit state but Iray does need to be told how much to divide the mesh (presumably dividing to the limit state would overflow the video memory too easily) - this applies to displacement too, where you can add more divisions on a per-surface basis as long as you have applied the Iray Uber shader ([strike]the two SubD levels add, so be careful not to overdo them[/strike] the greater of the surface and the object SubD level will be used - each level multiplies the polygon count by 4).

    Edited as I had misunderstood how the two SubD resolution settings interact.

    Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
  • MBuschMBusch Posts: 547
    edited March 2015

    3Delight renders the limit surface for Catmark/Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, regardless of level set. Iray doesn't implement subdivision in the same way and so does use the values set.

    To amplify this a bit: 3 is the recommended setting if you want to export the mesh, as OBJ for example, as it is the level at which most HD morphs are made. As Cris says, 3Delight doesn't need a setting as it renders to the limit state but Iray does need to be told how much to divide the mesh (presumably dividing to the limit state would overflow the video memory too easily) - this applies to displacement too, where you can add more divisions on a per-surface basis as long as you have applied the Iray Uber shader (the two SubD levels add, so be careful not to overdo them - each level multiplies the polygon count by 4).

    Thank you Cris and Richard for clarify.

    I asked about the cylinder because while I can see the effect in the shadows I was thinking the cylinder as a snoot for the light. I miss some barndoors in the Spotlight. I hope someone can bring them for more versatility.

    Another parameter to be hide is the Two Sided in the Photometric Spotlight which have no effect at all.

    Post edited by MBusch on
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited March 2015

    Just an F.Y.I for those geting started with Iray, there ar a few good intros around. Many thanks to all that have been helping out.


    "Tone Mapping" intro for Iray (what is ISO### for, etc). In the "Tips & Tricks for Iray for newbies" thread.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/782511/

    The SickleYield getting started vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FZ5gS9v50

    Light notes;
    Lights that only have "Lumen" controls are for Iray only. (And don't work in 3delight).
    Lights that only have "Intensity" control are for 3delight (And don't work in Iray).
    Lights that have both (Photometric Lights)... "Lumen" control is for Iray, and the "Intensity" control is for 3delight.
    So just remember - "Lumen" control is for Iray, and the "Intensity" control is for 3delight.


    The thread isn't a starter guide, this is:
    http://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Tutorial-Getting-Started-With-Iray-519725115

    There's one about shaders, too:
    http://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Iray-Surfaces-And-What-They-Mean-519346747


    (Short list of Lumens I looked up, as some lists around stopped short of what I had been using)
    Incandescent to Lumans
    40Watt 450Lumens
    60Watt 800Lumens
    75Watt 1100Lumens
    100Watt 1600Lumens
    150Watt 2400Lumens
    200Watt 3100Lumens
    300Watt 4000Lumens

    about 2,400 Lumens - single 150 watt halogen work-light bilb.
    about 5,950 Lumens - single 300 watt halogen work-light bilb.
    9k to 11k lumens - single 500 watt halogen work-light bilb.

    4k to 1million lumens - Street lamps are here (somewhere)

    WW2 Navy searchlight (1000 Watt Xenon Manual Control Searchlight)
    80,000,000 (80 million Lumens)
    beam service distance approximately 5 miles

    ww2 GE 60-inch 15kW carbon-Arc Searchlight
    800,000,000 (800 million Lumens)
    Effective Beam Length: 5.6 miles
    Effective Beam Visibility: 28 to 35 miles

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    3Delight renders the limit surface for Catmark/Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, regardless of level set. Iray doesn't implement subdivision in the same way and so does use the values set.

    To amplify this a bit: 3 is the recommended setting if you want to export the mesh, as OBJ for example, as it is the level at which most HD morphs are made. As Cris says, 3Delight doesn't need a setting as it renders to the limit state but Iray does need to be told how much to divide the mesh (presumably dividing to the limit state would overflow the video memory too easily) - this applies to displacement too, where you can add more divisions on a per-surface basis as long as you have applied the Iray Uber shader ([strike]the two SubD levels add, so be careful not to overdo them[/strike] the greater of the surface and the object SubD level will be used - each level multiplies the polygon count by 4).

    Edited as I had misunderstood how the two SubD resolution settings interact.

    Richard is correct, it will be a total of the highest level of SubD, (Parameters pane Render Time SubD, and surfaces Pane Displacement SubD.) Note it will apply the render time SubD first, then apply any remaining Displacement SubD (which is just tessellation).

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Just an F.Y.I for those geting started with Iray, there ar a few good intros around. Many thanks to all that have been helping out.

    "Tone Mapping" intro for Iray (what is ISO### for, etc). In the "Tips & Tricks for Iray for newbies" thread.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/782511/

    The SickleYield getting started vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FZ5gS9v50

    Light notes;
    Lights that only have "Lumen" controls are for Iray only. (And don't work in 3delight).
    Lights that only have "Intensity" control are for 3delight (And don't work in Iray).
    Lights that have both (Photometric Lights)... "Lumen" control is for Iray, and the "Intensity" control is for 3delight.
    So just remember - "Lumen" control is for Iray, and the "Intensity" control is for 3delight.


    The thread isn't a starter guide, this is:
    http://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Tutorial-Getting-Started-With-Iray-519725115

    There's one about shaders, too:
    http://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Iray-Surfaces-And-What-They-Mean-519346747


    (Short list of Lumens I looked up, as some lists around stopped short of what I had been using)
    Incandescent to Lumans
    40Watt 450Lumens
    60Watt 800Lumens
    75Watt 1100Lumens
    100Watt 1600Lumens
    150Watt 2400Lumens
    200Watt 3100Lumens
    300Watt 4000Lumens

    about 2,400 Lumens - single 150 watt halogen work-light bilb.
    about 5,950 Lumens - single 300 watt halogen work-light bilb.
    9k to 11k lumens - single 500 watt halogen work-light bilb.

    4k to 1million lumens - Street lamps are here (somewhere)

    WW2 Navy searchlight (1000 Watt Xenon Manual Control Searchlight)
    80,000,000 (80 million Lumens)
    beam service distance approximately 5 miles

    ww2 GE 60-inch 15kW carbon-Arc Searchlight
    800,000,000 (800 million Lumens)
    Effective Beam Length: 5.6 miles
    Effective Beam Visibility: 28 to 35 miles

    Typical Photo Strobe: 800,000 to 3.2 million lumens (Though it is a very short period of time.)
    Typical TV/Video filming light: 8,000 to 15,000 lumens.

  • MBuschMBusch Posts: 547
    edited December 1969

    3Delight renders the limit surface for Catmark/Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, regardless of level set. Iray doesn't implement subdivision in the same way and so does use the values set.

    To amplify this a bit: 3 is the recommended setting if you want to export the mesh, as OBJ for example, as it is the level at which most HD morphs are made. As Cris says, 3Delight doesn't need a setting as it renders to the limit state but Iray does need to be told how much to divide the mesh (presumably dividing to the limit state would overflow the video memory too easily) - this applies to displacement too, where you can add more divisions on a per-surface basis as long as you have applied the Iray Uber shader ([strike]the two SubD levels add, so be careful not to overdo them[/strike] the greater of the surface and the object SubD level will be used - each level multiplies the polygon count by 4).

    Edited as I had misunderstood how the two SubD resolution settings interact.

    Richard is correct, it will be a total of the highest level of SubD, (Parameters pane Render Time SubD, and surfaces Pane Displacement SubD.) Note it will apply the render time SubD first, then apply any remaining Displacement SubD (which is just tessellation).

    Sorry for ask again, but just to be sure. When you write Parameters pane>Render Time SubD, are you in fact pointing to Parameters pane>Render SubD Level (Minimum)?

    Screenshot_2015-03-18_12.35_.45_.jpg
    498 x 162 - 37K
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    MBusch said:

    Richard is correct, it will be a total of the highest level of SubD, (Parameters pane Render Time SubD, and surfaces Pane Displacement SubD.) Note it will apply the render time SubD first, then apply any remaining Displacement SubD (which is just tessellation).

    Sorry for ask again, but just to be sure. When you write Parameters pane>Render Time SubD, are you in fact pointing to Parameters pane>Render SubD Level (Minimum)?
    Yes. Sorry I wasn't clear.

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    Thanks DAZ_Spooky, aside from specialized flashlights, I wasn't able to find much in that range. So essentially, TV crews walk around with halogen work-lights (or equivalent), and Photographers slightly more dangerous with there small Xenon lights (or equivalent).

    I was off trying to find an estimate for the lumens of the chelyabinsk meteor, or worse. I found nothing credible, lol. Back to rendering.

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Thanks DAZ_Spooky, aside from specialized flashlights, I wasn't able to find much in that range. So essentially, TV crews walk around with halogen work-lights (or equivalent), and Photographers slightly more dangerous with there small Xenon lights (or equivalent).

    I was off trying to find an estimate for the lumens of the chelyabinsk meteor, or worse. I found nothing credible, lol. Back to rendering.

    LOL. Remember that photo strobes put that light out for about 1/60th of a second, which is shorter than the amount of time the shutter is open, so it isn't there for the entire exposure time.

  • Jim_1831252Jim_1831252 Posts: 728
    edited December 1969

    This is great! I'm having a blast with Iray. Just published an article about it at DigiSprawl. There's a little on getting started and the obligatory Lux vs Iray.

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    jimzombie said:
    This is great! I'm having a blast with Iray. Just published an article about it at DigiSprawl. There's a little on getting started and the obligatory Lux vs Iray. Nicely done.

    Reading it, I noticed a couple of things.

    Without a beefy NVIDIA Card, you can have your Aux Viewport use the Iray Drawstyle instead of your main viewport, this should allow you run into less issues :) but still give you an accurate preview.

    Instructions to install the Beta are on the Beta Store page. (To include pretty pictures. LOL)

    It is therefore easier to light a scene for biased rendering than for one that will be rendered with a biased engine, which often require the placement of more lights and wizardry to produce plausible results.

    Appears to have a typo. I believe the intention is to have the first "biased" actually be unbiased.

  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167
    edited December 1969

    jimzombie said:
    This is great! I'm having a blast with Iray. Just published an article about it at DigiSprawl. There's a little on getting started and the obligatory Lux vs Iray. Nicely done.

    Reading it, I noticed a couple of things.

    Without a beefy NVIDIA Card, you can have your Aux Viewport use the Iray Drawstyle instead of your main viewport, this should allow you run into less issues :) but still give you an accurate preview.

    Instructions to install the Beta are on the Beta Store page. (To include pretty pictures. LOL)

    It is therefore easier to light a scene for biased rendering than for one that will be rendered with a biased engine, which often require the placement of more lights and wizardry to produce plausible results.

    Appears to have a typo. I believe the intention is to have the first "biased" actually be unbiased.

    tried last night on a very simple scene and got the "hourglass of death" and no progress for 20 min before I quit out.,
    my video drivers need to be updated so I'll try again after install, but this was a CPU render.

  • namffuaknamffuak Posts: 4,040
    edited December 1969

    Thanks DAZ_Spooky, aside from specialized flashlights, I wasn't able to find much in that range. So essentially, TV crews walk around with halogen work-lights (or equivalent), and Photographers slightly more dangerous with there small Xenon lights (or equivalent).

    I was off trying to find an estimate for the lumens of the chelyabinsk meteor, or worse. I found nothing credible, lol. Back to rendering.

    LOL. Remember that photo strobes put that light out for about 1/60th of a second, which is shorter than the amount of time the shutter is open, so it isn't there for the entire exposure time.

    In addition, most of the top-end camera and flash combinations metered the light hitting the film and quenched the flash when the proper amount of light arrived.

  • SpitSpit Posts: 2,342
    edited December 1969

    For those having trouble with, or not using, Iray drawstyle in the aux viewport......

    spot render works just as well with iray as 3delight.

  • SpitSpit Posts: 2,342
    edited December 1969

    Oh, speaking of aux viewport, how do you resize the panels? I grab the 'line' in between the upper and lower panel and try moving up, all I get is the top panel stretching vertically to fill the entire space. Help.

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Spit said:
    Oh, speaking of aux viewport, how do you resize the panels? I grab the 'line' in between the upper and lower panel and try moving up, all I get is the top panel stretching vertically to fill the entire space. Help.

    Grab the side line and move it as well?

    You can also undock it and size it as you like.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,878
    edited December 1969

    Any word on when transparency will be working properly?

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Any word on when transparency will be working properly?
    I have no indication it is not working correctly. Please file a support ticket with examples (scene files and lists of what is in them is ideal) what you believe is not working.
  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,878
    edited December 1969

    I thought mods had already commented on multiple intersecting transparent mapped surfaces doing poorly?

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    I thought mods had already commented on multiple intersecting transparent mapped surfaces doing poorly?

    Oh, that one. LOL. That is in NVIDIA's hands. :) Thanks.We don't have a new build from them yet.
  • SpitSpit Posts: 2,342
    edited December 1969

    Spit said:
    Oh, speaking of aux viewport, how do you resize the panels? I grab the 'line' in between the upper and lower panel and try moving up, all I get is the top panel stretching vertically to fill the entire space. Help.

    Grab the side line and move it as well?

    You can also undock it and size it as you like.

    Is that a no? I can size horizontally, I just can't find a way to resize vertically. ie, I want the panel with the aux preview smaller and the panel with parameters, surfaces, etc. taller. And I do want them docked, not undocked.

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    Spit said:
    Spit said:
    Oh, speaking of aux viewport, how do you resize the panels? I grab the 'line' in between the upper and lower panel and try moving up, all I get is the top panel stretching vertically to fill the entire space. Help.

    Grab the side line and move it as well?

    You can also undock it and size it as you like.

    Is that a no? I can size horizontally, I just can't find a way to resize vertically. ie, I want the panel with the aux preview smaller and the panel with parameters, surfaces, etc. taller. And I do want them docked, not undocked.

    Not at all. I thought you said you could grab the line in between and stretch that one up and down. (Which you should be able to, provided you don't hit a minimum size on a panel.)

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 10,991
    edited December 1969

    I just downloaded an update for the Beta. Any idea what was new?

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    tjohn said:
    I just downloaded an update for the Beta. Any idea what was new?

    Public BETA 2 highlights are:
    1) Fixed a consistency issue with [geometric] normal direction; NVIDIA Iray vs 3Delight.
    2) Reworked NVIDIA Iray Advanced Render Settings; Hardware; Canvases - Light Path Expressions (LPE); prepare for additional pages.
    3) Added support for light categories to light nodes; 3Delight.
    4) Added Decay and Intensity Scale controls to default spot and point lights; 3Delight.
    5) Fixed a crash with n-gons in Geo-Grafts

    From the first thread of the thread. :)
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