Show Us Your Iray Renders. Part II

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Comments

  • the3dwizardthe3dwizard Posts: 495
    edited April 2015

    This is a great addition to DAZ Studio!

    TIP: When doing HDRI with buildings, sets etc. in your scene they can block the light and cause some unwanted effects or shading. You can adjust using things like Dome Rotation, Origin and/or change the dome to finite and play with the Dome Scale Multiplier to help overcome some of this.

    Cheers!

    Post edited by the3dwizard on
  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the tip, a lot users don't know that they can scale the 2 Environment Spheres , it will affect the light, and also the HDRI maps
    usually I use Finite Sphere with ground on scaled down to only 9% for portraits or close ups and use Infinite Sphere only for landscape rendering like nature or cities .
    I also highly recommend to check off the Burn Highlights per component , set the Burn Highlights to 0.25 set Crush blacks to 0.20
    setting off the Crush Blacks to 0 will create minder contrast it is good for a very close up portraits

  • Kaleb242Kaleb242 Posts: 344
    edited December 1969

    Great tips!!! Thanks for sharing — I'm still getting acquainted with Iray, but so happy to have these capabilities in DAZ Studio...

    Do you have any tips about HDR backgrounds or lights? Are there any specific products here for backgrounds or light sets that work well with Iray that you can recommend? Or does this require manual configuration?

  • Jack238Jack238 Posts: 117
    edited December 1969

    Hi,
    The results with the skin shaders are incredible. There seems to be lots of discussion about them and I hope it continues so I can learn more.

    I would like to know if there are any technical tips on metals like the armor in MEC3D's renders and in the3dwizard's car. Thanks for sharing what is possible.

    Jack

  • nickalamannickalaman Posts: 196
    edited April 2015

    My attempt,

    Having lots of fun so far, can't wait for the next beta update.

    Nick

    Post edited by nickalaman on
  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    The best is to use the Sun Sky with the correct day time latitude , I use often the Exif data info from my photos to get exactly the light
    and second options are HDRI maps there is plenty free maps online to download
    when you load HDRI maps use the Finite Sphere and scale it 9 %down when use with models but not always
    and the last but not less are photo metric light in Daz Studio to use with Iray , do not used distance light or spot point light from DS, for PBR only photometric lights works best

    here link for free HDRI maps that can be plug in under environment : http://hdri-spherical.com/hdri-maps-other.html
    plug in only hdr or exr not the JPG


    Kaleb242 said:
    Great tips!!! Thanks for sharing — I'm still getting acquainted with Iray, but so happy to have these capabilities in DAZ Studio...

    Do you have any tips about HDR backgrounds or lights? Are there any specific products here for backgrounds or light sets that work well with Iray that you can recommend? Or does this require manual configuration?

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,343
    edited December 1969

    Gladly subscribed to a thread that the Mistress of 3D perfection started! :-)

    Still waiting for DAZ's deal with NVIDIA to be announced so I can update my card. Also waiting for the General release as I don't mess with Beta's any more. BUT having this thread and others bookmarked will be a great reference for me.

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    Thanks, I am working on the SSS shader for the figures and once it is 100% I will share .
    Regarding metal you have 2 options, you can use the base metal shader preset included by DAZ under Shader Preset /Iray
    or build own , you can build it under Specular/Glossiness or under Metallicy /Roughness ( very easy )
    I build my shader for the armor using Specular/Glossiness channel mixer , as my metal textures are based on Specular/Glossiness base mixer, both are PBR I am using maps to control the full surface , the maps was created using Ddo and Ndo

    but for starter I recommend to use the included base shader presets by DAZ
    I created a set of metals and layered metals with the right PBR values , but waiting for the Official DAZ Studio version to be released


    Jack_238 said:
    Hi,
    The results with the skin shaders are incredible. There seems to be lots of discussion about them and I hope it continues so I can learn more.

    I would like to know if there are any technical tips on metals like the armor in MEC3D's renders and in the3dwizard's car. Thanks for sharing what is possible.

    Jack

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    I don't mess with Beta's any more but having Iray 2015 free in it as first program on the market..I could not resist .. as that is insane
    the best move of DAZ ever , this is the moment I was waiting for so long ...or better said dreamed about .
    I had my system setup as I use Octane before, but not open it since the Beta of DS lol
    the best thing are that you have no more issues with texture maps like in Octane , when you use CPU +Nvidia card it works brilliant I am going to order second card for more power ..
    Right now I render from 4 to max 40 min per image, the portraits only 3 min 1000 samples , when the materials are set correctly the speed increase as Iray don't have to calculate DS materials and convert it .
    so always important to switch all materials in the scene to the Uber base iray .. and not render even plane with 3Delight materials

    RAMWolff said:
    Gladly subscribed to a thread that the Mistress of 3D perfection started! :-)

    Still waiting for DAZ's deal with NVIDIA to be announced so I can update my card. Also waiting for the General release as I don't mess with Beta's any more. BUT having this thread and others bookmarked will be a great reference for me.

  • AlexLOAlexLO Posts: 193
    edited April 2015

    (EDIT-reattached photos from before the thread was merged back into the renders thread) Thanks to Mec4D for the "Tech Grotto Getaway" for our fellow "Iraynians" (HAHAHa I love that!) It's nice to have a place to geek out & share techincal works & tips relating to PBR & Iray alongside the render showcase thread. For those who don't already know me, like Cath I'm a bit of a "seasoned" student & professional of the visual arts ;-) 20+years as an Audio engineer, Editor, film, video, lighting & Photoshop professional; Photographic study & play from childhood, and shooting stills professionally for 17+ years; A hardware & software nerd since the late 70's who built every non-laptop system I've owned (though I've tricked out my laptops too LOL); And of course a member of the DAZ/Poser community going back to the Zygote days of the Millennium Woman & Man.

    So in short terms I'm a G.E.E.K. & proud of it!

    I've long waited & worked for the day when we could blur or erase the line between the physical & virtual worlds via CG and now we have multiple tools & great render engines to accomplish this, with Iray being the latest to make it's way to our corner of the 3D universe and I couldn't be happier.

    Enough with the blah blah, here's a cool tip LOL

    Did you know that you don't need an Nvidia GPU graphics card to render with Iray? It's true! As long as you have a decent CPU, as most modern PCs do, you can work with Iray while waiting for that drool-worthy GPU upgrade your tax refund has been allocated for (Yes Wolfie, I'm lookin' to ya ;-) )

    Under Render Settings, click the Advanced tab & you'll see check boxes for the CPU & GPU(s) in your system. Make sure CPU is checked under Photoreal (and interactive if you want to work with the faster but a little less accurate portion of the Iray engine), and you're all set!
    The image attached was done only on the CPU in 4 minutes. Granted my workstation is running a pretty fast 4 core i7 (8 rendering threads), but I've tested out working on my 6 year old dual core Gateway laptop, with no Nvidia or AMD powered graphics processer, and can render in Iray as well. It's slower of course, but it works. So don't let the allure of sexy shiny GPUs you don't have yet keep you from dipping your toes into the PBR pond.

    sss-skintest-m6-cpuonlydraw-042315.jpg
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    iray-cpu-only-rendering-042315.jpg
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    Post edited by AlexLO on
  • AlexLOAlexLO Posts: 193
    edited April 2015

    Postin' more Pictures & makin' more Art with Iray ;-) This is such a cool new addition to DS!

    "Burning Man" 'shot' outside under the desert sun & sky.

    Also featured in my Iray Images gallery here at DAZ

    Iray-Burning-Man-042215-AlexLO.jpg
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    Post edited by AlexLO on
  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    Welcome to the Campus !!! lol they should include the HDRI map as standard HDRI lighting

    Rareth said:
    just when I finally jumped on the Pixar campus bandwagon, the thread splits.
    oh well..

    Initial testing with a decent hdri image.

  • BlantyrBlantyr Posts: 90
    edited December 1969

    I'm a Mac guy, but it's an 4Ghz i7. Building characters, the progressive render is good enough under CPU render to see what the next change has to be after only a minute or two. However, by the time I've filled the screen with trees, building, grass and what not there are enough 3Delight objects cluttering things up that the final render is often an overnighter with extra processing time allocated. I've got a healthy collection of shaders built up for 3Delight, stonework, fabric, grass, gems, flooring, etc... I'm hoping similar shader products come out for Iray so the old background objects can be resurfaced. I mean, my ladies are getting tired of red velvet and blue silk.

    I have a few things not working in the Beta. My Content Library function isn't letting me start from the root and walk up the tree, for example. I've been building a lot of stuff in 4.7 as a result, then pulling it into 4.8 to be Iraydized. Still, for a Beta 4.8 is remarkably stable. I can't remember a crash. It's far better than 4.6.

    What is it that makes the Pixar campus the ideal place to stage a photo shoot? Whatever it is, I hope someone figures it out and produces more HDRI sets of similar quality and ease of use. I can with a struggle get some other HDRI sets to work, but it doesn't seem worth the effort. Perhaps we might start sharing tweaks? To use a given HDRI map, one needs to tweak the gamma so, the environment weight so, the tone map so... If we can't get HDRIs that don't need to be massaged, perhaps we could exchange massage recipes?

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    The Pixar campus is the best map, since the sun is in ideal position , it does not create weird shadows on the face , it is nicely done with correct steps and overall quality , I guess the guy was just lucky with it to choice the exactly moment of the day .
    This HDRI map need to be set only to 2.20 in value and ready to render
    My favorite of all times ..

    I tried to render with CPU for a test.. man it was slow ..
    I do overclock my GTX 760 as well for much faster rendering but have to monitor the temperature .


    Blantyr said:
    I'm a Mac guy, but it's an 4Ghz i7. Building characters, the progressive render is good enough under CPU render to see what the next change has to be after only a minute or two. However, by the time I've filled the screen with trees, building, grass and what not there are enough 3Delight objects cluttering things up that the final render is often an overnighter with extra processing time allocated. I've got a healthy collection of shaders built up for 3Delight, stonework, fabric, grass, gems, flooring, etc... I'm hoping similar shader products come out for Iray so the old background objects can be resurfaced. I mean, my ladies are getting tired of red velvet and blue silk.

    I have a few things not working in the Beta. My Content Library function isn't letting me start from the root and walk up the tree, for example. I've been building a lot of stuff in 4.7 as a result, then pulling it into 4.8 to be Iraydized. Still, for a Beta 4.8 is remarkably stable. I can't remember a crash. It's far better than 4.6.

    What is it that makes the Pixar campus the ideal place to stage a photo shoot? Whatever it is, I hope someone figures it out and produces more HDRI sets of similar quality and ease of use. I can with a struggle get some other HDRI sets to work, but it doesn't seem worth the effort. Perhaps we might start sharing tweaks? To use a given HDRI map, one needs to tweak the gamma so, the environment weight so, the tone map so... If we can't get HDRIs that don't need to be massaged, perhaps we could exchange massage recipes?

  • rovrov Posts: 46
    edited December 1969

    MEC4D said:
    Welcome to the Campus !!! lol they should include the HDRI map as standard HDRI lighting

    Rareth said:
    just when I finally jumped on the Pixar campus bandwagon, the thread splits.
    oh well..

    Initial testing with a decent hdri image.


    Do not forget the Lussan-outside-castle HDRI map. I think you also used it Mec4D. And the Dutch Skies are also pretty good.
  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    yes very good too... for portrait the campus is the best ... Lussan is dramatic good for cars etc..


    rov said:
    MEC4D said:
    Welcome to the Campus !!! lol they should include the HDRI map as standard HDRI lighting

    Rareth said:
    just when I finally jumped on the Pixar campus bandwagon, the thread splits.
    oh well..

    Initial testing with a decent hdri image.


    Do not forget the Lussan-outside-castle HDRI map. I think you also used it Mec4D. And the Dutch Skies are also pretty good.
  • 8eos88eos8 Posts: 170
    edited April 2015

    Blantyr said:
    I've got a healthy collection of shaders built up for 3Delight, stonework, fabric, grass, gems, flooring, etc... I'm hoping similar shader products come out for Iray so the old background objects can be resurfaced. I mean, my ladies are getting tired of red velvet and blue silk.

    Have you tried just using the autoconverted materials for your clothes? I'm finding that looks good enough in most cases. And then if you need to tweak settings, you can apply the Iray Uber Base (like for metallic parts, if you don't want to use any of the Iray metal shaders for them you can apply Uber Base and set Metallicity to 1 and then adjust Glossy Roughness to the amount of shininess you want)

    Post edited by 8eos8 on
  • FistyFisty Posts: 3,416
    edited December 1969

    Perhaps not the best solution.. but I just spin dials til I know what they do and then spin them some more until it looks good.

  • Arnold CArnold C Posts: 740
    edited April 2015

    RAMWolff said:
    Gladly subscribed to a thread that the Mistress of 3D perfection started! :-)

    Still waiting for DAZ's deal with NVIDIA to be announced so I can update my card. Also waiting for the General release as I don't mess with Beta's any more. BUT having this thread and others bookmarked will be a great reference for me.

    DAZ Studio is already listed since March as "Integrated solution for Iray" on NVIDIA's Iray Webpage. Sure, you still could wait for the New York Times- or Wall Street Journal-headline "YEEHAAA, DAZ goes Iray!!!", but IMO that's as official as it can be. :lol:

    I don't mess with Beta's any more but having Iray 2015 free in it as first program on the market..I could not resist .. as that is insane the best move of DAZ ever

    Totally agree! If I hadn't been bored that day, I'd probably wouldn't had been giving it a try. Don't like Betas much, so it's funny that I didn't touch DS 4.7 since. :-)
    Having a PBR Renderer of that quality in DAZ Studio could even get me DAZsimilated... if that hasn't already happened in June 2010. :lol:

    Macsix (http://macsix.deviantart.com/gallery/46963359/IBL-HDR-Skies) has a few nice and free HDRs in his DeviantArt gallery.
    My personal fav is his "Anvil" HDR (http://macsix.deviantart.com/art/Anvil-Spherical-HDRI-Panorama-Skybox-416317312) for it's warm and bright lighting (as used in my "Magic Falls" testrender below).
    The "Pixar Campus" provides a too "cold" and blueish lighting for my taste.

    My dream is to get my hands to one of theese NVIDIA Quadro VCA's. 8 GPUs, 12 GB Memory per GPU and 24,576 CUDA Cores... Compared to how fast a GTX 980 renders an Iray scene, that thang must be a murderer.
    If you know a place where some of theese things have fallen from a truck, pleaz send a note. :lol:

    Magic_Falls.jpg
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    IntegratedS.JPG
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    Post edited by Arnold C on
  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    I am getting myself additional 2 x GTX 980 for my upcoming B-day lol

  • Arnold CArnold C Posts: 740
    edited April 2015

    I got some questions about creating a "Shadow Catcher" map like those MEC4D noticed in the "Show your Iray Renders II"-Thread (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/807952/). Since I'm not a Pro in Photoshop (mere a bloody beginner) I want to be sure I'm on the right track here. I made some screencaps for the most important stages (using Photoshop CS6).

    1. Convert the skin texture to a Black & White (greyscale) image.
    2. Remove reds by pulling the red channel slider all the way up (to 300 in that case).
    3. Apply a Gamma Correction value of 2.2
    4. Save as JPEG in ICC sRGB IEC61966-2.1 formate, as recommended in this Tutorial (http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps10_colour/ps10_1.htm) Would have chosen .png, but sadly there's no ICC option for this.
    5. Choosing JPEG Options "Quality: 10" and "Baseline (Standard)".

    The outcome is, depending on the texture set used, a mostly white jpg. (Victoria 6's conversed textures came out almost entirely white).
    Would that be the correct procedure, or am I missing something?

    - Picking a color for the SSS "Transmission Color" :
    I choose an area of the skin texture which would be one of the brightest (in Victoria 6's case I picked an RGB of 230 - 156 - 124 on her cheek). Is that recommendable, or are there other, more accurate methods?

    - Defining "Scattering Measurement Distance":
    when applying the Iray Uber Base to V6 ("Belle" texture set), you'll get a value of 10.0. That seems to be way to high IMO.
    Using the standard value of 0.10 would also be too low I guess. Are there any recommendations, how to set this right?
    I never worked on SSS values before, I always used "what I got".

    Thanks for your attention.

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    Post edited by Arnold C on
  • the3dwizardthe3dwizard Posts: 495
    edited December 1969

    Jack_238 said:
    Hi,
    The results with the skin shaders are incredible. There seems to be lots of discussion about them and I hope it continues so I can learn more.

    I would like to know if there are any technical tips on metals like the armor in MEC3D's renders and in the3dwizard's car. Thanks for sharing what is possible.

    Jack

    I tried the paints that came with Studio on the car but didn't like them. I too used Specular/Glossiness and just adjusted things until I got something I liked. It is not perfect but it was more to test the HDRI textures I am making.

    I am getting myself additional 2 x GTX 980 for my upcoming B-day lol

    You will love the 980's. I may have to get a second too.

    TIP - While you can use the CPU, graphics cards do make a big difference in render times! I haven't benchmarked it yet but going from my laptop with a GTX 680M to a PC with GTX 980 cut render times by about 3-5x. I do need to put the same scene on each one to calculate exact results.

    .

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited December 1969

    It would be better if you choice the color for Transmission by seeing the exactly level of Luminosity , what is the L in color picker
    forehead is good place to pick up the color should be not less than 56 and not greater than 72 ... around 68 is the best for Caucasian skin .
    Also regarding the shadow catcher to block the translucency from washing off the eyebrows, when you slide the red channel up , you control the level , how darker the eyebrows how better , you can remove everything else than is not white from the textures and leave only the eyebrows for ladies .. for guys would be good to leave the hair stubble too ... or scalp or body hair ...


    thanks for the illustrations it will help people to get off of the washed off eyebrows and hair


    For the SSS
    Distance : 0.50
    SSS Amount : 0.30
    SSS Direction : -0.50

    that are the best settings for me so far
    for the transmitted color choice the flash color of the diffuse

    I got some questions about creating a "Shadow Catcher" map like those MEC4D noticed in the "Show your Iray Renders II"-Thread (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/807952/). Since I'm not a Pro in Photoshop (mere a bloody beginner) I want to be sure I'm on the right track here. I made some screencaps for the most important stages (using Photoshop CS6).

    1. Convert the skin texture to a Black & White (greyscale) image.
    2. Remove reds by pulling the red channel slider all the way up (to 300 in that case).
    3. Apply a Gamma Correction value of 2.2
    4. Save as JPEG in ICC sRGB IEC61966-2.1 formate, as recommended in this Tutorial (http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps10_colour/ps10_1.htm) Would have chosen .png, but sadly there's no ICC option for this.
    5. Choosing JPEG Options "Quality: 10" and "Baseline (Standard)".

    The outcome is, depending on the texture set used, a mostly white jpg. (Victoria 6's conversed textures came out almost entirely white).
    Would that be the correct procedure, or am I missing something?

    - Picking a color for the SSS "Transmission Color" :
    I choose an area of the skin texture which would be one of the brightest (in Victoria 6's case I picked an RGB of 230 - 156 - 124 on her cheek). Is that recommendable, or are there other, more accurate methods?

    - Defining "Scattering Measurement Distance":
    when applying the Iray Uber Base to V6 ("Belle" texture set), you'll get a value of 10.0. That seems to be way to high IMO.
    Using the standard value of 0.10 would also be too low I guess. Are there any recommendations, how to set this right?
    I never worked on SSS values before, I always used "what I got".

    Thanks for your attention.

  • tomtom.wtomtom.w Posts: 140
    edited December 1969

    I tried the paints that came with Studio on the car but didn't like them. I too used Specular/Glossiness and just adjusted things until I got something I liked. It is not perfect but it was more to test the HDRI textures I am making.

    The car paints that come with Iray have wrong parameters in them. Reduce flake size to 1/100 the size they are and increase flake density from 1 to 100, and you'll get good metallic car paint, and not "Flecktarn" camo. Someone seems to have forgotten that the native scale in DS is 1 unit = 1 cm, and not 1 unit = 1 m as in 3ds, when converting them.

    The renders below are just partial renders, stopped after a few minutes, but they still show the difference between the original Sunburst shader preset, above, and the modified shader preset, below.

  • JimbowJimbow Posts: 557
    edited December 1969

    Here's my latest using a linear workflow. Sun & Sky shader lighting, with Michael6 kneeling on Stonemason's modular ruins. Lots of stuff going on under the skin.

    Skin50_JimBowers2015.jpg
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  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,339
    edited December 1969

    Lighting is the Campus HDR, model is Min Seo wearing Aiko 5's Rave Girl outfit.

    Salute!.jpg
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  • SimonWMSimonWM Posts: 924
    edited December 1969

    MEC4D said:
    I am getting myself additional 2 x GTX 980 for my upcoming B-day lol

    Its always nice to read your posts Catharina. I remember your DAZ Octanerender posts in the old forum were a mine of knowledge. You not only understand about the insides of the rendering engine but your hardware research is always excellent too.

    I was wondering why would you want to go with 2 X GTX 980's instead of the brand new Titan X 12 GB?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Threads merged.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,339
    edited April 2015

    chohole said:
    Threads merged.

    Not trying to tell you your business Cho, but these threads were separate on purpose. :)
    One just for renders, one for technical stuff for the "techies".
    Post edited by TJohn on
  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 12,440
    edited December 1969

    tjohn said:
    chohole said:
    Threads merged.

    Not trying to tell you your business Cho, but these threads were separate on purpose. :)
    One just for renders, one for technical stuff for the "techies".

    Except that this thread has contained technical information throughout. It has never been just renders.

This discussion has been closed.