Digital Art Zone

Hiya,

I was just wondering if anyone could explain what AO mats are and what no AO mats mean.  The elite texture for Sol is labeled like that and I can’t figure out why.

Thanks in advanced for any help

AO stands for Ambient Occlusion, subtile shades that happens when in reality two objects are closer each other and/or are influenced by the light environment.
To fake this in the old programs an AO node was added to show those proximity shadows, with normal lights (infinite or spot) or Image Base Lighting, with the current tecnology isn’t needed anymore but you need Global Illumination.

So, if you want to fake AO, you need the AO mats, if you don’t need or want that or you use GI, use the no AO.

Oh ok thanks heaps for explaining that :D

You’re welcome!
I hope I was understandable, I didn’t want to be too technical.

So if you use AO mats with GI such as UberEnvironment it will double up on the AO?

Yes, with GI enabled you have the same results as the fake AO, well, better than the fake AO, so it’s not necessary at all.

I don’t use DAZ Studio, but if his GI is real, you have better lighting and no need to fake anything.

Thanks, I know you don’t want to double up on AO and it should be logical I guess that if using a lighting system that is using AO that any mats listed as AO would double, but sometimes the obvious doesn’t click ;p