Uber Area Object loses settings..
Scavenger
Posts: 2,674
I'm using the UberArea Shader on torch flames to light them up as I found point lights just not working (they kept leaving a big white "hot spot" in the middle of the flame picture.
I set it up, did lots of adjustments to the intensity and went on to do other stuff. (pic 1)
When I went back for some additional adjustments...the light settings were gone...not blank or default..actually just not there. (pic 2)
This is..annoying and troubling... reapplying the shader gave me the light settings back, but of course at their default.
Anyone seen this kind of behavior?
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Comments
Are you sure you were selecting the right surface?
...yes. I'm sure I was selecting the right surface.
The first image didn't upload...can you put it back up?
Is this after a reload or just out of nowhere it reverted back to the standard shader?
Oh, the first image is the forum graphic upload screw up..the two images are what's it.
I can't recall if it was after a reload or not. Probably as I did switch out of the scene to do a subscene to merge with the big one.
I had noticed this on the neon pic I was working on last week...I commented in the neon thread that I couldn't figure out how to change the lighting using the uberarea shader since there wasn't an intensity slider.
If it's from a saved scene or scene subset...I've noticed that the UA is not always saved. I thought in the past that it had been...and probably should (almost every other shader IS). But, I'm not 100% sure, I don't use it all that much...so I can't quite remember the 'proper' behavior for it. There are a couple of other omnifreaker things that don't save right, like the EnvSphere in UE2...it always reloads from a saved scene with the default values (except texture). It's almost as if, sometimes (most of the time) the scene is loading the Uber stuff as new items, instead of the saved ones.
I have found that creating a preset, after you get it set the way you want it, is the most reliable way to make sure your Uber Lights settings will stay the same between loads.
Good to know. I might switch to the..other option for this kind of thing you had told me about..depends on how this next render of this @#@#@! dungeon goes.
This is an old thread, but I am having the same or a very similar issue. The problem is Studio itself as a reload of the file or a restart of Studio can magically recover the full parameter set for the shader, but not always first time. I have the relevant nodes saved in a scene subset, and if Studio is having its sulk then that too will load in the degenerate surface state.
Has anyone got any suggestions on how to recover from this apart from the reload / restart or crafting the surface shading anew?
Are you saying a saved object, can load with the shader intact, but some parameters are wrong?
I have never experienced that.
So can you provide more information on which parameters that are wrong.
Haha - or is it Grrrrr. As chance happens, the problem occurred as I was preparing a partial response for you, FELIS.
It is not that the parameters are wrong. It is that the parameters are missing altogether. First image is the surfaces tab on a file load that has not worked. The second image is the same surfaces tab on a reload of the file.
I have no imidiate reason for why that could happen.
What does it look like if you expand 'flame' so it is visible which groups it has.
But are you aware it is a 3DL shader?
Felis, not sure I understand "What does it look like if you expand 'flame' so it is visible which groups it has.". As a "group", it just has some sparks parented to it.
And yes, I use 3DL. 3DL allows micro manipulation of the mesh based on various parameters in the surface tab, which iRay does not (when last I looked). For a lot of my renders (eg pebbles on a landscape that is a very-large mesh) the 3DL capability is critical.
So, my query is still out there - does anyone know what is happening on the load of the .duf that it is sometimes smashing down the uber area light parameters to some degenerate set, and is there any workaround other than re-loading a .duf (which can take a little time).
By expanding I meant click the little triangle with flame, so you can see whichs groups is contained.
Like the below image.
Hi, Felis. Don't think that tells us anything more than we can see in the surfaces tab, where the values and maps are also visible. But here 'tis. As chance had it again, the first load tonight had the degeneracty error, so a screenshot of both states.
I haven't been exhaustive, but I think it's correct to say that if the .duf loads degenerate for one Uber Area light / surface, it loads degenerate for all in the scene. This file now has 5x area lights and will shortly have more.
Good to know for others, that instancing an area light, once it loads properly, works a treat. First scene is one area light fantom pretending to be the angel. The second instances that area light over near the bloke with the green mug.
I don't know why it can happen, but I have never used 3DL shaders, so don't know if there are some specialities.
What happen if you in Preferences enable 'Show Hidden Properties'?
Richard Hastletine, have you any thoughts or suggestions?