Iray to 3Delight?

Cybersox

timmins.william said:

AoA lights? I've gotten pretty realistic results with AoA lights, but getting that last bit of realism often means bounce light and then a veeeeery long render.

Note that I did say that what I do tends to be more painterly.  In general, my attitude is that even the very best, most realistic renders involving humans... using any software currently available... still tends to fall on the wrong side of the the Uncanny Valley, and until we get such basics in DS as multiple softbody collisions on a single figure, dynamic hair and an improved dynamic cloth system, there's always going to be something that reads as fake to somebody's eyes, no matter how good the renderer itself is. So, if it's a choice between a two hour render that's still not "perfect" and a 30 minute render with AoAs that I can bash around in photoshop, I'll tend to go with the latter.  

Oso3D

Oh sure, just always curious about folks' methods.

WF3D

I concur on the AoA lights - nearly all of my lighting involves the AoA lights; even if I make use of a product's included lighting set, I still almost always supplement with AoA lights. 

And thanks to the group for the Iray thoughts.  I am definitely not advanced enough to try converting textures myself to 3DL - hopefully someone can create a script to do this, which would almost certainly sell well here! 

3delinquent

Can someone explain exactly what happens when using ctrl click with shaders? I'm sketchy on that.

I suppose heaps of people do it, but layering aspects of 3delight and Iray renders is a cool idea Serene Night. Thanks for mentioning it. Things like that aren't going to occur to people like me until way later in the learning process.

Evildeds' breakdown helps me recognise some of the differences between base shaders but I don't suppose there's a label somewhere that tells you? At least I can recognise when something in my scene has Iray shaders!

So Will, since the first time I read a post of yours on shaders, it's gone from 100% over my head, to about 40% bouncing off my forehead and a similar percentage actually being absorbed. For the rest, it's still sailing somewhere over, but I'm quietly confidant that at some point in the relatively near future, I'll feel the satisfying thud of it comeing back around and hitting me fair in the back of the head. I'm thinking that's when most of it will absorb properly.

I think there are a lot of presets and utilities/scripts etc. that I have to categorise into a custom menu so they are radily available in smart content. A lifetime of conditioning to 'like this, do that' learning, makes learning how to learn other ways difficult to learn.

Oso3D

Ill be more helpful once I get my computer set up again; I've mostly moved to a new place and been unable to use my computer for a few days. Going that long without working on scenes is making me itchy...

3delinquent

Ha ha! Addiction....

Cybersox

timmins.william said:

Oh sure, just always curious about folks' methods.

Yeah, everyone does things a little differently.  In the end, I was a matte painter and photographer long before I got into 3D, so I tend use a lot of tricks from those disciplines and focus on postwork rather than try to get everything "perfect" in the render stage.  With AoA's, that usually means going for slightly lower contrast in 3DL and slightly higher fill using an AoA ambient light, then kicking it in the pants in photoshop.  

Oso3D

I've been trying to develop my skills in Photoshop. Baby steps... the big thing with bounce light is getting some of that delicate reflected color. That said, I'm finding Distant or Spot + Ambient does a perfectly fine job most of the time. And if I'm using any serious Photoshop filtering, precise rendering is even less important (like NIK Vintage look)

kyoto kid

timmins.william said:

AoA lights? I've gotten pretty realistic results with AoA lights, but getting that last bit of realism often means bounce light and then a veeeeery long render.

..I've been able to simulate that pretty well with a second low intensity distant light. without much increase in render time.  My 3DL version fo the girls at the bus stop used this and it didn't take hours to render.

Richard Haseltine

3delinquent said:

Can someone explain exactly what happens when using ctrl click with shaders? I'm sketchy on that.

You will get a dialogue box with two options - one to apply the shader to selected surfaces on selected items (the default) or to all surfaces on selected items, the other to chnage both values (numbers and on/off switches) and maps (the default, if the shader preset has settings for both) or to change only value and leave the existing maps applied.

evilded777

3delinquent said:

 

Evildeds' breakdown helps me recognise some of the differences between base shaders but I don't suppose there's a label somewhere that tells you? At least I can recognise when something in my scene has Iray shaders!

Not sure what you are asking here.

If you are asking how to tell what shader is applied, it tells you at the very top of the Surface Pane. When you select a material it will say at the top "Shader: Iray Uber" or "Shader: Daz Default" or "Shader: AoA Subsurface" etc.

If you mean the differences between the various 3Delight shaders... well, that would take a couple of pages.

DestinysGarden

This whole thread was about a week ago addressing the same topic.

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/92956/iray-items-in-3delight-how#latest

3delinquent

Sorry Evilded, it's one of those things, how did I never see at the top of the pane, Shader: xxxx? The mysteries of the universe manifest in the bit of my brain that thinks it works. :) Thanks.

Thanks as well Richard. That's one of those things I did a few times and subsequently forgot how to do it. That tends to happen when I get too much information at once and don't consolidate what I've learned - sort of.

Thanks DestinysGarden, I missed that thread. Lots of good info. Cheers.

sriesch

evilded777 said:

If you are asking how to tell what shader is applied, it tells you at the very top of the Surface Pane. When you select a material it will say at the top "Shader: Iray Uber" or "Shader: Daz Default" or "Shader: AoA Subsurface" etc.

If you mean the differences between the various 3Delight shaders... well, that would take a couple of pages.

I thought I read somewhere that was somewhat random, and you won't always get the actual shader name displayed there, it might display something else depending on how the shader was set up.  Is that correct?

evilded777

sriesch said:

evilded777 said:

If you are asking how to tell what shader is applied, it tells you at the very top of the Surface Pane. When you select a material it will say at the top "Shader: Iray Uber" or "Shader: Daz Default" or "Shader: AoA Subsurface" etc.

If you mean the differences between the various 3Delight shaders... well, that would take a couple of pages.

I thought I read somewhere that was somewhat random, and you won't always get the actual shader name displayed there, it might display something else depending on how the shader was set up.  Is that correct?

I have never heard or seen such a thing.

If you have multiple materials selected that have different shaders applied, it will say Shader: Multiple.  That's the only time I have ever seen it not be exact.