Question
Angelman
Posts: 42
in The Commons
When using smoke in a picture, I rendered in IRAY and it came out very badly. I put the smoke around the around a character and when I rendered it, i cant see the character. Do i need to play with the opacity or something? Just wondering
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Comments
I highly highly HIGHLY recommend adding smoke as postwork. It's incredibly hard to get anything remotely good in Iray, and it often takes forever to render and still looks like poop.
I dunno, I was pretty happy with this one...
Iray, no postwork :)
*edit*
I probably could have cropped it down for posting on here. I tend to render all my scenes at the same size and let my panels in Comic Life crop them for me.
*another edit*
attached the cropped version.
I use PS for smoke, but that is me
Using PS brushes...LOT MORE CONTROL
but as said, that is me
Angelman:
how are you setting up your smoke?
I've got smoke images which I use as a texture on a primitive plane, then have a transparency map in the opacity/cutout-opacity setting that makes anywhere there is not smoke completely invisible and where there is smoke, partly transparent.
It could be that you don't have, or haven't used a trans map so the whole smoke image is solid.
Kaotkbliss, no I havent used a trans map, I dont even know what that is.:( Everytime i render in IRAY it makes the smoke solid. So I need to figure out what you are talking about.
A transparency map is a black and white version of the image you are using for smoke. Black is completely see through (as if it's not there) white is completely solid. Grey you can both, see the image and see through it. The darker the grey, the easier it is to see through.
In this image from google search, on the left is the transparency map and on the right is the diffuse texture
http://wiki.alternativaplatform.com/images/d/d0/2-8.jpg
if you just use the image on the right placed on a primitive plane, the you will see a white square with a leaf inside of it when you render.
When you place the image on the left in the cutout opacity then the white dissapears from the render.
I am using a prop that i bought from DAZ that has smoke and fire, when i render this, this is how it comes out..
Can you provide a link to the item being used?
http://www.daz3d.com/fire-and-smoke-for-daz-studio
Also, can you provide a screenshot of the surface settings for the smoke?
not sure if this is what you need?
Strange, I don't see a dropdown box for choosing a texture for the diffuse setting, so you are getting a flat solid color. Scroll down to the opacity setting and see if it's the same.
This may be your issue (it's using solid colors but not the textures so #1 the smoke doesn't look like smoke, and #2 there's no transparency in the smoke)
*edit*
I don't have that particular product yet, but see in my screenshot how next to each bar is eather an image (texture currently used) or a grey box with a down arrow? yours should have that too. When you click on the down arrow, you can browse and choose a texture to use in that setting.
look at this one
I have that product. It is an older one and works with a special 3DLight shader. You would have to add a Iray smoke shader preset to the prop make it work I guess.
Ahh, that explains that. I've had that product in my wishlist and thought it would use textured primitive or objects like Mistiva's simple smoke on sharecg
http://www.sharecg.com/v/76297/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Simple-Smoke