Luxus discussion

1343537394050

Comments

  • SphericLabsSphericLabs Posts: 598
    edited December 1969

    Michael_G said:
    Another test, getting there. rendered with sun/sky 2 to highlight the gold, all custom made normal maps for the embossed metal. Material is metal2 with AU (electroplated gold) freshnal file. The under shirt and pants are LUX cloth.

    Why wouldn't you want gold armor? :)

    Love it.

  • IppotamusIppotamus Posts: 1,578
    edited December 1969

    Ippotamus said:
    I am not seeing LuxRender listed in the surfaces options.
    Am I missing a step somewhere?

    Sometimes actions don't get added to the menu. You can add it manually in Customize (hit F3) of Studio or reload your workspace.

    Hmm, I hit F3.
    I see it listed on the left hand side under actions.
    But still not seeing it.
    How can I add it?

    I've changed workspace layouts a couple of times
    Didn't change anything. :)

  • SphericLabsSphericLabs Posts: 598
    edited December 1969

    Ippotamus said:
    Ippotamus said:
    I am not seeing LuxRender listed in the surfaces options.
    Am I missing a step somewhere?

    Sometimes actions don't get added to the menu. You can add it manually in Customize (hit F3) of Studio or reload your workspace.

    Hmm, I hit F3.
    I see it listed on the left hand side under actions.
    But still not seeing it.
    How can I add it?

    I've changed workspace layouts a couple of times
    Didn't change anything. :)

    If you right click on the Surfaces Pane, do you see a "Luxus - LuxRender Material"?

  • IppotamusIppotamus Posts: 1,578
    edited December 1969

    Ippotamus said:
    Ippotamus said:
    I am not seeing LuxRender listed in the surfaces options.
    Am I missing a step somewhere?

    Sometimes actions don't get added to the menu. You can add it manually in Customize (hit F3) of Studio or reload your workspace.

    Hmm, I hit F3.
    I see it listed on the left hand side under actions.
    But still not seeing it.
    How can I add it?

    I've changed workspace layouts a couple of times
    Didn't change anything. :)

    If you right click on the Surfaces Pane, do you see a "Luxus - LuxRender Material"?

    Ah ha! There it is!
    Right-click on the surface pane ... who knew? :)
    Thanks oodles.

  • SassyWenchSassyWench Posts: 602
    edited December 1969

    Hellboy said:
    Hellboy said:
    Someone knows how can I use IBL in Luxus? :-P

    First.. stupid question LOL Is IBL an HRDI light?

    If so, turn a light into a Luxus infinite light. Then under LuxRender settings there will be a place to use a map. Under LuxRenderLight/infinite, second from the bottom is environment map.

    I haven't tried it yet so can't wait to see yours!

    Oh! That worked beautifuly! Thanks!
    Now I have to find how to make the foreground a separate layer from the IBL.
    Guess I should read the manual. :-P

    Welcome!

    For the second part of that, you're already over my head! That didn't take long, did it? LOLOL

  • FusionLAFusionLA Posts: 249
    edited December 1969

    Hellboy said:
    Actually I'm glad you posted that too, I was using a JPG, I'll check a real imeage made for this.
    Thanks!

    I don't know if your trying to not have the IBL show in the background for the render?
    If so, you won't find that in the manual.
    It was one of the settings (Alpha Channel) that I used in Reality, and SphericLabs added it after (very quick, I might add! ).
    In Luxus, you need to turn on the Pre Multiply Alpha.

    Screen_Shot_2013-03-30_at_7.09_.13_PM_.png
    399 x 77 - 27K
  • HellboyHellboy Posts: 1,437
    edited December 1969

    Makes sense! :wow: Thanks!

  • FusionLAFusionLA Posts: 249
    edited December 1969

    Hellboy said:
    Makes sense! :wow: Thanks!

    Now because your Luxus render, I guess I need to learn about setting the materials manually.
    Not sure how soon the Auto-Convert mapping of DAZ Studio Glossiness and Reflection settings will be fixed to work like they do in DAZ Studio or the Auto-Convert in Reality.

    @SphericLabs a thank you again, for working with all of us here to make Luxus a better product.

    Now off to play with the Snake ( and that's not for you dirty minded :) )

  • HellboyHellboy Posts: 1,437
    edited December 1969

    Yeah, definitely setting the materials yourself is the way to go.
    What I'm obsessed with right now is the homogeneous volume. I'm impressed with the results.
    Right now I'm rendering a small translucent figurine and the lighting effect through it is very cool.

    DOF works great. It doesn't seem to translate the DAZ Studio settings, but it sure works manually.

  • IppotamusIppotamus Posts: 1,578
    edited December 1969

    Well, I'm getting a little deeper in to it.
    Nothing worth posting yet as far as creations go.
    Still wishing for a free "Fiery Genesis for Luxus" type walk through that includes the shaders and other essential tricks. :)
    Checked devianart today but nothing written or posted yet.

  • FusionLAFusionLA Posts: 249
    edited December 1969

    Hellboy said:
    Yeah, definitely setting the materials yourself is the way to go.
    What I'm obsessed with right now is the homogeneous volume. I'm impressed with the results.
    Right now I'm rendering a small translucent figurine and the lighting effect through it is very cool.

    DOF works great. It doesn't seem to translate the DAZ Studio settings, but it sure works manually.


    Yes, some of the Auto-Covert setting still need work.
    But the bugs and request have been getting fixed, updated quick.
    I can't wait to start playing with the SSS /Homogeneous effects.
  • IppotamusIppotamus Posts: 1,578
    edited December 1969

    Mattymanx said:
    Hellboy said:

    Thanks!
    Yeah, when using LuxRender:

    1- ALWAYS Adjust materials specifically for LuxRender.
    2- ALWAYS create lighting specifically for LuxRender (better yet if you use HUGE meshlights or whatever they are called in Luxus).
    3- ALWAYS use the LuxRender GUI.

    :)

    I agree 100%. You want to take full advantage of LuxRender by using its own materials and lights and use the GUI for what it does extra.

    So, of course, I'm very curious about this.
    When you talk about "adjusting materials specifically for LuxRender" are you using the DAZ surface interface or is some snazzy thing?

    Meshlights? Want.

    GUI ... got it. :)

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    Ippotamus said:
    ...
    Meshlights? Want.

    GUI ... got it. :)

    Aren't area lights the same as meshlights?
    There are presets coming with Luxus. ... Light Presets\SphericLabs\Luxus

    Or you can create your own.
    Create a plane, select the surface, do the Surfaces Option Menu, “Luxus - LuxRender Material”, I could choose null as the type and click the Light Parameters, Accept. Then click in the surface pane and find the LuxRender Parameters(I like to type Lux in the search field) and turn on the LuxRender - Light Enable.
    You can also adjust the power there too.

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,942
    edited December 1969

    And speaking of lights, both of the 'prop' variety and 'surface' type, would it not be great to have a text input filed taht allowed you to give a name over-ride so you can group some lights together in LuxRender.

  • HellboyHellboy Posts: 1,437
    edited December 1969

    Ippotamus said:
    Mattymanx said:
    Hellboy said:

    Thanks!
    Yeah, when using LuxRender:

    1- ALWAYS Adjust materials specifically for LuxRender.
    2- ALWAYS create lighting specifically for LuxRender (better yet if you use HUGE meshlights or whatever they are called in Luxus).
    3- ALWAYS use the LuxRender GUI.

    :)

    I agree 100%. You want to take full advantage of LuxRender by using its own materials and lights and use the GUI for what it does extra.

    So, of course, I'm very curious about this.
    When you talk about "adjusting materials specifically for LuxRender" are you using the DAZ surface interface or is some snazzy thing?

    Meshlights? Want.

    GUI ... got it. :)

    The DAZ Studio surface tab, but I mean using the Luxus settings and tweak them for each material specifically, never rely on an automatic conversion because no matter what plug-in you use, it can't guess the desired results in another engine in all scenarios.

    But I have to agree the Luxus conversion could be improved. I don't mind the values because those should be tweaked anyway, but I seriously think the diffuse, specular and bump maps at least should be applied automatically.

    I know them as mesh lights from Reality and have seen that in the LuxRender site as well, I don't know if area lights is the correct term, but I'd like to know.
    Yes, its just a mesh turned to light. Each polygon is a light source, so you want to keep it simple or it will get slower. A one polygon plane is usually enough. I think renders look better with very soft shadows, so I use big planes as light (bigger mesh = softer shadow)

    I'd never dare to render without the Luxrender GUI. There's where you make the final image look as you want. You can even get multiple different renders just by adjusting the lighting in some cases.

  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited March 2013

    Hellboy said:
    I know them as mesh lights from Reality and have seen that in the LuxRender site as well, I don't know if area lights is the correct term, but I'd like to know.

    Technically, they are area lights. The command in the Lux scene file to define one is "AreaLightSource". But mesh light is a fairly common alternate name for them, as is emitter.

    I think many people think of mesh lights as simple geometry (e.g., a plane) made into an emitter, while they think of area lights as being more complex geometry made into an emitter (e.g., converting the ambient channel on a SciFi vehicle like the Syklus into an emitter).

    Post edited by cwichura on
  • HellboyHellboy Posts: 1,437
    edited December 1969

    Thn I'll stick with area lights, thanks!

  • OstadanOstadan Posts: 1,123
    edited December 1969

    cwichura said:
    Hellboy said:
    I know them as mesh lights from Reality and have seen that in the LuxRender site as well, I don't know if area lights is the correct term, but I'd like to know.

    Technically, they are area lights. The command in the Lux scene file to define one is "AreaLightSource". But mesh light is a fairly common alternate name for them, as is emitter.

    I think many people think of mesh lights as simple geometry (e.g., a plane) made into an emitter, while they think of area lights as being more complex geometry made into an emitter (e.g., converting the ambient channel on a SciFi vehicle like the Syklus into an emitter).

    Actually (if I distinguish the terms at all, which I don't), I think of them the other way around: an 'area' light would be attached to a two-dimensional area of space, i.e., a plane, whereas a 'mesh' light would be associated with an arbitrary piece of geometry.

  • KickAir 8PKickAir 8P Posts: 1,865
    edited March 2013

    nDelphi said:
    Adding more memory will allow you to get more creative; as in allowing you to add more to a scene. It isn't going to make it faster. For that going with a new system say with DDR3 memory and a more modern CPU will. It's up to you and what your budget is like.

    I use a quad-core myself, it works for me for the moment, but who wouldn't want a faster machine than the one they currently have? ;)


    My computer guy took a look, and he says the max my motherboard will support is 16 gig, so that's what we ordered -- by Wednesday night at the latest it should be installed. We also went over the options re buying a new machine, but a 3.10 GHz quad-core CPU isn't bad, and to get a significant improvement I'd have to spend way too much money. And since the CPU was barely utilized due to the RAM issue I have hopes. We'll see how it goes.

    SphericLabs, Michael_G, SimonJM, cwichura, Mattymanx, nDelphi -- thanks for all your help, really appreciate it!
    Sorry everybody, I've had some semi-minor RealLife™ issues keeping me off of the forums since last Tuesday. But my new ram's been installed, all 16 gig of it (which turned into a story in itself), and last night I luxrendered the slightly reworked version of my scene (changed a couple of textures, nothing that should affect render-time). Immense difference! The CPU was routinely maxed throughout, the ram usage never went over 10 gig, and in a bit less than ten hours I got to 160 S/p! Below is a screenshot and the untouched render, and I've got the final version up in my deviantART gallery here. I'm so happy with how this came out, it's just what I was going for -- thanks again, people!

    screenshot.31-03-2013_09_.52_.28_.jpg
    1680 x 1050 - 583K
    PCI20130327-Scene02-Lux02b-c2.jpg
    2000 x 1600 - 4M
    Post edited by KickAir 8P on
  • NV OracleNV Oracle Posts: 139
    edited December 1969

    One of the difficulties I had when I first started using Studio was to be able to use the lighting in a way that I could understand it. Coming from an Photography and art background, the lighting in LuxRender is much easier for me to understand, and to combine it with the ease of using Luxus as a bridge between Studio, and LuxRender.

    I had wanted to purchase Reality, but I just couldn't justify spending that much money, especially on my current budget. When the opportunity to buy Luxus during the March Madness sale came along, I picked it up as quickly as I could. LOL.

    This is a very quick render, pretty much right out of the box. I know I have a ton to learn, but that is the artist, not the software. I only added a Sun to the character, and pose, and I let it bake for just over 4.5 hrs, and it got to about 645 S/p. I know it should have baked for a lot longer than that, and when I do one that is up to the quality of the software, and Lux, I'll let you guys see it

    Your friend
    Oracle

    Studio_Lux_test_render_1_complete.jpg
    800 x 600 - 49K
  • InaneGloryInaneGlory Posts: 294
    edited December 1969

    Ostadan said:
    cwichura said:
    Hellboy said:
    I know them as mesh lights from Reality and have seen that in the LuxRender site as well, I don't know if area lights is the correct term, but I'd like to know.

    Technically, they are area lights. The command in the Lux scene file to define one is "AreaLightSource". But mesh light is a fairly common alternate name for them, as is emitter.

    I think many people think of mesh lights as simple geometry (e.g., a plane) made into an emitter, while they think of area lights as being more complex geometry made into an emitter (e.g., converting the ambient channel on a SciFi vehicle like the Syklus into an emitter).

    Actually (if I distinguish the terms at all, which I don't), I think of them the other way around: an 'area' light would be attached to a two-dimensional area of space, i.e., a plane, whereas a 'mesh' light would be associated with an arbitrary piece of geometry.

    The term 'Area Light" came about to differentiate them from regular 3d Point (and Spot) Lights. In the real world light sources have a definable shape, size and mass. Regular 3d lights have none of these definable qualities. An area light gives you a light source with a definable size and shape. In practical terms I think of an Area Light as a 2d single polygon used as a light source while I think of a Mesh Light as a multifaceted (multiple polygons) object or part of an object that is being used as a light source. At least that's how I think of them :)

  • BobvanBobvan Posts: 2,652
    edited March 2013

    NV Oracle said:
    One of the difficulties I had when I first started using Studio was to be able to use the lighting in a way that I could understand it. Coming from an Photography and art background, the lighting in LuxRender is much easier for me to understand, and to combine it with the ease of using Luxus as a bridge between Studio, and LuxRender.

    I had wanted to purchase Reality, but I just couldn't justify spending that much money, especially on my current budget. When the opportunity to buy Luxus during the March Madness sale came along, I picked it up as quickly as I could. LOL.

    This is a very quick render, pretty much right out of the box. I know I have a ton to learn, but that is the artist, not the software. I only added a Sun to the character, and pose, and I let it bake for just over 4.5 hrs, and it got to about 645 S/p. I know it should have baked for a lot longer than that, and when I do one that is up to the quality of the software, and Lux, I'll let you guys see it

    Your friend
    Oracle

    Adjusting materials will help alot for that pesky Lux noise the refine brush is your friend!

    Post edited by Bobvan on
  • InaneGloryInaneGlory Posts: 294
    edited March 2013

    Here's a test render that I'm mostly happy with. It was primarily a lighting test so I let Luxus translate most of the material automatically (except the jewelry and hair comb). The hair isn't quite right and something got borked in the eyes, plus the unfortunate V4 mesh deformity on the back of the shoulder are the only things I'm not happy with. As an auto-translate I'm pretty happy with the skin. Thinking it looks pretty good for early days

    Edit: oops, forgot to attach the render :red:

    ROL04PSL428sp.jpg
    800 x 1035 - 395K
    Post edited by InaneGlory on
  • BobvanBobvan Posts: 2,652
    edited March 2013

    LOL ok you added it Not bad I would so PS the wholes in the hair area with the fill tool...

    Post edited by Bobvan on
  • Ali BozisAli Bozis Posts: 39
    edited December 1969

    Does this tread have anything about hoe to render with a transparent background? or can anyone please help me with that issue?

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    In the render setting there is a "PreMultiply" toggle to ward the top...On means Transperent Background

  • SloshSlosh Posts: 2,391
    edited December 1969

    Ok, I am on page 40 of this 72 page thread but still haven’t found an solution to my problem. In regards to the gamma settings, I find that rendering with all gammas (gammae?) set to 2.2, I get really nice diffuse colors for skin, environment, etc, BUT not so great for trans-mapped objects such as hair and eyelashes. In the attached picture you see the inset render, which was gamma 2.2 and the larger picture, which had texture gamma set to 1.0. As you can see, the hair in the 1.0 version is much brighter and prettier, plus the eyelashes are black as they should be (trust me, I did a closeup). But in the 2.2 version, the eyelashes are grey and the hair looks dull and stringy. I like the skin and the walls better in the 2.2 version, but the hair and lashes are better in the 1.0 version. How do I get the best of both worlds? I don't have Lux materials applied to anything in this scene except the windows and Aiko's cornea and tear.

    Also, the larger pic is a crop of a render that is currently at 36 S/p after 47 mins. It is still pixelated, but I can see that it will smooth out over time.

    compare.jpg
    536 x 422 - 207K
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    I am not sure what is happening with Transmaps as I had to make some windows a separate Surface zone just so the frame etc was visable. Unless Transmap are gamma correct incorrectly I have no idea.

    36 S/p after 47 mins, even on my Dual Core 2 GB Ram rig using Volume I can get better s/p rate in less time. What size are you rendering. Do you have an ATI GC that can handle OpenCL The 5000 series and up I think will do it. Some Nvivda cards have it to. I try to use Hybrid rendering every time.

    And some adjusting of textures maybe be required, never assume they won't need it.

  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,258
    edited December 1969

    Szark said:
    In the render setting there is a "PreMultiply" toggle to ward the top...On means Transperent Background

    Good thing they make it obvious or I might have missed that... not that I'll remember it tomorrow unfortunately ;p

  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,258
    edited April 2013

    I'm running into the same issue with hair becoming highly desaturated, unfortunately I'm not understanding what the fix is. The other issue I ran into was hair that parts seemed became invisible, or transmapped to such since it was noticeably thinner. I don't have an example atm but could re-render at some point. It was taking a while to render so being a bit lazy atm about that.

    Post edited by Joe Cotter on
This discussion has been closed.