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Exactly, yet for an empirical physicist, water is water is water, - it always has impurities =) and one too often poisonous ones =D
One can drown with a cup of water, it doesn't make it a swimming pool.... there is something called 'a matter of degree.' What we in english speaking countries generally refer to as dielectrics exhibit those properties to a degree greater then other insulators. Or, at least that what I was taught. There are times when here in America at least, we are taught one thing because that is what we can understand at that level, then taught something very different later because we can understand the nuances of the more complex idea we couldn't before. Perhaps that is something I am running into, who knows.
You folks are so relative... no wonder Einstein had to emigrate to one of your countries =D
Btw, I cannot speak two languages. The best I can do is a few words in various ones, and English. I applaud anyone who can, even if they struggle with it, which you do not.
Thank you, but I do struggle. It's just that it's not noticeable.
"Struggle" as in "wrecking my brain over choosing the best word... and failing, continually". It's actually worse than just not knowing grammar or basic vocabulary.
A native speaker wrote a song about that same thing, though... should make me feel less bad, but it doesn't... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNAop3I-GF0
that was NOT sarcasm Mustakettu85, that was honest.
What I mean is for the shadows to behave 'properly' it should be harder between the point where the an object meets the ground plane. A more technical term will be correct umbra/penumbra.
Generally, UberAreaLight - 8 for fast renders and 32 for final renders. The directional light should be using the render options settings (set to 16). Another point to consider is the time to generate shadow maps and the penalty with multiple spotlights. UberAreaLight behaves pretty much like UberSoftLight - adding additional light has minimal impact to render time.
Edit. Added the renders below. First image is Raytraced shadows. Notice how the shadows starts rather sharp and then gradually becomes softer furher out. For comparison's sake, the second and third are DSM shadows. You can have soft or hard shadows, but not both. This is with a distant/directional light and no other lights in the scene.
Thanks, though pardon me for correcting - it should be UberAreaLight.
Like I wrote before, I think the DAZ default lights (point,spot,directional) don't offer the controls needed to get more accurate shadows. Although you could try tinkering with them in Shader Mixer, I found using multiple area lights are generally faster than using multiple default lights (if the need arises).
Pity it doesn't work (correctly) with DS4 and up.
Thanks, though pardon me for correcting - it should be UberAreaLight.
Like I wrote before, I think the DAZ default lights (point,spot,directional) don't offer the controls needed to get more accurate shadows. Although you could try tinkering with them in Shader Mixer, I found using multiple area lights are generally faster than using multiple default lights (if the need arises).
Pity it doesn't work (correctly) with DS4 and up.
UberArea lights were broken in a previous release of DS4 (I think it was the first or second DS4.5 beta release) but they're working now. Or do you mean there is something about them that doesn't work the way you think it should?
I have not had time to read through everything in this thread yet and hope to do it right now;
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/4357/
MindVision G.D.S. was kind enough to share some tips for me, might could help some.
Best of luck to you all and keep up the good work. I'm truly greatful for you all.
My version of DS4.5 is DS.4.5.1.6. Haven't seen updated builds but it wasn't working the same as it did in DS3. When I compared shots of the same scene, rendered with the same light and camera, DS4 shots were noticeably darker.
This is just one of many reasons I'm still working in DS3.
Mmm, I guess I misread. I have been working with Ubersurface lights and they are working well for me, but then I didn't have experience with them before so I may just be adjusting them so that they work to a level beyond what one had to before.
Just for clarity here, can you point me to the wiki for UberSurface lights you're talking about? I'm curious whether or not we're actually taking about the same thing (it may very well be the case).
Ok, part of the confusion is that I was referring to them incorrectly, I meant UberArea lights. I wasn't referring to any wiki, just my experience going into lighting, finding UberArea and applying it to the surfaces I wanted to emit light, and adjusting them to get the effect I wanted, as demonstrated here and here (the study example.)
Note: if one doesn't read all of 'The Dark Star' example, they might get a false impression about the prop as I was having some problems with the lighting that Stonemason was kind enough to take time to help me sort out. The example I posted was still a valid one of a different take on lighting, and the fix for the problem I was having might help others if they run into the same thing.
Yeah, I've gotten some good results from UberArea lights in DS 4.5.1.6+ also, and like you Gedd, I never used DS3.
I learned most of what I know about them from here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/14536/ Judging from reply #4 it sounds like there are some changes between how they worked in DS3 vs. DS4.5.
True, if you're setting max ray bounce over 1 for a scene with IDL, it becomes way too slow. I'm still planning to test that bounce-restricting feature of US2 (which lets all the rays bounce the generally specified time, but limits the indirect diffuse bounce), but I honestly can't be bothered since I've never yet come up with a scene that would call for multiple interreflection/refraction AND IDL.
Well yeah, if that's important for you, then raytraced shadows are a better option. I found that the default lights in DS3 are waaaay slower re:raytracing than the scripted ones, though. If you've managed to grab the scripting kit when it was available, you can get access to these easily and speed up the workflow by at least a couple dozen percent...
double damm posting. ;)
Well yeah, if that's important for you, then raytraced shadows are a better option. I found that the default lights in DS3 are waaaay slower re:raytracing than the scripted ones, though. If you've managed to grab the scripting kit when it was available, you can get access to these easily and speed up the workflow by at least a couple dozen percent...
and don't forget DSM's as only rendered at a resoluion of 1024 x 1024 in Daz Studio so when using a higher res image DSM's are always going to be crap. ;)
DSMs?
Took me a minute to reply as I just went back through this as a refresher. Szark put together a great resource here, and it was invaluable to me when I was originally learning UberArea lights. I don't know if I've said this before, but it bears repeating either way, Thank you Szark for taking the time to put this together :)
Oh yes, ty... I didn't remember that and it's very helpful to keep in mind :)
I typically use raytrace only or none, but have on the odd occasion used them as they were 'good enough' for that particular usage and render time was starting to climb.
On a related note, how many are familiar with IES light profiles? It is something that I think will make a big difference when this type of technology becomes more standard (as in being implemented in various software tools like DS and the various render engines,) easier to use, and includes things like natural light sources (candles, oil/gas lamps, fire...)
Took me a minute to reply as I just went back through this as a refresher. Szark put together a great resource here, and it was invaluable to me when I was originally learning UberArea lights. I don't know if I've said this before, but it bears repeating either way, Thank you Szark for taking the time to put this together :)My pleasure Gedd. As you know I was going to do the same for HSS, Ubersurface and Uber Surface 2 and since my computer went pop on New Years Eve stopped the tutoail in its tracks. Which in a way it was a blessing as I realised I didn't know as much as I thought I knew, this was confirmed with has been said here and other threads and DA. On top of that I can't even use DS4.5 for rendering. I can use DS3A but doing anything major is a chore. Eaxplame UE2 on AO/IDL and two area planes, one M4 with US2 and two birds has taken 4 days to get to 25% at 848 x 1200 resolution.
IES Light profiles are well cool..I think they can be used in Carrara too.
I did try using shader lights. Umbra/penumbra is still off, so no dice.
Ah yes, I forgot about that fact.
...so, only light sets available from ShareCG. I have one that I often use that is part of a character package which is still available as a freebie on Rendo. (though not also available on ShareCG like some items are). It is often my "go to" set for portraits and posed character pics as it doesn't take a lot of time to render yet gives some wonderful results.
I meant for raytraced shadows. On my dual core, when using raytraced shadows, these lights from the script kit (not shader mixer or shader builder ones) give a crazy boost to render time, even with softness on. Probably less noticeable of an increase on a more "up to date" system, but still...
Like, how much higher? Print resolution poster-size? I never noticed anything particularly wrong with them, but then, I rarely render over 1200 px per side...
Like, how much higher? Print resolution poster-size? I never noticed anything particularly wrong with them, but then, I rarely render over 1200 px per side...I rarely go over that size too but I have seen and heard that 3000 and above you start to see shadow quality drop.
People will render to that size when rendering for poster print as was mentioned. Art to be sold in places like Renderosity.