robcat2075

Could getting the depth map be as simple as finding a file with "*_depth.png" on your phone? If that is what we are saving for our CG creations, that must be what the phone is saving as a file also?

The photo snapshot versions that we see on Facebook are done with the new cell phones that have two camera lenses. Internally it is taking a conventional stereo photo but then creating a depth map from that to apply the photo to. The process must be pretty smart since not every pixel of one view is going to have an easily identifiable counter part in the other. i wonder if there is a way to get that depth map? For displacement mapping purposes. There are some tutorials on the web for creating depth maps from stereo photos but I haven't investigated it.

That' works well! Here's a link to Matt's Page... https://www.facebook.com/matt.campbell.5203?__tn__=%2CdlC-R&eid=ARCVQm9OHeHsTgouzsYpmxphjpTiGQIyi6rSTMfSP647hHTaGznBrim92pmUtq8tz-oeXtDgII-W8FAA&hc_ref=ARRVRNLv9ZZDKXXnPMhz9Fja_WOjOPGmlaHEn3osliFdSGYVyQpID6A34-Nau6tbwIs

If anyone is concerned that this might be too complicated or take too much time... I've done the first third of this course previously and found it moves in very small steps that are easily accomplished. And if you don't get it... that's what the live meet up is for... to get us over the hump and on to the next goal! Aside from A:M there are other programs I use that have some Open Source or SDK availability, where I know what I want, i know the program is almost there already but I can't convince them to do it for me and if i only knew c++... i could get it done myself. You probably have those cases too and that's why you want to learn C++.

And there was much rejoicing.

We will not have Live Answer Time on April 20. Have a peaceful Easter weekend! April 20 is the 111th birthday of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton

I'll also note that you do need to have a solid modeled background in your image. Even one just big patch to cover the background will be enough. The default camera background is not able to create a proper depth map result.

Here is a clear process, using the OpenEXR format. Note that the screen capture compression makes the grayscale depth buffer look very banded. The actual render will be smooth. Note, also, that my choice of only 640x640 for resolution was a weak one. Although the final image is seen rather small on Facebook, a higher resolution depth map seems to make the Facebook 3D process work better and make fewer mistakes about near v. far. Thank you , Matt for finding this new FaceBook feature!

You got an email with an activation code, right? You'll need that. Delete the master0.lic file from your AM program folder, then run A:M. This should make A:M ask for your activation code. Enter it and you ought to be up and running. If not, come back and ask more questions. if you have other A:M installation, like previous versions, copy the new master0.lic file that just got created to those other AM folders and they will be enabled on your sub also.

Edit: see better A:M process in next post If you know how to extract the depth map from an OpenEXR render and scale it into a PNG you are on your way already. A perhaps more intuitive way is to temporarily set all the objects in your shot to full 100% ambient intensity white, no specularity. Set your camera background to black, turn fog ON, and set the fog near and far distances to contain the nearest and farthest objects in your scene. You should get a grayscale image approximation of a depth map.

Here's how i envision this study group working: Every week, on our own time we watch the assigned lecture and do the relevant assignment. At our live meet up, everyone shows their assignment running (most of these projects do what they do in about 5 seconds). If anyone doesn't have it running the rest of us can jump in to figure out why and resolve any remaining questions. Before we finish, we'll look at the upcoming chapters and agree on how much to take on for the next week. Rinse, repeat. That would be great, Serg!

I think you should be able to just decal your models and have it come over... According to Fuchur's page on the .x exporters it includes decals in the export, so i would presume that if you are not getting decals there must be something going wrong between the .x and .egg stages?

I am eyeing May 1 as a kickoff date. I would like to find a weekly time we can all meet to resolve questions we encounter. The Udemy classes have a way to ask questions but I've found they don't always get answered or always get usefully answered. 😀

Martin, how would you rate authors as readers of their own work?