Photon Room

[JohnArtbox]

beautiful renders Yves..Now we just need to wipe a zero of the end of the render times and we can all be happy

Thanks for the detailed setting information.

[hypnomike]

Hi Yves!

 

I'm a beginner so alot of the info in this thread goes over my head (for now) but I'd like to say you've done a great job in the middle picture particularly.

 

Superb lighting.

 

Best Wishes

 

Mike

[robcat2075]

Cool lighting!

 

Is there a sample Cornell Box project available anywhere with all the settings in it to get results similar to what is shown on Yve's discussion of Photon Mapping parameters?

 

I've tried making my own but always extremely grainy results no matter what my settings.

[Paul Forwood]

Thank you for all this information, Yves.

 

Beautiful composition and stunning renders!

[D.Joseph Design]

Again ... WOW! This is the kind of stuff Hash Inc. should include in their brochures! The quality seems even better than Toy Story!

[ypoissant]

Cool lighting!

 

Is there a sample Cornell Box project available anywhere with all the settings in it to get results similar to what is shown on Yve's discussion of Photon Mapping parameters?

 

I've tried making my own but always extremely grainy results no matter what my settings.

I'll try to find the Cornell box project I setup when I developped the Photon Mapping engine and post it here.

 

In the meantime, the most probable reason you would get grainy results is because your sampling area is too small. You can use the excel file I attached here to help determine a good starting point for the sampling area size.

PhotonsSetup.zip

[robcat2075]

Thanks, Yves.

 

I'm having some trouble with the spreadsheet, however.

 

It opens up ok, but when I put new values in the white boxes, the "Suggested Sampling area" result always shows "#NAME?" which means excel "doesn't recognize text in a formula." The cell contains this formula...

 

=MROUND(SQRT(D8/PI())*100,50)

 

I'm on Excel 2000, which doesn't have MROUND listed as a function. If I subsitute ROUND the result will produce numbers again. Is that an appropriate substitution or is MROUND something completely different?

 

thanks,

[Fuchur]

Really amazing pictures...!

 

*Fuchur*

[ypoissant]

MROUND will round to the nearest 50s. So instead of getting let's say 763 with ROUND, you would get 750 with MROUND. You may change MROUND for ROUND and further round it yourself or enter the given number as is.

[heyvern]

Quite frankly, I think these tests should put to rest anyones arguments regarding AM's status as "Pro" software.

 

These samples are as good if not better than other samples I've seen from other apps that are supposedly "high end".

 

(...$299... holy cow!)

 

Of course they take a long time to render... that is a given with any application trying to produce these results.

 

Very exciting stuff! I get the shivers...

 

Some day, some day... we will see something animated in AM with this kind of detail... unless someone already has?

 

p.s. I get the shivers when I see a large cup of WAWA coffee. Just wanted to put it in perspective... forgive the pun.

 

Vernon "!" Zehr

[ypoissant]

Here is the Cornell Box project I used when I developped the Photon Mapping render engine. I cleaned it from unnecessary objects and maps and already set some good working Radiosity properties values.

 

This is a render of the project :

 

See attached file for the project.

 

Have fun.

Cornell_Demo.prj

[robcat2075]

Thanks Yves!

 

Are there any schemes on the horizon for shortening the render times for this sort of stuff?

 

Also, it sure would be neat if we could do one render of a scene and bake the results onto the patches. I realize that wouldn't do for scenes with objects moving around inside them, but architectural fly-throughs could use it ok.

 

Or is that something we can already do?

[MATrickz]

Those are some really amazing renders, I can't believe they are coming out of A:M! I've tried it out before but the render times killed me, still very cool though, great job!

[cronos]

thank you

[ypoissant]

Robert,

 

Reducing the Photon Mapping render time is still possible but will require significant programming. If more users have real interest in radiosity, it might become worth it.

 

This said, it is already possible to reduce render times through optimal Photon Mapping properties setting. Those are issues I will cover in my Photon Mapping Tutorials. I think it is currently more intersting to explore those avenues than further adding more complex code.

 

As for baking the illumination, this again is not impossible to do but would require more code. The map produced by Photon Mapping is not of image type. It is a 3D data structure. And backing this data onto a complex 3D scene is not trivial.

[ypoissant]

Here are the last Photon Room I will post here.

 

For those interested, there is a new forum about Radiosity and other lighting techniques. This is a place for discussion about those techniques, problems and solutions, etc. I will also host a few tutorials about those subjects. One is already started.

 

The following renders are repeat of previous renders with 35 photon bounces. Render times around 5h30m per render.

 

 

 

[MATrickz]

Thats amazing!

[dimos]

Reducing the Photon Mapping render time is still possible but will require significant programming. If more users have real interest in radiosity, it might become worth it.

 

Yves,

 

These are the type of renders that anybody in there right mind would want to have. As a pro I have been trying to get images to render such as the ones you provide but they do take long to long to use. Practically most of the time in an animated world. However, if you guys could find a way to get these results and do it in a short time so that it can be utilized efficiently in an animated environment....well..... MAN ALIVE!!!!!.... That would be impressive and extremely useful. This kind of lighting and rendering only goes to show the professional appeal of the power and capabilities of A:M. Reducing these render times would only improve A:M's status for professionals. Who wouldn't be interested?

 

Dimos

 

P.S. Get to it! I have a few short films to produce! By the way, it is very scary how one is able to make art from math like you can.

[kuep]

nice work dude!

 

I did a realistic classroom before (not in AM but I know what AM is capable of) that ended up getting the comment "So what!"

but its 3d i laughed loudly! "It is?"

 

Realisitic has the big price, endless lighting, tweaking, frustration, sometimes almost divorce and finally rendering forever and thats one frame, then you have to make it move. Ouch!

 

You have walk in the shoe to understand!

 

Keep up the great work, can't wait for the final work.

 

I luv this business!

[lhvio89]

Wow, these renders are amazing!

 

Only one "nit-picky" thing I want to mention (nothing about lighting)...

 

The bed spread looks as if it has no weight to it....what I mean is that it seems to be sort of being held up just above the bed....I think this is because the side of the bedspread, hanging down over the bed, is too straight....

 

Anyway, very beautiful images!

[Mega]

Wow...I have been gone for a while...

 

Yves, as usual, stunning artisitc work. You never cease to amaze me. I especially like the last two renders - exactly the look that I am aiming for.

 

lhvio89, yes, you are right and I agree. When I modeled the comforter, I was going for the down pillowy look but didn't give it enough weight. The room is loosely based on my daughters room. It's for an amimation project that I am developing. Hopefully, now that I am back and caught up, I can begin to populate the room and begin my re-design of it. I finally began modeling the actors and a few more props. Just not enough hours in the day...

 

I hope to have a few renders before years end. Still working on that web site, too!

 

Next up...a toon render!?

 

Tony