AO (and cloth!)

[dblhelix]

so i'm on 15j+ and 32bit OS.

and i'm in love with those "AO only" renderings people post on jenpy's fast AO thread. they gave me a new script idea.

something similar should be possible with just light, shadow, in a colorless environment? it's the oomph in the beautiful blurry shape-moulding gradients that's the issue.

 

actual question: what to study? a specific light category, exr, post?

tips on how to make it swift? this project is aeons into the future, just need to nail a few images down, get the atmosphere recorded now that it's so alive in my mind's eye.

 

(any chance one can learn to pose cloth -heavy, flowing cape- in, say, 3 days? needed for the shadows!

found the tuts, would like a ballpark estimate on general progress)

 

 

 

 

(edit for a hilarious if miniscule spell-hap; i'd written "ion" instead of "aeon".. Ptolemy would approve )

[robcat2075]

so i'm on 15j+ and 32bit OS.

and i'm in love with those "AO only" renderings people post on jenpy's fast AO thread. they gave me a new script idea.

something similar should be possible with just light, shadow, in a colorless environment? it's the oomph in the beautiful blurry shape-moulding gradients that's the issue.

 

Simple lights will give nice shading on lit surfaces, but the shadow areas will be rather over-simple without some technique such as AO. Why not use the AO effect in your lighting? If you are on v15 you can use the v16 too.

 

actual question: what to study? a specific light category, exr, post?

tips on how to make it swift? this project is ions into the future, just need to nail a few images down, get the atmosphere recorded now that it's so alive in my mind's eye.

less certain about what you mean here.

 

(any chance one can learn to pose cloth -heavy, flowing cape- in, say, 3 days? needed for the shadows!

found the tuts, would like a ballpark estimate on general progress)

 

My advice for anything new is to start with simple test cases.

 

A cape? Start with just dropping a square of cloth on a ball to see what various setting do. When you get that looking good then try using those settings on a cape on a stationary character and see if it hangs right. Then try moving him.

[dblhelix]

Why not use the AO effect in your lighting? If you are on v15 you can use the v16 too.

not sure i understand, wishful thinking overpowering all other input: the fast AO was for v16 - are you saying it works in v15?

(*swoooon*)

 

actual question: what to study? a specific light category, exr, post?

tips on how to make it swift?

less certain about what you mean here.

well, i thought maybe there would be a type of light more suited to the task (but i think you answered this already with the "areas will be rather over-simple" without AO). or, say three main factors in any light's properties would set one in the right direction, or a render property to be avoided... i dunno. it's not easy being a newb!

 

Start with just dropping a square of cloth on a ball to see what various setting do.

oi! perfect. thank you! you make it seem easy, stress reduction in progress. i've so little time, and am constantly being plagued by a steady stream of ideas, creativity bouncing off ever-increasing amount of facets of insight in 3D. (empathy to frozen Walt Disney)

[robcat2075]

Why not use the AO effect in your lighting? If you are on v15 you can use the v16 too.

not sure i understand, wishful thinking overpowering all other input: the fast AO was for v16 - are you saying it works in v15?

(*swoooon*)

 

FastAO only works in v16 but there's no reason you can't load up your project in v16 to give it a try.

 

actual question: what to study? a specific light category, exr, post?

tips on how to make it swift?

less certain about what you mean here.

well, i thought maybe there would be a type of light more suited to the task (but i think you answered this already with the "areas will be rather over-simple" without AO). or, say three main factors in any light's properties would set one in the right direction, or a render property to be avoided... i dunno. it's not easy being a newb!

 

Shadow mapped Kleig lights have that "softness parameter that is nicer than razor sharp shadows.

 

In a few tests I used a VERY fuzzy kleig and an only slightly fuzzy kleig from the same angle to light objects. The result is a shadow that's not quite so uniformly dark all the way across, sort of like AO shadows

 

Tank Treads

 

 

 

 

 

car paint

 

 

 

And before there was AO avaiable people were creating large arrays of lights to simulate ambient light coming from all directions

 

 

 

Start with just dropping a square of cloth on a ball to see what various setting do.

oi! perfect. thank you! you make it seem easy, stress reduction in progress. i've so little time, and am constantly being plagued by a steady stream of ideas, creativity bouncing off ever-increasing amount of facets of insight in 3D. (empathy to frozen Walt Disney)

 

Remember Wendy Carlos? She had a line about electronic music that applies well to CG... "every parameter you can control, you must control"

[dblhelix]

FastAO only works in v16 but there's no reason you can't load up your project in v16 to give it a try.

let me put it this way: you don't want me in a beta. signed by: "made a path, got a Z-key at 25hrs."

life is buggy enough.

 

Shadow mapped Kleig lights have that "softness parameter that is nicer than razor sharp shadows.

hmm. this is moving things along. the tank was interesting, there's the line formation oddity (from several lamps?) that fits.. as does the graininess in the b&w stills. what is causing that grain (compression?) - should one want to have more of it?

 

Remember Wendy Carlos? She had a line about electronic music that applies well to CG... "every parameter you can control, you must control"

had to wiki that, and another serving of clockwork orange seems to be in the future, have to listen to it. while she naturally is right, here's my hero on the subject:

http://www.davidoreilly.com/2009/08/basic-...etics#more-1544

scroll down to "aesthetic coherence".

 

to see thought come reality, visit his vimeo. if you have time go to http://vimeo.com/1714824

and if you don't, go to:

[robcat2075]

what is causing that grain (compression?) - should one want to have more of it?

 

The one with grain is real AO (error caused by under sampling) the other image is the light rig AO approximation.