I'm trying to create a mirror in P5. I use the basic reflection material to get there, but it's nothing like the mirror in the example video at Courious labs site ( the one for the body building bisquits ) Also I don't know how to make sure the mirror reflects the object in front of it instead of the empty space behind or in front of the object Thanks a lot Me

http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1128233

As for making sure it reflects what you wish, it's a matter of trial and error. Poser's real-time preview can't show the raytraced reflections, so you have to position everything, do a quick test render to see how it looks (draft mode works well for this), and then adjust the elements or camera accordingly.

Attached Link: http://www.cocs.com/poser/reflectp5.htm

Just remember that the image from a mirror is reflected at the same angle as the original object, but in the opposite direction.

So if your figure is standing directly in front of a mirror which is at 90 degrees to him/her (and upright), then the camera would have to be directly behind the figure to see the mirror-image (which probably wouldn.t work, 'cos the figure itself would get in the way of the reflection).

So shift the figure slightly to one side, and shift the cam the same amount in the opposite direction. (Or, equivalently, shift the mirror slightly to one side and shift the cam twice that amount in the same direction.)

It still coms down to "suck-it-and-see", but if you understand the physics, it'll help.

One way to think of it is like playing snooker/pool/billiards.
The cushion is the mirror.
The ball is the figure.
The cue is set at the angle which the ball will hit the cushion.
Position the cam as if it were something you want the ball to hit, but looking at the point where the ball will hit the cushion.... Imagine it from a top-down view (and in Poser, use the top-view cam to work out the angles..)

Cheers,
Diolma

Message edited on: 09/06/2004 17:05

Do lights have something to do with it as well?

Lights can change dramatically the look of a scene, but as far as you have some lights on, you are set up to start working. You can always go and tweak the lights at a second time for improving the scene. So basically they won't affect your mirror to the point of having or not having reflections (unless in some extreme cases).

Now, what Diolma said is the most important trick: in the 'scheme' below, a is the camera, / is the angled mirror, b is the target to be seen in the mirror, x is another location in the topdown view. If you want to see b in the mirror, you should have your camera near the a position. If your camera would be in x, looking at the mirror, you wouldn't see b, because the lightrays would be reflected directly towards you (so hipotetically you would see just yourself (x) and the surrounding space).

/- a
| x
b

Hope this helps.
Message edited on: 09/07/2004 08:18

Oh, and most important: the basic reflection material won't work at all! You must use the raytraced reflection node, and make sure your objects have the 'visible in raytracing' checked and also that the 'use raytracing' option is checked in your render settings!