Is there a way to get rid of that? I mean for some reason when you render lots of models..they still have those whitish looking nostrils.. Looks like 2 q-tips shoved up their nose..lol

Ah, the dreaded nostril glare. There's several ways to fix that up. 1) If you're using P6, you can enable Ambient Occlusion for the nostril material. 2) Do a search for "Nostril No Glow" in renderosity freestuff. Those are "nose plugs" that darken the nostrils. 3) Set the diffuse color of the nostril material to a darker color. 2) and 3) work in Poser 4 and higher, plus DAZ|Studio. Hope this helps.

Here is an image rendered using a single infinite light, with the default settings for shadow generation. The light is 100% white, oriented with xRotate=-16, yRotate=0, zRotate = 0. The shadow map size is 256. Depth map shadows enabled with shadow blur radius=2.0 and shadow min bias=.8. (My poser units are inches)

There are many problems with his:

1. nostril glow
2. no shadow on teeth
3. no shadow on eyes
4. strange shading artifacts on right side temple and jaw

Next post will show the fixes.

The settings to change are this:

1. Adjust the shadow cam for the light so it zooms in on the face.
2. Change Shadow Map Size to 696 (the height of my image). Larger values are even better but at a minimum it should be the same size as your image.
3. Change Shadow Min Bias to .2

I know that this scene isn't lit well with just a single infinite light. I usually work with 3 lights, one IBL, and two spots. Spotlights give more control and you have to fiddle with the shadow cams less. But I'm just trying to show how good a single infinite light can be if adjusted correctly.

• commits entire thread to memory *

Thanks for the tips everyone. My main concern was in animations..like using Daz Mimic..or action scenes..last thing I want is my model turning her head in a medieval setting fog and her nose looking like 2 fog lights..lol

bookmark

good work, bill. now if only they'll decide to introduce localised shadow maps for head and body in P7, similar to the separate texmaps for the two that we've been using since P4. that way, even full-body shots could have good shadows on the eyes, nose and mouth, without the need for a 4096X4096 shadowmap overall.

If you search for Mav you will find a something to fix the nostril glow.

Nooo..I don wanna go from forums..than I have to log in all over again..not to mention Renderosity can be a butt at times..and go into a coma..and my browser times out..lol hmm.. I could use 2 browsers..heh heh

Quote - I could use 2 browsers

You could switch to "Mozilla-Firefox" and use their "Tabbed Browsing" extension which is the greatest thing. I have one window open currently and a total of 5 pages all nicely tucked away behind "tabs" that I can click on and reveal.

bookmark

bookmarks too :0) Umm Bill can you make me a py script plugin based on that for Pro Pack? lol I also like the way it tones down her toothy grin.. Acadia I do use firefox..and tabs..but I always end up closing the wrong page :0| ..organization is not one of my better attributes..lol now where did I put my mouse???

Radstorm - you want a Python script to set 2 light parameters? LOL Do it once and save your light set you lazy b***ard ;-) (Just kidding - no offense meant)

Mathman - I looked over your gallery. Pretty nice work - but I see you should redo some of your pics. The one titled "Lukas" is amusing in this context since you said "its very annoying isnt it ? I am using the nostrils no-glow prop from morphworld30 and it has reduced but not eliminated the glow. I also tried removing it in postwork, but it made him look like he had big black boogers up his nose. I will have to follow this up in the forums, I think. "

Well I think you've got it followed up now, eh? (Only took 13 months) Did you save the file? Let's see a new version with the shadows done right. Also the teeth on your picture "Colus Maximus" would probably get better.

Message edited on: 02/07/2006 16:01

Bill. 2? I thought it was just one..I'll need a nap after that then..lol Hey I like "just one click" stuff..hehe one thing though..if I use that idea in animation..will I have to keep re-adjusting the lights each frame? if so..then hell yes..I want a py script..lol

bagginsbill, thanks for your feedback. I haven't saved these files but I guess I could reproduce them.

BkMrrrrq

Radstorm - I can't think of why you'd have to change the shadow map size or the min bias during an animated sequence. However, if you zoom the shadow cam in really tight and your character moves, you'd have to animate the camera movement to follow. I guess you'll just have to experiment. Moving the camera in close lets you get away with smaller shadow maps. If the camera has to be farther back to follow large head movements, then you'll have to use larger shadow map size, which will slow your rendering. On the other hand, if you are not close in on the face, you don't need such detail on the shadows. The biggest thing here, which I've never seen anybody talk about before, is that the shadow min bias needs to be lowered. If you don't lower it, the shadow calculation IGNORES anything really close to the figure, including it's own nose. That was the crux of the problem. The rest was to make the shadow look more accurate and detailed. If you aren't super close to the face, the detail won't matter.

This is an incredibly helpful thread. Thanks to all who contributed to the conversation--I've bookmarked this as well. A minor note--does the texturing of the lips on this model seem a bit "off?" to you as a viewer? Is there a way to address that as well? Also, I still maintain (as I've said in prior posts) that greater asymmetry in the face would add yet another breath of life to this, or any other, model. Still, I love what the fix to shadows does to enhance this model.

Bagginsbill, Can you clarify on point 1 of the solution in post #4, i.e. "Adjust the shadow cam for the light so it zooms in on the face" ? .... also the height of your image (i.e. 696) ? How do you determine these ? I have tried to follow everything else in your mini-tut, but it is still not working for me (I'm still getting the nostril glow and no shadows on the eyes and teeth), so I figure that I am not doing these bits correctly. thanks, Andrew

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Mathman - coming up - gonna take a few screenshots for you. I will post soon.

Message edited on: 02/09/2006 10:33

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That's great, thanks Bagginsbill.