Quote - Ok, last render of the car ;o). If I do anymore, it'll have more stuff in the scene..hehe.

This is my favorite color yet. And I posted the recipe for this one on the wiki.

Laurie

Love the color! I copied the information. Last night I added the two black car shaders you gave me.

Quote - Looks really good.  Since no one reads the general question topic, I'll have to ask here.

I have 2 questions:

1.  I was under the impression that distant lights were converted to sun.  If so, does it have to be a special name?  I tried, and it didn't convert; but i didn't try all combinations of sun names.

2.  With the editing of materials, I looked at the wiki and I am somewhat confused.  It says:

Please pay special attention to material names as you will need to replace "YourMaterialNameHere" with the name of your material. 

Does that mean there are only certain materials that can be used, or does it mean we can name it anything we want as long as it is unique?   I guess it would help me to see the syntax of a sample material, along with a working example.

Thanks!

As to question 1, I'm not sure the exporter does convert distant lights to sun as of yet. I think BB is working on materials and lighting and he's been crazy busy this month with paid work ;o).

As to question 2, the name you need to insert into "YourMaterialNameHere" is the name of your geometry, for example, here is the entire code line for the material for Bazze's car's body material with my changes:

#----->   MuscleCar/Body    <-----

MakeNamedMaterial "MuscleCar/Body" "string type" ["glossy"]
"color Kd" [0.1 0.0 0.50]
"color Ks" [0.5 0.0 0.7]
"color Ka" [0.43 0.48 0.22]
"float uroughness" [-0.005]
"float vroughness" [0.005]
"float d" [0.4]
"float index" [2.0]

The first line is the geometry that the material will be applied to. That is what you have to name your MakeNamedMaterial. So in this case, it's "MuscleCar/Body" but you can apply it to "V4Bodysuit" or whatever you want as long as you replace the line "YourMaterialNameHere" with whatever the geometry name is from the line with ----->  <-----. Keep the main geometry line and don't change that - only change what's underneath, starting with MakeNamedMaterial :o).

Now, if you're doing a material mix, the first two materials in the mix that you are trying to describe must have the geometry name, plus something you denote as that particular material. Let's say I were mixing the car paint and a glass for the body. I'd do it like this:

#----->   MuscleCar/Body    <-----

MakeNamedMaterial "MuscleCar/Body/glossy" "string type" ["glossy"]
"color Kd" [0.1 0.0 0.50]
"color Ks" [0.5 0.0 0.7]
"color Ka" [0.43 0.48 0.22]
"float uroughness" [-0.005]
"float vroughness" [0.005]
"float d" [0.4]
"float index" [2.0]

MakeNamedMaterial "MuscleCar/Body/glass" "string type" ["glass"]
"color Kr" [1.0 1.0 1.0]
"color Kt" [1.0 1.0 1.0]
"float index" [1.52]

MakeNamedMaterial "MuscleCar/Body" "string type" ["mix"]
"string namedmaterial1" ["MuscleCar/Body/glossy"]
"string namedmaterial2" ["MuscleCar/Body/glass"]
"float amount" [0.30]

Since the mix is the material result, that's the one that has to carry the geometry name. Hope that made sense.

Laurie

For what it's worth, I find Poser shaders to be terribly complicated and Luxrender's materials much less so, probably because there's much less to them ;o). Having said that, the procedural textures codes and things within Luxrender still befuddle me a bit, but no more than Poser shaders have in the past...lol. I'd love to start adding procedural bump and other things to textures now, but I have to get straight on how they're used first.

Laurie

Quote -
1.  I was under the impression that distant lights were converted to sun.  If so, does it have to be a special name?  I tried, and it didn't convert; but i didn't try all combinations of sun names.

yes if you set the following parameter in dataOut.BBml, the name is not important, the light will be named "sun",

Light
  sunsky
    enabled=true

Quote - > Quote -

1.  I was under the impression that distant lights were converted to sun.  If so, does it have to be a special name?  I tried, and it didn't convert; but i didn't try all combinations of sun names.

yes if you set the following parameter in dataOut.BBml, the name is not important, the light will be named "sun",

Light
  sunsky
    enabled=true

Yes, it does do that, but what I'm not sure of yet is whether or not it's truly acting as a Luxrender sun or sunsky ;o).

Laurie

they are converted to a sun but the sun alone give a black image, if you use sky or sunsky they are working.

below some lights, sun sky and sunsky in separated groupes so you can experiment, gain must be around 0.01

start lights

LightGroup "sun"

start light "sun"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sun"
LightSource "sun"
 "vector sundir" [-0.0 -0.550000011921 -0.0]
AttributeEnd

end light "sun"

LightGroup "sky"

start light "sky"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sky"
LightSource "sky"
 "float aconst" [0.5]
 "float bconst" [0.5]
 "float cconst" [1.0]
 "float dconst" [1.0]
 "float econst" [1.0]
 "float turbidity" [2]
AttributeEnd

end light "sky"

LightGroup "sunsky"

start light "sunsky"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sunsky"
LightSource "sunsky"
 "vector sundir" [-0.0 -0.550000011921 -0.0]
 "float aconst" [0.5]
 "float bconst" [0.5]
 "float cconst" [1.0]
 "float dconst" [1.0]
 "float econst" [1.0]
 "float turbidity" [2]
AttributeEnd

end light "sunsky"

end lights

Quote - they are converted to a sun but the sun alone give a black image, if you use sky or sunsky they are working.

below some lights, sun sky and sunsky in separated groupes so you can experiment, gain must be around 0.01

start lights

LightGroup "sun"

start light "sun"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sun"
LightSource "sun"
 "vector sundir" [-0.0 -0.550000011921 -0.0]
AttributeEnd

end light "sun"

LightGroup "sky"

start light "sky"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sky"
LightSource "sky"
 "float aconst" [0.5]
 "float bconst" [0.5]
 "float cconst" [1.0]
 "float dconst" [1.0]
 "float econst" [1.0]
 "float turbidity" [2]
AttributeEnd

end light "sky"

LightGroup "sunsky"

start light "sunsky"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sunsky"
LightSource "sunsky"
 "vector sundir" [-0.0 -0.550000011921 -0.0]
 "float aconst" [0.5]
 "float bconst" [0.5]
 "float cconst" [1.0]
 "float dconst" [1.0]
 "float econst" [1.0]
 "float turbidity" [2]
AttributeEnd

end light "sunsky"

end lights

There is no "gain" with the sun yet. It's a part I'm playing with. Will be ready later this evening. Along with "IBL" and/or environmental-light (skyglob replacement).

Quote -
LightGroup "sunsky"

start light "sunsky"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "sunsky"
LightSource "sunsky"
 "vector sundir" [-0.0 -0.550000011921 -0.0]
 "float aconst" [0.5]
 "float bconst" [0.5]
 "float cconst" [1.0]
 "float dconst" [1.0]
 "float econst" [1.0]
 "float turbidity" [2]
AttributeEnd

end light "sunsky"

end lights

Whatever I do, I get a ignore message in the Log for each of the parameters aconst to econst. But the parameters are definitively used.

no waning on my side for the parameters, i use 0.8 dev

the pic is a render with the sky only

Quote - For what it's worth, I find Poser shaders to be terribly complicated and Luxrender's materials much less so, probably because there's much less to them ;o). Having said that, the procedural textures codes and things within Luxrender still befuddle me a bit, but no more than Poser shaders have in the past...lol. I'd love to start adding procedural bump and other things to textures now, but I have to get straight on how they're used first.

Laurie

Well, some of the material examples I've posted to the wiki already procedural bump mapping setup, but it's not quite as easy to implement by hand for Poser ready objects. In my experience, the scaling for majority of them needs to be fairly small to match the model, otherwise you would never see the intended effect. Also, since some of the code used to generate the procedural textures has been ported from Gimp, they don't exactly match the ones used in Blender, at least visually anyway. I could be wrong on this though as the Lux team has been pretty busy as of late.

In either case, all you'd have to do is experiment once you know what you look for.

LaurieA,

When you get a chance, could you check the additions I made to the Material Wiki under the glass and Carpaint sections and make sure I put it all in correctly?

P.S.
Watching Lux render a scene is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Quote - LaurieA,

When you get a chance, could you check the additions I made to the Material Wiki under the glass and Carpaint sections and make sure I put it all in correctly?

P.S.
Watching Lux render a scene is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

They look fine.

I prefer watching golf myself. So amazingly snooze-making. Given a choice, I'll take the paint ;o).

Laurie

I'm determined to render a wineglass in Lux and get it to look right. I'm on my fourth attempt right now. You think the developers will work in some code that might speed this renderer up some?

Quote - Whatever I do, I get a ignore message in the Log for each of the parameters aconst to econst. But the parameters are definitively used.

Yes, as I said several pages ago, don't heed the Lux messages. Those parameters are used, they define the sky colors. If you omit them you get a white sky.
Somebody please add it to the knowledge base, as it is a recurring topic (4th or 5th time I see it). IIRC I had already mentioned it when I first posted the sunsky setting, many weeks ago...

Quote - You think the developers will work in some code that might speed this renderer up some?

Unlikely. Not because they don't want, but because you can't have an engine which doesn't take any shortcuts, and still is faster than one which does.
I fear that if we want more speed, we'll have to invest in the appropriate hardware.

The developers are hard at work to add GPU acceleration for Luxrender 0.8, that should bring a significant speed increase if you have a recent well specced ATI or Nvidia graphics card.

Quote - The developers are hard at work to add GPU acceleration for Luxrender 0.8, that should bring a significant speed increase if you have a recent well specced ATI or Nvidia graphics card.

sigh Which I can't at the moment afford to buy a new laptop, even though I really do need one.

I get this, when trying to run the latest (1-23d)  LuxPose script:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPosePoserLuxExporter.py", line 218, in ?
    ExportFilm(globalParameters).write(f)
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPoseworkersPoserLuxExporter_workers.py", line 751, in write
    if pFilm.hybrid.strip()=="true":
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'strip'

Any ideas what it is?
Earlier versions are working perfectly for me.

Quote - I get this, when trying to run the latest (1-23d)  LuxPose script:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPosePoserLuxExporter.py", line 218, in ?
    ExportFilm(globalParameters).write(f)
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPoseworkersPoserLuxExporter_workers.py", line 751, in write
    if pFilm.hybrid.strip()=="true":
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'strip'

Any ideas what it is?
Earlier versions are working perfectly for me.

Current work around until the code is updated is as follows, from rjjack's original post on page 42:
** the error don't show if you add this line in the dataOut.bbml  in the Film part :

hybrid=true **

So, keep in mind that you have run the AIR installer that comes in the pack and edit the file above wherever it ends up being installed. Hope that helps! ^_^

Quote - .... Hope that helps! ^_^

Indeed it did.
Thanks for the help :)

Attached Link: Comparison render from 0.7

Also, the lighting setup and rendering seems a bit different, if not brighter than normal and almost to the point that it washes out the skin tone. Anyone else notice this? :blink:

Quote - > Quote - .... Hope that helps! ^_^

Indeed it did.
Thanks for the help :)

:thumbupboth: Awesome!

"Unlikely. Not because they don't want, but because you can't have an engine which doesn't take any shortcuts, and still is faster than one which does.
I fear that if we want more speed, we'll have to invest in the appropriate hardware."***

Agreed  you cant beat The "price" of LUX  but other non free
unbiased renderers are much Faster
I stopped this MAXWELL SCENE @ 2 hours
Lit with only mesh lights.
I could have let it resolve more but  oh well

Cheers

Give the Luxrender folks some time. I mean, it's not even version 1.0 yet ;o).

Laurie

Quote - I get this, when trying to run the latest (1-23d)  LuxPose script:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPosePoserLuxExporter.py", line 218, in ?
    ExportFilm(globalParameters).write(f)
  File "H:ProgrammeSmith MicroPoser Pro 2010RuntimePythonposerscriptsLuxPoseworkersPoserLuxExporter_workers.py", line 751, in write
    if pFilm.hybrid.strip()=="true":
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'strip'

Any ideas what it is?
Earlier versions are working perfectly for me.

Yes. The parameter "hybrid" isn't defined in your "dataOut.bbml". I missed to check this.
Fixed with the next version.
For the moment, just add the red line to ..AIRLuxPosedatadataOut.bbml ("true" or "false" doesn't matter at the moment). This Parameter will activated GPU-render later. But because some other parameters have to be correctly set to avoid Lux to crash it's not used in this version.

Film

enableStopSPP=true

stopSPP=50

enableStopTime=false

stopTime=600

overrideDimension=false

Dimension

width=600

height=400

saveAs=PNG

displayInterval=10

writeInterval=30

writeChannels=RGB

ToneMapper

kernel=Linear

linearSensitivity=200

linearExposure=.016

linearFStop=8

linearGamma=1

outputpath=.new

poserpath=.

imagepath=.

luxpath=.

filename=""

hybrid=true

Renderer

sampler=Metropolis

pixelSampler=Vegas

integrator=Path

bounces=6

accelerator=KD Tree

lightStrategy=auto

Is this one good for a photostyle look (beside the hair)? 

I have just to make some small changes to get a version with good light-settings. Sky, sun, sunsky and environtment (last is used in my post above). 

Quote - I have just to make some small changes to get a version with good light-settings. Sky, sun, sunsky and environtment (last is used in my post above). 

Quick question, because I haven't been able to find this info yet ;o)...

Can we use an image for sunsky? And how does Luxrender map the sunsky? Is it cube mapped or spherical? I have some nice skies, but most are spherical. Would be nice if I could use em and still have them supply some light ;o).

Laurie

here's the 'skyglob' recipe i used on this image .  i think it needs rectangular images, not the spherical.  IIRC, bb is working on a way to use the env. sphere, but they need rectangulars also i think.  it'd be nice to be able to use my stash of sphericals as skies.....

start lights

start light "Light 1"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "Light 1"
LightSource "infinitesample"
 "string mapping" ["latlong"]
 "color L" [1 1 1]
 "float gain" [500]
 "integer nsamples" [1]
 "string mapname" ["path to your hdr"]

end of infinite light 'Himmel-Objekt'

AttributeEnd

start light "Light 2"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "Light 2"
LightSource "distant"
 "color L" [0.75649095 0.87289506 1] # sun color
 "float gain" [1637.0247]
 "point from" [1.0153754 -3.1502762 3.7476354]
 "point to" [0.81230026 -2.520221 2.9981084]
AttributeEnd

Quote - here's the 'skyglob' recipe i used on this image .  i think it needs rectangular images, not the spherical.  IIRC, bb is working on a way to use the env. sphere, but they need rectangulars also i think.  it'd be nice to be able to use my stash of sphericals as skies.....

start lights

start light "Light 1"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "Light 1"
LightSource "infinitesample"
 "string mapping" ["latlong"]
 "color L" [1 1 1]
 "float gain" [500]
 "integer nsamples" [1]
 "string mapname" ["path to your hdr"]

end of infinite light 'Himmel-Objekt'

AttributeEnd

start light "Light 2"

AttributeBegin
LightGroup "Light 2"
LightSource "distant"
 "color L" [0.75649095 0.87289506 1] # sun color
 "float gain" [1637.0247]
 "point from" [1.0153754 -3.1502762 3.7476354]
 "point to" [0.81230026 -2.520221 2.9981084]
AttributeEnd

Seems this is a bit outdated.

Lux manages all types of HDRI now. The parameter "mapping" is not required anymore. Moreover, it forces a specified format.

Here is what I used (HDRI from Posers HDRFX folder):

start lights

LightGroup "IBL"

start light "IBL:HDR IBL"

LightGroup "IBL"

AttributeBegin

 TransformBegin

 Rotate 240 1 1 1

 Rotate 96 0 0 1

  LightSource "infinite"

   "float gain" [3600.0]

   "color L" [1.0 1.0 1.0]

   "string mapname" ["/home/fredi/poser/Runtime/Textures/HDRVFX/HDRVFX_Teen_Bedroom_HDR.hdr"]

 TransformEnd

AttributeEnd

end light "IBL:HDR IBL"

LightGroup "default"

start light "Light 1"

AttributeBegin

LightSource "spot"

   "float gain" [1000.0]

 "color L" [1.0 1.0 1.0]

 "point from" [-0.144115999341 0.792566001415 1.10967004299]

 "point to" [-0.01450496912 0.57405886054 0.142480552197]

 "float coneangle" [14.5]

 "float conedeltaangle" [3.0]

AttributeEnd

end light "Light 1"

end lights

The spotlight is only used as a filllight for my special scene and not really required, by the way.

The two Rotations are there for: 1) Rotate the image to a Lux-zero-point, 2) rotate the image to reflect the light rotation (Y) in Poser.

Using the old "skydome" is totally obsolete. Just an overhead on geometries and one has to use something like IBL anyway.

Maybe one want to use a skydome while in Poser just to see how it looks. But don't forget to switch the skydome to invisible before export.

The type of images BB's envirosphere uses are spherically mapped skies (as too apparently are the HDRFX images in Poser). They are just mapped to a rectangular format, but they are mapped spherically, like the example (which IS a spherical map)

facepalm ;o)

Laurie

How do you set the angle of the lens in luxrender?  Is the number in the .lxs file the same as camera lens angles or does it use a different scale?

Ironic isn't it?

We want LuxPose to convert Poser point lights to glowing mesh geometry and convert Poser EnvSphere (glowing mesh geometry) into a Lux light. LOL.

The sphere is not obsolete. Lux doesn't have clouds and I have ways to layer things one sphere inside another that you cannot do with lux lights. I have not revealed these things yet, so to current users maybe the env sphere is unnecessary, but it is not without any purposes. All will be revealed eventually. I have to work on things as I do not reveal them half-assed so it will take some time.

Note also that in my experiments of using an environment sphere in Lux, I have seen no performance problem. I don't know why people keep saying that large numbers of mesh lights are an issue - they are clearly not. I have glowing V4's, glowing spheres,  glowing ground planes - literally upwards of 70,000 light sources. It is really not a problem. People should test their assumptions before making claims.

Quote - Who says LuxRender doesn't do "Toon"-like renders?
(Click to see bigger).

No offense intended, but eek!

Laurie

thanks everyone for the updated info on using the sky images etc.  i haven't done much with it lately & it's no surprise to me that i used outdated info.  looking forward to bb's Big Reveal.

Yeah.
I was surprised at how this turned out also.

I have to examine what I did. It may be a fluke.
If someone wants a Toon style it may be in the lights, because I just cleared out the lights, loaded another set of lights and a look we are used to coming from LuxRender.
The light set used this time was the Daz Environment Lights.
Big difference.

toon rendering is not about lights. your render is not toon. its about shaders.

Quote - toon rendering is not about lights. your render is not toon. its about shaders.

I do believe I said Toon LIKE.
The resultant image was due to the lights, NOT the texture.
The image that followed was the SAME just different LIGHTS.

Thank you for the clarification.

Quote - toon rendering is not about lights. your render is not toon. its about shaders.

I do believe I said Toon LIKE.
The resultant image was due to the lights, NOT the texture.
The image that followed was the SAME just different LIGHTS.

Thank you for the clarification.

Quote - > Quote - here's the 'skyglob' recipe i used on this image .  i think it needs rectangular images, not the spherical.  IIRC, bb is working on a way to use the env. sphere, but they need rectangulars also i think.  it'd be nice to be able to use my stash of sphericals as skies.....

The type of images BB's envirosphere uses are spherically mapped skies (as too apparently are the HDRFX images in Poser). They are just mapped to a rectangular format, but they are mapped spherically, like the example (which IS a spherical map)

facepalm ;o)

Laurie

This format is called equirectangular. It covers a sphere.

There is also angular map. It covers a sphere as well, but in a different way. We use these for IBL.

There is also mirror ball which is what you get when you photograph a mirror ball. Unless the photo was taken from an infinite distance, it does not cover a sphere. It is often used in IBL because it's "close enough". It is not suitable for a 360 render where the camera can see the missing area.

Angular map and mirror ball format also severely distort some of the scene features. If you "look" at them in-scene, they don't look right.

Only the equirectangular format is really good at a full 360 capture with a consistent look to it in every direction.

No matter what you call it, I can tell by looking at that map I posted and know that, while it might be rectangular, it's going to wrap around a sphere ;o). I've never mapped anything any other way for a sphere actually... I've seen cube maps for skies and was hoping that Luxrender didn't use those...

I know they use those mirrored ball images for things like light probes. Other than that, I've never found any other good use for them, at least not for the kinds of things I produce.

Laurie

This is probably going to sound dumb, I know (but I only half understand what I'm doing), but do some sun/sky light set ups produce more noise than lights exported out of Poser?  I mean this is just an observation I've had and maybe it could be my five year old laptop.

**LuxPose Version 1.3 Alpha
**
To use Posers infinite light as sunlight rename the light to what type you want: "sun", "sky" or "sunsky". If you want be able to finetune the intensity or color of the sun use a Lightgroup: "sunlightGroup:sun", "sunlightGroup:sky", "sunlightGroup:sunsky" (or whatever you prefer insteed of "sunlightGroup" as group-name).

Attention: The size of the sun is taken from Posers infinite light scale-paramter (usualy 55% for me - so scale up to at least 100%)

Parameters aconst - econst and turbidity (fog) are set in the config file (./AIR/luxPose/data/dataOut.bbml).

If you don't know why it makes sens to have different "sun" and "sky", read the docu for LuxPose. 

To use what we know as IBL (for scene-lighting) and skyglobe (for reflections) can now also be used.

In Poser define a light as IBL. Enter the material-room and attach a HDR-image as usually. The difference: DO NOT USE LIGHTPROBES.

Poser delivers some HDR-Images in folder Runtime/Textures/HDRFX. If you look into this folder, you will find each image in two variations. The larger ones are those we can use for LuxRender.

If an image is attached to an Poser IBL light, the converter assumes this light should be used as an environmental light. Setting other parameters in Posers material room for this light has no effect on what is exported. To rotate the images to what you want to see in your picture, use the Y-rotation of the light.

Note: Mostly other lights are only used to lit parts of a scene. But do this with greet care (low intensity). Too mutch intensity may result in grainy images. Good lighting will speed up the render process.

Another note: Don't use an object/figure without an environment. If you have now room around your object, a whole lot of rays are computed just to be discarded (they end up in nothing). So use at least a sky or better an environment light with an HDR image.

Quote - This is probably going to sound dumb, I know (but I only half understand what I'm doing), but do some sun/sky light set ups produce more noise than lights exported out of Poser?  I mean this is just an observation I've had and maybe it could be my five year old laptop.

The amount of rays actually hitting your objects are lower with a sky-only light than with something around your object. Maybe you want to try an environment light insteed of a sky. 

Another tip may be to experiment with the lightstrategy parameter (and others too).

Quote - > Quote - I have just to make some small changes to get a version with good light-settings. Sky, sun, sunsky and environtment (last is used in my post above). 

Quick question, because I haven't been able to find this info yet ;o)...

Can we use an image for sunsky? And how does Luxrender map the sunsky? Is it cube mapped or spherical? I have some nice skies, but most are spherical. Would be nice if I could use em and still have them supply some light ;o).

Laurie

LuxRenders sky and sun objects are used if you have no skyimage. Or if you need a clear sky.

If you want to use something with clouds you better use an environmental-light. This is the better choice, by the way. It rendes faster und mostly gives better results.

Quote - If you don't know why it makes sens to have different "sun" and "sky", read the docu for LuxPose.

Did you mean LuxRender here adp? ;o). I was gonna say - I have seen a detailed readme for LuxPose yet ;o).

Laurie

People with not so fast computers may set the lightstrategy to "one". This parameter has to be used anyway if you want to try out GPU-rendering. 

Change this parameter directly in File .lxs (search for "lightstrategy").

{quote]

Did you mean LuxRender here adp? ;o).

Oh, yes.