Here's a render of the V2 character "Asia" with Koz hair using just a very simple Grey-Tone image loaded into the Atmosphere Editor's -Environment Mapping (Effects) dialog panel...

Here's the Grey-Tone LDR image (LDR- Low Dynamic Range) that I used to make the above AND the below images.

No other lights- or Sun- was used. JUST this LDR.

Download it and play with it if you like...

Here's the M3 Brom-Jasper character lit with only using the same LDR image as above...

Here's a close-up of Asia with the same lighting...

They look superb! The texture details are outstanding :)

And just for extra kicks-- here's a Post-Processed Black and White version which looks like maybe a magazine photo...

Stunning !!!!!!!

Amazing! I've never seen hair look that good. Are these really raw renders?

There's no postwork on any of them. They are all rendered in Vue 5 -as you see them. The background for Asia is just a single plane mapped white. The Jasper image has a back-plane mapped with Vue 5's "Clay Diffuser" material. So, no- my point here is that Vue 5 can produce virtually finished renders without post-work...

Wow! A-ma-zing!

If the grey tone were a totally even grey, would there be any highlights in the Asia figure?

Message edited on: 11/15/2004 16:30

Unbelievable textures and render! Just me but aren't her pupils a bit too large? Carl

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In my earlier post (see link) I showed the effects of using just a white tile, or a simple gray tile. I arrived at the mild gray with a softer gray center as being a good source of indoor lighting for Poser figures using IBL. It just depends on what you want to use IBL (Image Based Lighting) for- lighting houses, cars or people, etc. In my experiments- nothing beats HDR for realistic looking cars and houses- because HDR contains the closest effect to natural atmospheric sunlight- (HDR= HIGH Dynamic Range). But LDR (like grey-scales) are really good to simulate indoor lighting- and work especially well on Poser figures and prevents skintone "wash-out"- (a problem with HDR). So- in your Vue 5 IBL arsenal of lighting effects- you really need BOTH-- LDR and HDR to cover all your bases...

Veritas you are gem to be diligently sorting all this out. I would have never even guessed you could use a plain gery/white etc. for enviro. mapping. XLT work :) I will add, your enthusiasm is outstanding :) and appreciated. As well as your patience ;P

Thanks Veritas, this is great to know. I wish 5 Pro was out so that I could decide which to get! Wait, wait wait.....grrrrr.

I've been having a blast using ldr's. A life saver for the clueless like me and not rich enough to go buy those really nice hdr's.

real nice looking veritas, the grey render looks especialy nice and the jasper one. on a sidenote i find that the white ldr that e.on included in vue5 is realy good for text, atleast for my purposes :)

Very nice pics Veritas, love esther

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ahter seeing your renders Veritas, I thought I'd try to see what I could do. This is Darsha with Kyoko hair. The lighting is a slightly marbled grey jpj. with some lightening in PSP as the over all scene was a bit dark.

This is with no postwork

Here same as above but turned to greyscale in psp

Well the great thing about Vue 5 is that instead of having to do all sorts of bank lights, Node calculations and wiring diagrams that seem to take days--- you can create a new Vue 5 IBL light in just about 15 seconds! That's because all you have to do is open Photoshop, select the radial fill tool, pick two light-grey values- radial fill a small 4x5 inch tile- and load that into Vue 5's Lighting Panel. So creative Image Based Lighting in Vue 5 is unbelievably simple! (I've already created dozens of other IBL lights for various characters- and each one can be custom made in just a matter of seconds if you have both Vue 5 and Photoshop open at the same time...)

You can increase the light in vue, adjust the 'sky dome lighting gain' you can also do greyscale in vue as well. The first one was dark when first viewed raised the dome light to 2 the second one is also rendered in vue (draft mode for time) the only postwork was sizing and putting together.

Thanks for the info Ms Outlaw. I hadn't thought of adjusting the light gain or doing Greyscale in Vue. I'll try that with my next renders BTW I really like your pics, definately photo quality.

Thanks, but all I know I learned from Veritas777 and doubt he's shared ALL his secrets ~G~ Thanks Veritas for all the help in this new world.

Well- actually there are more "secrets" yet to be revealed! I have something VERY DIFFERENT I will be posting here in the near future. I'm getting some imput on it from E-on first as it may require some new features in Vue 5 or Vue 5 Pro...

Been trying without success. How to you do greyscale in Vue5? Regards alex

Edit your camera, play with the settings in there. thse are the settings I used for mine Picture is easier to explain than typing ~s~

...And using the Color Filtering option you can have a Tinted Picture! Instant Old-Time Nostalgia photos in Vue 5...

Actually I should use an old wood background and dress up Jasper in some M3 Old West clothes- then it would look better--- but you get the idea...

(BTW- this is NOT the DIFFERENT I am speaking of. What I will be posting soon will be VERY DIFFERENT!...)

Thanks for the quick reply I'm going to haveago now

Veritas, may I ask what settings you use for the skin materials? Or are they just imported and used as is? Do you have to adjust the bump or highlight levels? I only ask because mine never look so realistic. May just be the textures I am using. Thanks in advance

I use Poser Pro-Pack and I think that really helps- maybe- as I seem to have no problems importing Poser figures. I always set them up and render them first using the standard P4 renderer- and then save them as Pzz files. Pz3 should work just fine but the great file size reduction of Pzz has not caused me any problems in Vue 5. You can, of course, make that your DEFAULT Poser saving format and gradually delete all your Pz3's as you go along. BIG savings in storage space. So now I save a lot MORE versions of my characters (heh- and so I'm filling the space back up again.) The Poser figures, like the one's used above, import with the bump maps already set correctly. They are usually the exact same setting- something like .06 I believe- but sometimes I'll set it to .50 which causes a noticable increase in the bump. In fact Vue will massively Over-Kill the bump if you go much higher than .50 ... So, anyway- the DEFAULT import bump settings are nearly always perfect for Female skin. I only bump the Male skin a tiny bit more to give them a rougher complexion. Even with Elephant skin I don't go over .100 So having said all that- basically I use "as is" for my imports and them seem to work really well. The only other "skin trick" I like to use is sometimes increasing the skin relection up to about 5 or 10% to create the look of "wetness". Depending on your lighting, like Image Based Lighting, it can look pretty good. A SMALL amount of reflection on skin makes it look more "alive" and natural, I think- and gets rid of that DRY look you see sometimes in some renders. But a few texture maps- like the one above of V2 Asia, acted a bit strange when I added the reflection touch- so I turned it back off again.