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Cromunist posted:I'm doing my first 3D job for actual money and since I started lighting it, it's been like this: I was in the same boat as you a few days ago. I was trying to do everything with mental ray area lights. It looked like dogshit. I started to just add planes with a white surface shader instead. I still have 2 spot lights on the cyc for background light and a few mental ray area light shapes but I turned global illumination and final gather on and it looks much much nicer. Render times are longer, but if you set the final gather map to freeze it doesn't take as long.
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Jun 23, 2013 16:29
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chimheil posted:I was in the same boat as you a few days ago. I was trying to do everything with mental ray area lights. It looked like dogshit. I started to just add planes with a white surface shader instead. I still have 2 spot lights on the cyc for background light and a few mental ray area light shapes but I turned global illumination and final gather on and it looks much much nicer. Render times are longer, but if you set the final gather map to freeze it doesn't take as long. Seconding this. My last job involved rapid delivery for product renders. My general workflow was to set a couple of key/rim lights manually to get the main lighting and specular highlights where I want, then use an IBL/environment map for additional highlights, fill, and FG. In the interest of deadlines I used the same environment map for everything; I'm not proud of that from a technical/artistic angle, but my boss was happy and it got the job done. Another good timesaver is to get in the practice of doing draft renders: half (or even quarter) resolution, no antialiasing, and very low FG/GI accuracy settings. It'll look really grainy, but it'll help save a lot of time until you get the lighting where you want. Once you learn what quality settings you generally like, you should be able to avoid surprises in your final renders in most situations.
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Jun 23, 2013 17:53
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Cromunist posted:I tried doing that, but it was still taking forever (as opposed to jesus loving christ god drat this is taking forever, which was before I tried that). Unless I'm doing something else that's bad and unnecessary and causing slowdown, which is completely possible, I have accepted that I'll have to figure out how to queue renders and just leave it alone for a while or something. Are you using the linear workflow for lighting? That can help make your lighting better and make color correction in after effects easier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf5kDcehYXA&list=FL-xFdY0-lnQVModpGJ20yhg Also creating a physical sun/sky can save a lot of time depending on the place you're trying to render (better for exterior shots obviously). For a scene I was doing I played around with area and directional lights for a while, but physical sun/sky resulted in a much better looking render. Once it had been adjusted a bit. Ccs fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 01:18
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Here's where i'm at learning with vray right now. Nothing special lighting wise besides a light plane in the window. Can I have some critique on the whole thing? 
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Jun 25, 2013 23:21
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Odddzy posted:Here's where i'm at learning with vray right now. Nothing special lighting wise besides a light plane in the window. Decent, if a little uninspired. It's all too perfect and neat. Vary up your wood tones (even if they are modeled on real stains). Your legs, tea table, and floor planks all have the same tone. Chair seats look a little high, but it's hard to tell without proper reference/scale. Is it just an exercise or are you looking to creating something unique?
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Jun 26, 2013 03:00
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The shot glasses look too shadowed, that's the main technical thing that bugs me (and it's not a big thing). I see you rendered with refraction on, but I guess you have caustics off or something? The teapot actually doesn't bother me, not sure why not, but the shotglasses look pretty low-fi. You also have a lot of moire on the window blinds (try turning up antialiasing) - although you have moire on things in the real world too, that looks too perfect and regular.
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Jun 26, 2013 05:35
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Zbrush's updated to 4R6.quote:ZBrush 4R6 continues to improve and enhance ZBrush functionality by giving you access to an enriched toolset of new features which will increase your creativity and productivity. The new ZRemesher provides entirely rebuilt retopology system to give even better automated and user guided topology. There are also new brushes and functions to improve your workflow for both organic and hard surface sculpting.  Lots of incremental changes, but most excited for Dynameshing not wrecking polygroups anymore, the bridging tool and the improved remesher.
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Jun 27, 2013 02:59
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You're missing an optimization step somewhere, 50 hour rendertimes are unacceptable on a paid production gig. Is it for a still or for a animated sequence. Is it a motion blur issue? What renderer? What are your light/shadow settings? Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 19:49
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The new ZRemesher in R6 is really really good. 
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Jun 28, 2013 20:58
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keyframe posted:The new ZRemesher in R6 is really really good. Could you show some samples please? I have a legit copy (have since R2) but I never really have been able to get my head around the base app, let alone the extensions.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:53
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Mudbox sculpt. No reference. I'm completely self taught, so if anyone can tell me what to improve, it would be appreciated.
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Jun 30, 2013 05:29
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Flesh Forge posted:Could you show some samples please? I have a legit copy (have since R2) but I never really have been able to get my head around the base app, let alone the extensions. http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?178984 Its pretty much sorcery. I dont think I've needed to define guides for the ZRemesher at all, unlike QRemesher which was kind of finicky.
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Jun 30, 2013 05:38
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Frankenfinger posted:"People" "Training" - these are not words I understand. Seriously I'm one of four guys in our entire department, one of the two who actually does 3D viz in said department, plus our intern who won't be here forever. Word has come from our creative director that this is what we "need" to provide. I have to find a solution that I can pick up and implement in four weeks. I don't get the option to say no. I opted for UDK in the end. I feel comfortable thus far for how everything is turning out. The point I have the space now, I feel like the client will be more than pleased. We aren't talking bout video game consumers who are used to skyrim graphics suddenly getting minecraft, after all. It looks ok (not as nice as I'm used to via render outputs in Vray, obviously) and adapting to working in UDK wasn't as much of a nightmare as it first seemed, thankfully. I do have a question though. This is a retail space so things need to be rather bright and flat. Even so, my light maps feel a little muddy and my floor (currently a static mesh) has no shadows on it from fixtures in the store. I have a few point lights lighting up the space and an exterior dominant directional light outside, and I can't figure out why objects inside the store aren't casting shadows. My exterior directional is definitely causing the building and tress to cast, do point lights not cast in the same manner? Or are the multiple points all blowing out each others shadows? I can't seem to find the answer on the udk help site so I thought I'd ask here.
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Jun 30, 2013 17:45
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tango alpha delta posted:Mudbox sculpt. No reference. I'm completely self taught, so if anyone can tell me what to improve, it would be appreciated. It's a little creepy that his eye area has the same texture on it as his skin. But I'm guessing you'd fix that when finishing it. The eyes should be a little bigger, the mouth should probably be up a little bit. The mouth right now just looks like a crease in the skin, because you need to have the sides of the lips touching. Lips are difficult because they fold out from the edges so that they point forward a bit, where on the edges they fold back in. So you need to "roll" the surface out to create that effect.
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Jun 30, 2013 23:50
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Thanks for the feedback. I will add the eyes after I make sure the proportions are correct. I've opened the eyes a bit and raised the mouth, after bulging and pinching. Gave him a bit of a shave as well. Incidentally, the pores on the skin are all hand drawn geometry.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:04
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Put some eyes in, even placeholder spheres will do. That'll really help you start defining the eye area properly.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:17
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Added geometry around placeholder 'eyes'. Will model real eyes in Maya. Some subtle asymmetry added. Had some trouble with Mudbox. I guess I'm supposed to import the eyes as another layer or all the real time lighting seems to fall apart in the node list. Anyway, here it is:
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Jul 1, 2013 08:00
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Frankenfinger posted:I opted for UDK in the end. I feel comfortable thus far for how everything is turning out. The point I have the space now, I feel like the client will be more than pleased. We aren't talking bout video game consumers who are used to skyrim graphics suddenly getting minecraft, after all. It looks ok (not as nice as I'm used to via render outputs in Vray, obviously) and adapting to working in UDK wasn't as much of a nightmare as it first seemed, thankfully. This will depend on what you're using for lighting, dynamic lighting or Lightmass. Static meshes use lightmass by default, which means you'll either need to ensure that your static mesh's uvs are in 1,1 space and do not overlap or make a new uv set with uvs that meet those criteria. You'll then need to make sure that the static mesh's lightmass resolution is high enough to get the shadows you want. Alternatively, you could set the static mesh to be lit dynamically, but you'll lose some features. Your issues may be as simple as you forgetting to build lighting. http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/UDK_Lightmass_Tutorial.html Follow that for a crash course. Here's the full blast refernce: http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Lightmass.html
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Jul 1, 2013 16:37
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This is awesome. You're awesome. Still haven't gotten it working yet but I feel like I'm on the right track at least.
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Jul 1, 2013 20:37
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In case anyone was wondering, Octane with 3 GTX 670s is a loving monster. It is absolute insanity navigating a 12m poly scene and seeing the octane viewport (@1600x1200) hit 2k samples/pixel with dof in under a minute. I was speechless except for a stream of maniacal laughter that I could not control.
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Jul 1, 2013 22:02
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What advice would you give to someone that is completely clueless about 3D modelling but is interested in learning? Watch tutorials? Jump straight into 3DS Max and do stuff?
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Jul 2, 2013 14:30
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Le0 posted:What advice would you give to someone that is completely clueless about 3D modelling but is interested in learning? I'd say it's much like learning anything else in that it differs depending on what type of person you are and how you learn the best. I personally found watching video tutorials on the subject incredibly helpful and interesting but that's very much because of my personal learning styles. I'd suggest just trying a bit of everything and seeing what sticks, there are loads of written and video tutorials directed at beginners available for free that you could have a go at and playing around on your own is obviously always a possibility. Just find something that works for you and stick with it really.
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Jul 2, 2013 14:50
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If you have a mate who uses it, sit and watch them for a bit.
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Jul 2, 2013 14:51
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Le0 posted:What advice would you give to someone that is completely clueless about 3D modelling but is interested in learning? If you are a student, you can download all Autodesk software (including 3DS Max) with a three year non commercial use license. If you find yourself really getting into 3D modelling, you can purchase a Perpetual Student License that you can keep using after you leave school, for non commercial use only. Autodesk has a bunch of tutorials as well. Typically purchasing a Perpetual Student License gets you: Maya 3DS Max SoftImage Mudbox MotionBuilder Sketchbook Pro It's about $200.00 for the whole package, at Studica tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 5, 2013 05:02
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I have another UDK question, I'm sorry I keep dropping them here. I already posted on the epic games forum and am not getting the answer I need, and I'm loathe to post on the "making games mega thread" and poo poo up another thread with my specific problems. That said, here's what I'm running across. So the final output I made was for our creative director's MacBook Pro. I output the udk package, everything looks great and it works great and he'll be presenting the design in udk off his laptop. I'm trying to be proactive and have a windows package ready to go for when the client inevitably asks for one they can run on their own machines. The problem is, the windows package I build, it doesn't have 80% of the maps working. Everything is pure black. It's not as if the uv maps didn't have their second channels either. That results in a different weird smudgey black. This is straight up black-black. I can't really post screenshots because this is design work that's not public yet. But I can't find a reason why the package would build just fine in mac os but not for windows. I don't know if it's a setting I screwed up or a limitation I don't know about. Regardless. Thanks for the advice / help.
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Jul 7, 2013 22:53
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Eye sculpted in Mudbox.
tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 01:24
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Nose and mouth sculpted in Mudbox. Freehand. No reference. Does anyone know how to detail the lips? The Knife tool seems really crude.
tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 01:26
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You seem to be going overboard with textures and high level detail before the basic forms are even laid down properly.
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Jul 8, 2013 01:37
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For lips in mudbox just use the default sculpt brush to lay down material, then use the grab tool and the pinch tool to movie things to the proper place. Also use the freeze brush or masking so you can work on the top and bottom separately. Here's an example using Zbrush. The basics are the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdA6LP3CG4 Ccs fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 01:55
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SynthOrange posted:You seem to be going overboard with textures and high level detail before the basic forms are even laid down properly. Yes, you are right. I can see that, now. I usually start with a basic head at about 2000 quads, but I'm still missing some basics on the foundation. I'm guessing that I need to add more basic forms here:
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Jul 8, 2013 02:00
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Ccs posted:For lips in mudbox just use the default sculpt brush to lay down material, then use the grab tool and the pinch tool to movie things to the proper place. Also use the freeze brush or masking so you can work on the top and bottom separately. Thanks for the link. My base mesh won't support that kind of detail at 2000 quads, so I think I need to increase the quad count until it does. Then I can follow the tutorial. Up to now, creating lips has been the job of the Bulge tool, the Knife tool and the Pinch tool. tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 02:17
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tango alpha delta posted:Eye sculpted in Mudbox. Is this supposed an eye character, or a human eye? Human heads are not cubes, so I'm not sure what is going on with it, or how it would help you in any way. Regardless, trash all of the surface detailing you're doing, start off with a much lower polycount, and then sculpt it. tango alpha delta posted:Nose and mouth sculpted in Mudbox. Freehand. No reference. This is why it doesn't look like anything. Forget about lip detailing and any sort of knife tool, gather a ton of reference on eyelids, nose shapes, face anatomy, and then start sculpting again.
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Jul 8, 2013 02:51
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Ccs posted:For lips in mudbox just use the default sculpt brush to lay down material, then use the grab tool and the pinch tool to movie things to the proper place. Also use the freeze brush or masking so you can work on the top and bottom separately. Thanks again. I've already learned something new! I'll keep practising. I had to boost my mesh to 32000 faces to follow the tutorial:
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Jul 8, 2013 02:55
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SVU Fan posted:Is this supposed an eye character, or a human eye? Human heads are not cubes, so I'm not sure what is going on with it, or how it would help you in any way. Regardless, trash all of the surface detailing you're doing, start off with a much lower polycount, and then sculpt it. I was just playing around. Just looking for pointers to fix my current sculpt: Does anyone know of a good Photoshop tutorial to create an iris, or even an entire eye texture map? tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 03:01
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You added texture and high resolution detail way too early, there's a lot of serious issues with your sculpts. I highly recommend google image searching 3d scans of humans and seeing how they look in a natural greyscale state.
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Jul 8, 2013 03:33
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ceebee posted:You added texture and high resolution detail way too early, there's a lot of serious issues with your sculpts. I highly recommend google image searching 3d scans of humans and seeing how they look in a natural greyscale state. Agreed about the cubes. They are pretty bad. How about my head sculpture? What specifically can I fix? I'd like to get better. tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 03:48
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Go to Barnes and Nobles or a local bookstore and pick up some books about traditional sculpture. Right now your sculpts are just too lumpy, and everybody's stuff starts off like that, but you should buy some books, browse pinterest for traditional sculptors like Bernini and study how light and shadow interact with forms. Also you should be sculpting with a very low subdivision level while starting off, even your studies are way too subdivided and lack accurate basic forms/planes. Also don't rely on the mudbox basemesh because like the ZBrush basemeshes they're a terrible way to begin sculpting because you get used to seeing wacky proportions and features, see if you can pick up a copy of Maya or Max or Topogun (once your sculpting skills are more developed) and make your own sculpting basemesh. And make sure your forms look right from every angle not just the front and side.
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Jul 8, 2013 03:58
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ceebee posted:Go to Barnes and Nobles or a local bookstore and pick up some books about traditional sculpture. Right now your sculpts are just too lumpy, and everybody's stuff starts off like that, but you should buy some books, browse pinterest for traditional sculptors like Bernini and study how light and shadow interact with forms. Also you should be sculpting with a very low subdivision level while starting off, even your studies are way too subdivided and lack accurate basic forms/planes. Also don't rely on the mudbox basemesh because like the ZBrush basemeshes they're a terrible way to begin sculpting because you get used to seeing wacky proportions and features, see if you can pick up a copy of Maya or Max or Topogun (once your sculpting skills are more developed) and make your own sculpting basemesh. And make sure your forms look right from every angle not just the front and side. Thanks for the feedback! I purchased a Perpetual Student License for Maya/Max/SoftImage as well as Mudbox, so it'll be waiting for me when I'm ready. Also, The perpetual student license permits you to create non commercial assets for non commercial games, where the free student license does not. tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 04:16
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I'm a firm believer in starting from a dynamesh sphere now. I used to really hate it and thought it's just way slower than using a basemesh, but I realized shortly after that that was only because I didn't know poo poo about anatomy, and relied way too much on the pre-defined topology and proportions of a base mesh. Forcing myself to sculpt a head or bust from just a sphere made me actually analyze the forms and planes, and I'm much better off for it I think. Anyway, yeah, stop subdividing so much so early on, and stop with the texture projections. If your head doesn't look good without the picture projected on, it certainly wont look great with one on.
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Jul 8, 2013 07:13
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Anyone going to siggraph? [Anaheim in two weeks] I wasn't planning on going but might as well join the worlds largest unemployment line for digital artists  A few vendors are giving out free exhibition passes, I've heard side effects and pixelogic are. If theres enough interest we could meet at the birds of the feather area and have a cg goon meet or something.
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Jul 8, 2013 08:21
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