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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Render test, need some opinions (constructive please)...

Discussion in 'Fan Films, Fan Audio & SciFi 3D' started by Crimsus, Sep 21, 2007.

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  1. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    Well, I've been gone since like forever. Now that I have emptied all the sand out of my boots I can work on my fan film again.

    Below are two links. The first link is to a still shot I did while I was testing what render options to use for space scenes. I'm using 3DS Max 9 w/VRay. My goal is for a realistic feel for the space renders as far as lighting and quality is concerned. The second link is to a small 3 second animation of the vehicle flying by. It's only 320x240, but that's so I can keep the size down so as many people as possible can download it in a "timely" manner.

    Snapshot
    Flyby

    The A-Wing model I used was downloaded from SciFi3d.com. The original model was done by Staffan Norling. The retexturing was done by André Müller. The only thing I did with the textures was convert them to VRay format to get more flexibility and more options when I was ready to render. Converting the textures to the VRay materials made the textures really sing compared to the unmodified materials.

    My fan film (actually the goal is to be a web-series) will not contain ANY of the vehicles from the movies, or anything similar for that matter since my movie takes place in a completely different era of the Star Wars galaxy. I have been working on the concept and doing "test" shots for 2 years because I want to make certain this project will be great. I can't wait for the TV-Series to come out, but honestly, it isn't what I want to see, hence the reason why I have been brewing my project for a couple years. Let me just say the "A Long Time Ago" is nothing compared to how far back my series will take place.

    Once I can get a good list together of what people think of the space renders I can move onto the matte renders and architectural renders for indoor/outdoor sequences (which will almost all be CG/Greenscreen).

    Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

    v/r
    Crimsus (a.k.a. PropanePhoenix)
     
  2. RocketGirl

    RocketGirl Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2002
    The model looks excellent. As for the flyby, it's really hard to tell because there aren't enough stars or other objects to judge by. It looks all right, but it's really difficult to judge a flight path without stable reference points... It's also a bit low-res, though the still shot looks pretty darn good, so that's probably not an important issue.
     
  3. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    Thanks RocketGirl. I just did some upgrades to my system last night. Lemme see if I can pull off a larger render of the flyby and possibly reduce the ships velocity.
     
  4. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    I'm brewing up a 786x480 version and extended the animation to 300 frames @ 30fps. I also placed a curve on the vehicles velocity so it goes fast as the animation progresses. This should help make it easier to identify the starfield. I've tossed around the idea of doing a dual layer starfield to create more parallax so that there is more of a detectable change in position and perspective but I'm not certain yet. I don't want to make the stars seem like there are smurf-sized stars next to the vehicle and throw off the entire look.

    I installed a AMD AM2 6000+ last night so rendering this larger animation should help to break in the upgrade. May the force be with my thermal grease!

    I post the link to the animation once it is complete, as well as the render time (some folks find that useful).

    v/r
    Crimsus
     
  5. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    Here's the 768x480 version of the render. I had to export it to MP4 in order to keep the quality but the file size is down to just over 2MB.

    Larger Rendered MP4

    The only thing that bothers me at the moment is that some of the dimmer stars seem to flicker. That's a minor issue to me though. The intent of this is to get an idea from people how the ship looks so I know what material settings I should use for my project.

    v/r
    Crimsus
     
  6. snorts2ez

    snorts2ez Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 28, 2007
    Even though the stars are flickering a little, that still looks a lot better than the first clip you posted. The ship looks excellent, and the stars are much better (easier to see, hence, I can tell what's happening in the shot). Good job! Keep it up [face_peace]
     
  7. Teague

    Teague Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2006
    Don't forget a fill light. :)
     
  8. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    Actually there won't be a fill light in the space scenes, not in the traditional sense anyway.

    There will be at least one light in the scene, most likely from a nearby star, but that is it. I want to aim for a more realistic lighting scenario in space which means that there will only be one light source overall for the space scenes.

    I'm trying to put together a good sun simulation for a star. I'm using bits and pieces of a tutorial from 3D World magazine. Hopefully I can integrate the sun simulation in scenes and set it up so that lights the space scene as well.

    For scenes in space where there isn't a particular star system nearby, I will use 3 lights, but they're intensities will be adjusted to create a feel that "ok, there is at least a star nearby but it is too far off to be visible". This will be enough to light the scene but not so much that every possible point on a vehicle is illuminated.

    Anywho, thx for the feedback, please keep it coming.

    v/r
    Crimsus
     
  9. -Spiff-

    -Spiff- Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2005
    Incidentally, I really liked the lighting you put forth. Be sure to consider diffuse light reflected from any nearby planets or gas clouds, however, these may be so much less intense than the sun that they may not yield significant changes.

    -Spiff
     
  10. PadawanNick

    PadawanNick Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2001
    You're specular reflections seem too clean.
    There are areas of the surface that we see early in the shot are "munged" by dark dirt, but those areas are as bright and shiny as everything else with the spec reflection crosses.

    Not sure if you're doing this already, but configuring your render tool to render individual image sequences (passes) for specific aspects of your surface texture (color, dirt, GI, specularity, reflection, different dirt, etc.) will allow you to fine tune this sort of blending in a 2D compositing app .... much faster than adjusting your 3D lighting and re-rendering the whole thing.

    If you haven't already, look around the web for multi-pass rendering tutorials for your app.
    It's the kind of pipeline thing that can totally change (for the better) how you handle shots with 3D elements.

    Good luck.
    Have fun.
     
  11. Crimsus

    Crimsus Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2004
    I am still in the process of "decoding" the features of VRay. The problem I have run into is that there are several render elements which have an almost identical naming convention to another element. For example, I can render out a separate base called "VRay Shadow", but there is also "VRay Raw Shadow" and "VRay Draft Shadow". They all appear to be the same according to the help file (which really isn't helpful).

    Yeah, I know there are areas of the reflections that are a bit too sharp. When I was modifying the textures my first goal with the model was to simply translate the original textures to the VRay format successfully. That goal was met. That was stage one. I had already begun tweaking the texture maps after the first render was finished. I have been able to resolve some of the dirt issues so that the texture reflects a more inconsistent pattern in the dirty areas or no reflection of light at all.

    This weekend I am going to take a step away from the space scene and work on doing a CG composite of the modified A-Wing sitting outside in the grass. I just gotta pick up another tripod for my mirrored globe to sit on so that way my Rebel XTi isn't being handheld during the HDR shots I need.

    v/r
    Crimsus
     
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