mesht

i have some questions on realistic rendering.people told me 'unskilled' 3d user uses 3rd party plug-ins to achieve realistic rendering,whereby skilled user just uses the default scanline and default max lighting in max to create a GI like scenes, is this possible?

second, can one stimulate an accurate photometric lighting by just keying the known values manually in max? or use an IES file?

well.....these are some of the questions that was posed to me by my frens...

crazy homeless guy

wrong. there is nothing wrong about scanline. yes, it requires more skill to get good results than a gi renderer, and there is no comparison to the speed. ....but you can not achieve the same effects that you get with gi. the delicate fading in the shadows, the extra light in areas without blowing out, ect.. ect.. i don't quite understand people that put down this technology because they think it is a cop out. it is simply advancement of 3d rendering. they should embrace gi, and figure out how to use it more powerfully than just hitting render. the people that are afraid of it, are afraid change is going to make their job less valuable, and easier for other people to do.

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travis schmiesing

kunstraum.tv

gi is overrated !!!

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www.purerender.com architecture. vision. emotion

mesht

well....you are right on that. i myself uses photometric lighting data to acieve the accurate lighting distributions and the soft shadows. in my view, i uses this data because it is very accurate and give correct lighting mood. i'm all out for GI rendering, cos i'm still migrating from Radiosity to GI

i also agree with you that GI render gives more convincing and natural look which makes a scene super realistic. of cos, i'm using latest techonolgy to help me in my rendering, not say i'm unskilled, cos at these days, time is money!!

crazy homeless guy

well, i guess i was ignorantly grouping all technologies besides scanline together (gi, radiosity, and what have you). ...and when it comes to exteriors, you can pull off a scanline that is so close to anything else, it is a valid solution. ...but for interiors. no, scanline can not beat any other solution in any category besides time. ...scanline is also good if you are doing npr. ...but not the 'photoreal' rendering that people always seem to want.

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travis schmiesing

wda

The real skill in all of this is being able to use both GI & fakiosity techniques. Your working in max? Ever notice how flat & crappy the specular elements tend to be? -Fakiosity, 'cinematic' placement of light/s to accent/enhance specular for this example, but lighting in of it's self is a skill set and does make the scene.

There is a broad range of skills/techniques that are overlooked when just relying on GI to make it right... that's probably what was meant by those comments you mentioned. After that it's use specific, you can't just rely on GI for many reasons- animation rendering times, artisitic expression.......


WDA

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Christopher Nichols

I would say that GI lighting is just as difficult as scanline rendering, but completely different. Artistically speaking, you still have to deal with all sorts of problems that real photographers or cinematographers have to deal with. Correct key to fill, softlight, hard light, color temperature. I have seen lots of BAD photography, and I have seen lots of bad rendering as well. Photorealism, and be an imitation of bad photography too.

Technically speaking, good GI involves an intimate knowledge of how GI works. You want to get the most out of your rendering engine for the least amount of rendering time. I have seen a lot of heavily artifacted images... and what is with with EVERYONE doing overcast skys when they do GI... Good photography books and good filmamaking books are going to be your tool set.

So mesht, I would say that your original statment (I know it is not your and simply you repeating something someone told you) is simply wrong and oversimplistic. I would be like saying a watercolor painter is unskilled compared to an oil painter.

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Christopher P Nichols

Maxer

I completely agree, if someone is telling you that GI/Radiosity is only being used by those who are unskilled, then they have obviously never used GI. I think everyone using Max or any other rendering program should understand the basics before moving on to something more advanced. You should know how to use the Scanline before moving into GI, but that doesn’t mean GI is easier, it's just different. GI does make certain things less difficult as far as the lighting set up goes, but with programs like Final Render it takes a very good understanding of how the program operates as well as what the setting do in order to get a good image. If I were you I would stop listening to your friend and look into it for my self, then you will know what you’re talking about.

superdave

It would be nice if there was a good tutorial for GI. All the ones I have seen are dry and plain. I never feel like I learn much from the one i have run across.

Maxer

I never found any that really helped me, even the ones that came with the program were all but useless. It's really just a matter of trial and error to figure most of them out.