Prido project update

prido project underway again...see prido

back to Brisbane

...from Harry Potter to Polly Pocket :) whats next...I wonder.

This job is giving me some nice time to think about lighting using spotlights to fake GI.
And im getting some nice renders...

I've also taken the time to dabble in a little MaxScript to try to optimise our workflow.

My scripts make selection sets of the characters and sets and props so we can easily orgainse the lighting.
Another script sets up the 'light linking' or Include/Exclude Lists for characters to remove hoo-man error and ensure the lights are only effecting what they should be.

Other scripts swap out shaders to account for updates in character models, and keep things streamlined.
Some renders finally here (4/42018)

bit of humor

Im at home sick today when i should be at work, working on the latest Harry Potter movie !
so some humor is in need - from swann - thnx on the side effcts forums.

RSP featured on CGSociety !

Rising Sun Pictures featured on cgsociety

procedural feather

the beginnings of a procedural feather generator

stuff I've though about so far:
proxy / hi res toggle - currently the 'fronds'can be turned off but ideally it'd be nice to have a few polygons with the render UVmapped on automagically

the user can adjust :

• the position along the stem where the fronds start
• the sweep thickness of the stem via ramp
• the poly detail of the stem
• the overall shape of the fronds via a ramp
• the angle fronds grow out and down toward the base of the feather
  vs how perpendicular from the stem they are
• the number of fronds and the detail of the curves 
• the render width of the fronds / curves.
• the thickness of the individual fronds via a ramp
• the noise on the fronds
• the overall  bend and twist of the feather

Further stuff i want to have a crack at:

a procedural colouring system based on real feathers
subtle randomisation tests on most parameters
irridescent shading
a texture generation system for low res geometry.

UN-subdivide

rob kelly nutted this out for me...

put in a subdivided mesh with no history...and get the UN-subdivided equivalent out of it.

he uses a VOPSOP that counts how many neighbors a point has, and if it has 4, then
it can be removed. The trick is to delete every second face first , then check every points neighbor count,
then on another version, delete every second face/prim - but starting from prim #1 as opposed to prim  #0,
then repeat the neighbor count and point removal.

Combining the two results gets you the un-subdivided mesh.

The example file is on odforce here, and shows two methods of achieving the same result.

nice work Rob Kelly ! :)

NOKIA E60 rendered with Mantra

inspirational links updated

see march

SOP renderer of sorts...

inspired by ben p's blog

http://blog.ioxu.com/?p=572

a SOP land 'renderer'

below - the 'secne' as rendered normally, and the 'render' :) from the SOP renderer...

annd finally - the '3D pixels' - boxes copied onto points.

the scene







colour info through the ray SOP

 the 3D pixels rendered from a different angle

 lighting info from the phong shader equation. basically the dot prod of the surface normal

and the light position - multiplied by the light's multiplier, and added to the diffuse colour already present.