your opinion on this?? PCI expansion Tweet

[protovu]

Thank you, Thomas. So glad you liked the animation.
This was my first Octane project render from about a year ago. I have learned a few things since then, but as you can see, not enough. There is a great deal I would do differently, if I were starting this now.

By "3D viewport", I meant the Carrara viewport, but while seeing Octane. Because there is no open GL transparency with Octane Materials, I need to have the Octane viewport up to see what is going on. Can' t always simply hide the model, as parts must be seen ( and splitting the models can get too complicated in many cases).

Yes, the glossy materials are pretty intense. I became really intrigued with the possibility of showing, for example, a tongue surface with great detail. I think I started with one of the Tony Sculptor skins. I may have used the Hot pixel remover....but probably not correctly..ha.

Want to get into SSS more, as you suggest, but wanted the wetness for the models in this case.

I need to be more strategic with scenes like the screwdriver. But usually, I have some tissue edge or the like, in front of a device.

As mentioned, Premiere is pretty handy for some transparency compositing......but I really would like to do all the heavy lifting with Octane. I am finding that this is a more accurate way to work. ... and more fun for me. There is so much to explore with Octane. And when you and Simon get particles working....wow!

[tschwenke]

Hi Rick,

Oh, I understand

When it comes to tissue in front of something, just use the render layers. It works really well

When it comes to the big movies, it's almost impossible to work without render layers or passes / But I understand that it's sometimes easier to do in the first place. I guess, every person has its workflow / The only comment I have right now is to use layers and passes, and to not use transperency in Octane / This could speed up your render time.

Do you have other samples of your work? Looks promising

Best wishes,
Thomas

[protovu]

Hi Thomas,
Occasionally, clients make things available. I am mostly under Nondisclosure Agreements, so it is really hard to show work. Here is something that just came online: https://vimeo.com/159179859 . This is their website: http://www.emboline.com/index.html .. I see many things I would like to improve in it. I do have some earlier work - pre-Octane, but it just doesn't do it for me any more. So I need to build up more of a portfolio with Octane.

You are right. I must get into Render layers. I thought using render layers meant I would need to composite the layers in video editing? I better read up on this. Sounds like I really missed the boat here.

[tschwenke]

Hi Rick,

Happy Xmas

Looks good. Gloves are a bit too bright and they go into the ground. But, the overall quality is quite good

Indeed, layers must be merged together in a video editing software. It will give you better flexibility. You can, for example, color correct single layers. In your example, I think it's a good idea to not render the background over and over again. Rendering it once is enough; using then a shadow catcher for the shadows on the ground would be a good idea. It's just an idea. What works for me does not necessarily work for you

Best wishes,
Thomas

[protovu]

Thank you, Thomas. And, Merry Xmas.

I guess that I have actually done a form of render layering, in that , I have many times rendered with an Alpha layer, so I could produce output independent of a background (added in video editing). I have used the Shadow Catcher for still images. You are right, I should use this for animation.

Effectively, would you say the principal is the same,
- but if I had a sphere on render layer 1 that goes from behind a cube on layer 2 to in front of the cube , the part of the cube behind the sphere is not rendered provided the Materials are opaque?

- Each render layer is its own .png series? Project movies must use a great deal of HD space, or do layers with very little data generate as less file size?

Let me ask you: So aside from more video editing flexibility, would you say that, for example, a 15 second PNG movie done in 4 layers would render faster than the same movie on one layer? Seems like 4 sets of .PNGs to be assembled later would take longer to render??? Or, because of the null - Alpha areas it is faster?

You are absolutely right about the gloves being too bright. And the finger is breaching the table surface. I must fix that. Surprised the client didn't mention it to me. Very late night production on that.

Finally: Layers strategy......would the attached image be a way of approaching Render Layers?

Thanks, Thomas. All elementary to you, and much appreciated.
Rick

[tschwenke]

Hi Rick,

It's hard to give a standard answer to a complex topic. As I said, there are a thousand possibilities to do something. Buying more hardware can be one possibility at a specific problem

A problem that will need render layers is this viewtopic.php?f=23&t=58230
Here, I have to use render layers, otherwise you will see the borders

Here you have another draft:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3o2ivnpwpzx4a ... oot-v8.mp4
You will see that the ocean has a strange reflection. It's because lighting for water is - most of the time - a different one. So, I usually use different HDRIs in a scene (for water, foreground, background etc.). The background can be rendered once and then used as a billboard to speed up the whole process.

So, it's a really a big topic and giving tips is really hard

I'm also quite sure that you will have to learn After Effects, as Premiere won't give you the possibility to composite layers in an effective way.

For your scene, it's hard to tell how to approach the rendering process. As I mentioned, I usually render the background in another layer. That's what I would try first: seperating foreground from background. But, I guess, you have to first understand the whole process to decide where to use layers and where to avoid them... It's also not easy to say whether layers render faster than a whole composited scene or not... You have to try for yourself, I guess

Best wishes,
Thomas

[protovu]

Thank you, Thomas. I love the Action/Reaction animation. Really fun.


Yes, I must simply dig in and figure this out. I have done many of what I considered " overlay" animations, using alpha renders to composite. What I didn't like was, in a complicated animation,
needing to edit multiple .car files.

Now I am thinking that Render Layers could allow me to do all from a single .car file. This will open up new strategies. Off we go....

[tschwenke]

Hi Rick,

Happy New Year 2017

The workflow you describe is well known to me and it's a quite good one. Sometimes, you have to split scenes because they just get too big. I recently created a scene that I had to split in several parts, because I wasn't able to animate in Carrara the character; it was just too slow. Animating Genesis 2 characters can become very slow

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibo2yv56usreqg7/Car-scene.jpg

So, I also do a lot of your "overlay" animations / Most of the time, it's a really good idea IMHO

Best wishes,
Thomas

[protovu]

Beautiful go-cart scene, Thomas.

So....I finally rendered out some test .exr files, and brought them into Natron to experiment. Seems like a pretty nice node editing package compositor.

At this point, I can't see the value of going the .exr route . Clearly there is value to be had but overall, for now, more work, more file size, and more render time. My scenes are simple enough at this point
that I can get away with an Alpha background, and then some sort of neutral underlay in video editing.

This will change, I suspect, as I get more developed. It would be good if there were some indicator that would pop up automatically, and say to me, " Hey, Slow-head! Go the .exr route with this! ...It is the right thing to do here!"

With that in mind, the characteristics of a project that scream .exr to you are?? Let's say 3 main ones...?

[tschwenke]

Hi Rick,

Thanks

I have to admit that I never used EXR files. Perhaps I will do it in the future, but right now, I don't do it. Well, I used it once, but had to tweak AE in a way I did not like, so, I'm not in the position to tell you when to use it and when not to / I always use PNG

I did not know of Natron. Seems not so bad. I understand that it's a node based composition editor, which is quite cool. I hope you can use it the way you want it to use. Please keep me updated when it comes to your next projects

Best wishes,
Thomas