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Sentinalysis β Alien - Reflectivity/Cinematic Lighting Test
#alien #dark #giger #lighting #xenomorph
Published: 2020-04-16 21:00:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 964; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 1
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Description
Further experimental attempts at applying Iray cinematic lighting over the Fo Render version of the Alien model. I've been experimenting with adding a geoshell with a watery shader, over the top of my earlier changes to the 3Delight-native model's surface. The 'splotches' of light are still too large for my liking, but I'll be further trying to refine that visual quirk by reducing the model's reflectivity, now that I have the geoshell to create reflectivity in a more fluid-friendly way. At the moment, rendering it with a heat bloom effect being applied helped to lessen those.
For some reason, the inner jaws are not defined very well.
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Comments: 11
That's interesting. I'd like to see how this goes
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Gradually!
I seem to get good results in basic lighting, but then I get issues like this when atmospheric lighting is ever applied. It might not matter, but it's something I'd really like to be able to correct for that.
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Cool! If you keep at it, you'll solve the problems.
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Not having very much success, so far! The splotchy glistening isn't too bad in non-moody lighting, at least.
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I think there is a limitation with the model itself. The surface topology is too flat and smooth. The recessed areas are not recessed, especially between the ribs. The combination of your wetness map and the fog highlight that limitation. Fixing it could be a pain, but maybe there is a way.
Displacement and/or normal maps would help with the recessed areas. You might be able to get your displacement map from the diffuse color map. You could convert to grayscale then adjust the levels to make the recessed areas darker and the bones and surface forms lighter. You might composite that with the bump map. You might use the airbrush tool to improve the results.
You could convert the displacement map into a normal map in GIMP or any other program that can convert grayscale to normal map. IIRC, there's a plugin filter for that.
Then you could modify your wetness and specular maps to reduce highlights in the recessed areas. Again, you might be able to use a modified version of the displacement map to help with that.
I looked on Forender. There is a new version of Xenomorph 01 (Big Chap) that looks much improved! It's also iray-compatible.
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I'm sadly out of my depth when it comes to things like that. Never understood them. This is all pretty much trial and error!
I remember asking them about that and they said it would never be Iray compatible, because they couldn't figure it out. :/ Have you tested it?
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I understand.
It seems somebody figured it out. I've not tested it. I did see it, and they claim it. There's an iray duf in the file list. They say the pose set works with it. I think Ttheir renders look great, though the inner jaw still looks too small. I'm very tempted to fork over the money! Maybe soon. I have a backlog in my project queue. Here's the item link:
www.forender.com/market/characβ¦
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Must have changed it! I think those renders must have been done with Poser or in 3Delight, but... Yeah. While my preference is definitely for the ridge-headed aesthetic, if this is Iray-compatible, I'm going to experiment with it! Thanks for the heads up!
Still wish I could get this one looking how I want it to, but... Oof. If this other version is is good for Iray, it could be ideal.
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Glad to help! Smooth dome or ridge head... That's down to personal taste. I prefer the dome, but the ridges are good, too.
I think they did a lot of work on that new one, and it would take some work to get yours looking the way you want. It would be fun, but it likely means increasing the poly count. Doing that means reworking the uvs and textures. And it still has to work in Daz and Poser with the pose set. It's never easy!
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After asking, they're apparently testing Iray materials on this one. It's not ideal, but the slickness is a lot more convincing than what I've managed to create:
www.forender.com/media/kunena/β¦
When they have another sale, I'll get the smooth-domed version and, if they also update the Queen, it should cover most eventualities.
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I saw your question in the forum but I did not see their answer until now. That's very good news! Yes, the updated textures look a lot better! Sounds like a plan
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