POV-Ray [plugin] (updated: 2016/Aug/08)

[tkbd]

Thank you Micheus,I'm always grateful for your help.

become the master of the Rendering plugins..

I also agree with it.
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tkbd

[micheus]

Hey guys. I just updated the files:
- wpc_pov-ertl8.0.tar (you can use the File->Install Plugin option to install it - under Windows you probably will need to run Wings3D as Administrator to get it updated)
- PovRay3.7-Env-Test.zip

Render options dialog:
- added option to set the threads;
- changed AA settings location bringing it to the first tab;
- added super-sampling type selection (be careful using type2 and a big depth>5 - see documentation);
- added option to generate transparent background;
- moved Radiosity options to the a new Lightning tab, where other new options will be added;

Ambient light dialog:
- Added Power to HDRI, SkyDome and SkyBox light (default 100%);

More to come tomorrow (I hope )

[oort]

Micheus,
Thanks for the updated file. I did a few quick tests. While trying to improve the look of the material for the glass sphere under the Reflection tab, I noticed that when Variable is turned on, the glass ends up as a strange yellow color. Is this normal when Variable is turned on?

With Variable turned off, I get a better glass sphere by increasing the Minimum to White.

Thanks,
oort

[tkbd]

Micheus,Thank you for Update.
It layout has been organized boldly,isnt it?
Transparency of the background has been working well in my Enviroment too.

But...In General option tab,Pre-rendering > "Threads",
This string has been grayed out in default.
So I could't understand it something at a glance.
I think appropriate for grayed-out to the input field only.

See the bellow screenshot.

In the grayed-out strings in the anti-aliasing group doesn't mind...
(Because These are work as a child element of anti-aliasing checkbox)

By the way
I tested Radiosities.The report is here.
To share the information for everyone.



Cheers!
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tkbd

[micheus]

tkbd, thanks for the feedback. You are really good on doing these charts.

Yeah, disabled controls look really bad in OSX. See it using Windows 7:

You probably can experience that with other dialogs too. When we disable a group of related controls (the easy way) the container disables it's controls automatically. Use a different approach would result we increase the code complexity to keep the visual feedback consistent.

I'm going to fix the "Thread" grayed control.

[micheus]

Files updated:
- wpc_pov-ertl8.0.tar
- PovRay3.7-Env-Test.zip

Render options dialog:
- Added the SSLT options to the Lightning tab;
- Added the Render Quality options to the General tab. Default will not use any option of them - it's the current way it has been working;

Material dialog:
- Added SSLT support to Finish tab;

Ambient light dialog:
- The Scale and Power fields were reverted to 1.0 as default value for 100% (as it's used by other fields);

In order to get SSLT working it must be enabled in the Render options dialog and the Multiplier field for the Translucency in the Material dialog must be greater than 0.0;

oort, taking in account that post I linked in #88 I think we don't need to take care about the mm_per_unit parameter since 1WU=10mm and the POV-Ray is using the same scale.

That is what I have to add to POV-Ray plugin for a while.
I'm going to be on vacation for the next two weeks starting from this Tuesday, so I must comeback here only to manage the forum and check messages (no coding).

[micheus]

A start point to test the SSLT: the oort's candle file modified can be found here


I had to change the Opacity from 0.7 to 0.85 to get a better result. I tried to kept it as close as the Yafaray settings.
I think we need to play with other parameters since better results must be reached as we can see in this post at POV-Ray group.

By playing with some parameters it seems to work better if we use:
Render:
Gamma: 1.8
Samples for diffuse scattering: 500

Material:
Shininess: 0.0001
Opacity: 0.95
Translucency multiplier: 1.0

[oort]

Micheus,
Thank you for the plug-in update and also the candle example file. I will try to find time to play with it to see what I can get.

Enjoy your vacation.
Thanks again,
oort

[oort]

I found the following thread with settings for Pov-Ray SSLT in a candle. I hope to learn something from it when I have time... Pov-Ray SSLT Candles

oort

[oort]

I had a little time to play with SSLT. Yes, Increasing the Samples ("Samples for diffuse scattering: 500") settings under Export Options > Lighting tab > "Subsurface Light Transport" is important for getting a smoother look. I increased both "Diffuse Scattering" and "Single-Scattering Approximation" to the same value to get rid of problems with the material. This setting affects rendering time, so try to keep the numbers as low as possible. It looks like "Radiosity" needs to be set to None. I also noticed that in the General Options tab that SSLT only works with "Quality Settings" set to either Default or Compute Media and Radiosity.

I noticed that when rendering from an angle where one is facing the spotlight I was getting strange squares and lines in the material. I was finally able to discover that increasing the "Anti-Aliasing Threshold" to a higher number (0.9) clears the problem up. I notice that setting the value to 1.0 or higher causes Pov-Ray to crash.

The Threads setting (General Option Tab) does not seem to work at this time, based on what I am seeing in the Povray window where text is displayed.

P.S. I found this link with material settings for SSLT for various real world materials... SSLT Materials

Thanks,
oort