finalRender Subscription Drop 2 Sneak Peek (BETA) Live Stream Recording.
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Here, Edwin Braun, co-founder of cebas Inc., takes you through the step of our next highly anticipated finalRender new feature sneak peek on the SSS (Sub Surface Scattering *)
* SSS - lights bounces within material at sub surface levels before exiting.
HOW TO ACHIEVE THE GEMSTONE LOOK
The 3d on Max of a jade laughing Buddha scene : high resolution 3d scan all triangles mesh. Only two AreaLights into the scene here - one at the rear and one from the front.
Features called up finalRender, and material editor : rendering on this Live streaming recording is on both CPU and GPU.
Mode: ActiveShade
- start with diffuse / reflection material as shown on 'gemstone' effect;
- try reducing 'Glossiness' to 0.7 and see the effects - less gloss and more of a dull look far from the photorealistic polished reflective gemstone look;
- Let's do this first by increasing the Transparency ratio (Refraction) and see the changes in effects;
- Note: jade values for the Material Editor is 1.6 to 1.627 so set this as the IOR value (you can refer to https://pixelandpoly.com/ior.html ) ;
- Well, the refraction alone is not glowing enough.
TRANSLUCENCY EFFECT?
- turn on the Translucency (below Refraction in Matl Editor), you will start to see some improvements twds a jade stone appearance.
- however, as the Translucency helps more in SSS tuning for leaves/ organic effects - it is still not what we want.
LET"S GO ADVANCED
- Advanced Rendering Options, we have a "Max Distance' Refraction value button : absorption based on the rate light travels thru the distance. Also, make the Refraction-Transparency fully transparent at 1.0 which remove any 'diffuse' color on the object.
- now, one can adjust further the Depth (Distance) at which the light rays is absorbed. Complete absorption would show as black at the distance;
- we see the jade Buddha now with some reasonable reflection and a more glossy look but a purplish hue - not really what we are after for a ' glossy jade gemstone' look/ because the color now on the 'Color at Max Distance' is deep purple.
- So, I am going to copy the Map #182 Gradient and instance it for 'Color at Max Distance' - drag & drop, there done;
- Now, just playing with the Max Distance value will give us the final result we desire.
- Nope, now we got the green glossy look going however, still not ideal as the Sub Surface Scattering light isn't strong enough and the scene appears too dark;
DO A RESET BACK TO NORM
- SO back to Diffuse/Reflection;
- turn off the front AreaLight;
ACTIVATE SSS SUBSURFACE SCATTERING (Light) Beta
- Feature 'Random Walk', known to early users of finalRender 1.0
- Basically, Random Walk is when the light goes into a random scatter/bounce inside the object and rays exit as and when and illuminates the surface;
- we are already starting to see some 'glow' effect a signature of jade and other less dense gemstones;
- let's further adjust the Depth control (level of light penetration): testing at 10.0 - 5:0 - 4.0 - 3.0... see how much SSS you prefer;
- Increase the Iterations passes on finalRender from 100 to 300;
- Finally, the scattering is looking much better now and what we want. More scattering of light needed at the denser parts of the object in this case the dark stomach of the jade statue so, let's turn back on the direct AreaLight and that makes it much lighter. With the SSS On, the direct light is now also absorbed and distributed in the rendering;
- UNIQUE BUTTON: the Fwd./Back on the SSS allows for you to control the ratio balance between how much front light vs back light you want scattered. It makes a major difference in photorealistic effects.
* 1.0 is total back light effect;
* - (minus) 1.0 is total front light effect;
* And 0.0 is completely balance rays from front and back sub scattering.
Further analyze effects by turning off the front AreaLight from the right menu and Edwin does a comparison of the three Fwd./ Back. values.
- minus 1.0 ( AreaLight front On) Compare.
- Jade effects require both the SSS and the transparency as mentioned so let's go there and make fine adjustments. Finer points as adjusting the Transparency often gives an unwanted see-through look;
REFRACTION / MAX DISTANCE COLOR
- again combined with adjusting here
Adding this we now combine rendering effects of 1) Sub Surface Scattering + 2) Transparency + 3) Absorption into the material. Perfect. Just remember that the Refraction + Absorption adjusts the coloration of the backlight. So, play around with the backlight angle to get the effect you want. And you will have quite a lot of ah-ha moments with finalRender trueHybrid.
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