[mathieubr]

Dear All,
I was thrilled discovering Vreel's Photomatch software http://www.vreel-media.com/tutorials/photomatch.html that is really convenient to match still images and make 3d composites. But I was really disapointed when i discovered Maxwell render was not so compatible with it.
BUT
I realised that by deleting the photomatch object in C4D just before sneding the scene to maxwell, Maxwell still uses the PhotoMatch settings in the scene and accepts to render it. I wanted to know if some of you already used this workflow before (C4D + PhotoMatch + Maxwell), and how they handle it.

Also if some of you have alternate workflows, would be great to read.

Thanks for your tips.

[JDHill]

Could you please be more specific about what you mean by not so compatible with it? I have no idea how the plugin you are talking about works, but the Maxwell plugin gets its camera information from Cinema Camera objects (or the editor view, if there is no Camera), so as long as the other plugin works by building/maintaining a Cinema Camera, everything should just work.

[mathieubr]

Well, I am still learning to use those tools but there is my problem for now:

The PhotoMatch plugin creates a plugin-specific object that creates a backdrop for the camera with the user's background image. It changes the scene settings to the original image size. This object also allows user to calibrate the camera and model basic forms through the front view, using a one or three points perspective. I use three points.
Photomatch also creates a Photomatch Camera that seems to be compatible with Maxwell as you mentioned.
But When I want to render the scene in Maxwell with all those objects, I get the following message in C4d console :

Export Failed. [reason: the object has an invalid set of points]

If I get rid of the PhotoMatch object in the scene by deleting or just disabling it, but keep the camera settings and other objects created during the process, Maxwell is ok to render the scene, but I loose the background image along the way. I would like to avoid this. Is there a way to set the original picture to render as a background of maxwell rendering (sorry, maybe this is something obvious..)? I am thinking about creating a fake HDR from my original file and projecting it as a screen in the final render... Am I on the right track? But then, Can I still light my scene with a different HDR or a skydome ?

Another problem is that a floor object that can be created through PhotoMatch seems to refuse to receive the background texture when rendering. I then have to replace this object by a c4d plane by hand and apply bg texture again..

Thanks a lot for your help!

[JDHill]

The message being printed means that the object is producing a polygon object, but that this object either has no points, or has an invalid array of points (specifically, its GetPointCount function returned 0, or its GetPoint function failed to return a valid array of points). So you are correct to delete or disable the object for rendering, since it cannot be exported. I cannot comment much on the background picture you mention, since I know nothing about it, but similarly: if that plugin creates a valid piece of geometry, with a valid material assigned to it, containing the picture, then it should be rendered just fine. If not, then again, it is something that cannot be exported. Also similar with the floor object you mention. If it does not, then you need to do as you are doing, and create stand-in replacements for these objects, which do produce exportable geometry.

Regarding the fake HDR idea, the way to do that would seem to be: either a) create an MXI emitter plane and use IBL as desired, or b) put the MXI in your IBL Background channel, enable its Screen Map option, and then assign a different MXI to your Reflection/Refraction/Illumination IBL channels.

[mathieubr]

Thanks a lot for these comments.

I have to study further the Base (ground) object created by the plugin. But it seems that the faster way to go is to replace it by a plane.
I am going to try MXI emitter with both options you mentioned. I already tried a bit with an HDR file, but have to deal with different exposures for the background and scene...
Will post if I find easy way to go.

Thanks again!