All posts relating to Maxwell Render 1.x
By philip99
#304296
Max,
thanks for lots of test renders,

Carry,
thanks for sharing your work & your input, nice render. I wish to see your posted rings one yellow & 1 white.
green stone ring I posted is a old render file - at the time I did not use fillet as much.
but all my new renders does have filleted edeges now, as you will see in the 2 soloitaire rings. thanks for pointing
this important render point. If I understand correct 3d model for a render will be more rounded edges making to look as if it was already polished. I am still working on lighting the jewel renders is the missing key for me. I am keeping the same
model and the position to compare my renders.
I am looking at the setup for wine glass render as you have pointed from the forum, I think is from JD Hill
have you used this for you renders ?
-Phillip
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By Maximus3D
#304406
No problem Philip.

Slow day today so i been playing around trying to create silver. Here are a few tests..
The visual differences between these images may not be huge but they are there, trust me. :)
Image
Image
Image
Image

http://maximus3d.se/tests/Maxwell_Silve ... loseup.jpg
http://maximus3d.se/tests/Maxwell_Silve ... loseup.jpg

/ Max
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By Tea_Bag
#304419
I'm really liking these Max! :shock: The first close up render link at the bottom of the page is my fav! Great silver materials! - These materials might not suit a new ring but for one that's been laying about and had a few knocks its a thumb's up from me! Like the misty dull look!

edit how many layers we looking at for this material? :)
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By Maximus3D
#304425
Teabag, i'm glad you like them :oops: thank you very much. The first image at the top of my post and the 2nd highres image from the bottom which is only linked in are both using the same material. True they will not be good for brand new rings and other jewelry but if the maps used are ditched so you have only clean shaders then they should work just fine. I ran some quick lowres tests without any maps just to see if they would work and i think they will. :) the maps are there only for real closeup shots of silver objects.
All these materials use 3 layers, i want that or even 4 layers to maximize the control of everything. One or two layers can just stretch so far.. you need more to push things a bit beyond the standards. :)

This is the first one, the 'misty' looking one without any maps.
Image

Btw, doh maybe i should have posted all this stuff in my mxm thread instead of here. :(

/ Max
By philip99
#304475
tea_bag,
k is for enviornment on/off , what I mean is to see hdri file before using into enviornment
while selecting the hdri file
User avatar
By Tea_Bag
#304476
philip99 wrote:tea_bag,
k is for enviornment on/off , what I mean is to see hdri file before using into environment
while selecting the hdri file
:oops: Ah sorry me got the wrong end of the stick! I'm not sure if you can view it!? :?
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By caryjames
#304520
Hi Phillip- That is looking MUCH better!! Are you getting the results that you are expecting? If you are going for a textured ring then I think that you have nailed it! :)

If you are looking for a shinier polished ring then I think that you are getting close but need to tweak your roughness/bump setting.

Also I think that your lighting is a bit flat- you are not getting much sparkle from your emerald.
If you are still using the hdri that you were before you may be whiting out your reflections due to the size/position of your hdri map- it looked like all of the emitters met in the corners (from the reflections on your metal in your earlier post). You could try a different hdri map leaving some black areas but having more diffuse emitters.

Have you tried lighting using mxi emitters? I have not purchased hdrilightstudio so I am making due with mxi emitters but I like them because I have an easier time changing their position for better control of reflections/dispersion etc.

Hope that helps- your render looks terrific!
Cary
By philip99
#304527
Cary,
yes I am trying to get a textured metal, as test for lighting. next one will be a shiny metal. I want yellow & white
gold on the same render.
as you pointed, I am realizeing that the hdri IS makeing it whiter and washing out metal.( I will correct this)
I am not clear when you say emitters meeting at the corner ? are they lighting at the same spot ?
also I find it hard pointing the emmiters at a spot but it does not light the at the right spot. so I have to play around.
I have sky on and some light is comming from there too. (should I keep sky on?) I will be using mxi emitters in the next one , I have to find out how to make diffused emitters, (I dont know how)

I prefer to to work with mxi emitters, easier to move around fast and easy to adjest intnensity.
I have looked at the hdrilightstudio, but have no review for jewellery render on the forum someone using it. may be if there is a hdri form this we can try one.

many thanks for your experienced and detailed input,
Phillip
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By caryjames
#304588
Hi Philip- Your textured metal is looking good! As for the washing out factor.... I could be wrong but form your earlier tests it looked the hdri was one where the side emitters met the top emitter forming a white closed box- with a yellow tint to the emitters. You need some contrast in your scene created by dark areas and white emitters (diffused mxi). This will give you nice reflections and dispersion (if checked) in your gemstones.

To get a studio lighting set up check out some of the links provided earlier in this thread and definitely turn the sun OFF. Also buy a book on photography specifically studio lighting set ups. Maxwell operates just like the real world so learn photography fundamentals and your renders will get better.

To make an mxi emitter diffused you need to create one in gimp/photoshop.
* You create a gradient from white to black.
* Then save as a jpg
* Open this file in Maxwell Render
* Save this file as mxi
* Open studio or your CAD application with Maxwell plug in
* Create an emitter
* Check image emission texture
* Then load your mxi gradient that you just created

Now you have a diffused mxi emitter that you can position anywhere in your scene that you like. Hope that helps
Cary
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