Standard Camera to Physical Camera

[braddewald]

Hey everybody. I have been thinking about finally switching from the standard max camera to the VRay Physical Cam. I wanted to know what the benefits are for switching, or if a standard camera is just fine. Also, are there any good tutorials out there for getting started. Every time I give it a try it ends up looking either too bright or too dark or too washed out. Any advice would be appreciated.

[WAcky]

I guess there's probably no point unless you understand how a camera works and the relationship between different camera settings like f-stops, ISO, shutter speeds and so on.

 

I'm currently doing a photomontage and the physical camera allows me to plug in all the correct values to match the photograph I took for the backplate. Very handy.

 

You should be able to gain more control with the phys cam but the trouble may not be worth it. I personally started with the phys cam so I can't give any tips on the migration.

 

See what the others say I guess...

[Stephen Thomas]

Actually in my experience the physical camera can sometimes give you less control. The whole point is that it's all based on real-world values so it does tend to limit the scope for tweaking the lighting based on artistic preferences for example. Also if you're using the vray sun/sky system then you really have to pump up your artificial light multipliers to compensate in some cases, and higher light multipliers lead to greater render times.

 

However it does also have its advantages, the main one being that you only have to light your scene once rather than on a per-view basis. So whether your camera is placed in a sun drenched lobby or round a dark corner you simply adjust the exposure in camera rather than changing your lighting setup. In camera white balance is another good feature. All other features such as DOF and motion blur can be done with the standard cam too, and depending on your knowledge of photographic principles may be easier to set up that way.

[braddewald]

Awesome, thanks!

[Thablanch]

Physical camera is an amazing tool... nearly no more light tweaking, just fool a little with camera values, and you'll save lots of time. The biggest benifit is faster workflow.. plus if used with VrayRT, you'll get instant result. Physical camera gives greater control, faster workflow. I can not really think about working without that now.

 

For the comment about artificial lighting, that is only when your view sees the outside and the inside of a room at the same time, (wich would be the same case with a real world camera.) You can output the image as .exr or .hdr and get the luminosity you want for the zones you want.