Retial Patio & Awning

[stylEmon]

Hey all, here is a project I've been working on. It's on my own time, so no real rush or deadline. It's more of a reason for me to play with GI, FG, and Mental Ray materials like dielectric glass. I am a Maya user, if your wondering.

 

The first couple are just getting the model, textures and camera right. Then I started playing with GI. So far, render times aren't bad (3-5min)but I am rendering at 25%...

 

Crits and Comments welcome.

 

PS. I am modeling this from a real photograph that came across my desk. Its on the cover of the Sunbrella sample brochure.

Edited July 17, 2008 by stylEmon

[shaneis]

Forget the Dielectric and DGS materials, the mia_material is far more tweakable and faster in every instance, plus you don't need to make extra nodes for photon lookup, just make the connection to the shadingGroup.

 

I've attached a set of mia_material presets for you. Copy them to...

 

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\MayaXXX\presets\attrPresets\mia_material

 

If Maya is open when you do this, you'll need to reopen it.

[stylEmon]

WOW, thanks for the materials. I've been slowly building some of my own, just from the ones that I seem to use the most. But this is a great list!!!! Cant wait to use em... Nice to have another Maya guy on here!

 

Attached is the photo I am modeling from.

Edited July 17, 2008 by stylEmon

[shaneis]

That's OK. They are originally from a thread on CGSociety. You may have to adjust some of them. I found the chrome's highlight to be a bit too broad for my liking, but it's simple enough to make your adjustments and save them off as another preset. You may also get warning/ error messages when loading a preset - all warnings can be ignored - they work. I also found that the metals presets need to have their IoR adjusted as they default to between 1.2 and 2.0, however, metals typically have an IoR between 30 and 50. Sounds odd, yes, but it works.

 

So use them as presets that will need a little adjusting, not as presets that are 100% correct. Enjoy!

 

S.

[stylEmon]

Cool. I typically can't leave any material alone. I'll adjust pretty much anything I can just to get my own look to the material. Good tips tho, thanks again.

[stylEmon]

I only got about 30 min to work on this today. All I did was add the rod Iron fence around the patio.

[stylEmon]

Here is progress from Monday. I finished up the model of the shops, and tweaked the camera view based off the reference photo. Now it matches up VERY VERY closely.

[stylEmon]

Shaneis, can you help me figure out how to make the connection for some of those materials you gave me?

 

I am attempting to use the "glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel" file. I was able to import the mel file into the "textures" tab in Maya's hypershade. When I try to drag the node onto the surface I want it mapped to, it brings up the connection editor. I am unsure what connections need to be made.

 

Maybe I am missing a step. Am I supposed to create a mai_material and then connect the "glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel" to that somehow?

 

Thanks for the help.

[shaneis]

"glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel"??? I don't have that one. I'm using Maya 8.5, so if you're on 2008, that may be the reason. The reason you're getting the Connection Editor is that you're trying to apply a mel script to geometry. If the glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel resides in the C:\Program Files\Autodesk\MayaXXX\presets\attrPresets\mia_material folder, then it should appear as a preset for your mia_material.

 

mia_material presets usage:

 

1. Create a standard mia_material in the hypershade

2. Double-click the mia_material node to open the Attribute Editor

3. At the top-right of the AE window, click and hold "Presets", find the preset you want. Adjust and apply to the geometry.

[stylEmon]

oh, i see. I am using 2008, but i think the issue I am having is that I just "imported" the glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel into my hypershde. I have yet to load them in the "presets" folder. I need to have our IT guy do that. There is no way for me to do it myself.

 

Is there no other way to load the glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel?

 

I found more presets on cgsociety.org . That must be where I found glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel. thanks for the help.

[stylEmon]

well I used one of the presets that came with 2008. Much better than what I was using, but still needs a little tweaking. Here is one where I tried to make glass, and one with the preset...

 

I'll work on getting those other presets loaded this week.

[shaneis]

Great! They are presets for the mia_material_x, but I just need to open them in a text editor, rename "mia_material_x" to "mia_material" and they-re good to go. I just did a est with the "glass-architecturalcoated-tinted.mel" as a mia preset and it works well (remember to connect the material to the Shadow Shader in the material's shadingGroup node (under Custom Shaders).

 

As for other ways to set those attributes, you may be able to call the script and apply it to the material node but that's well beyond my abilities. Bummer that you're locked out of the Maya folders. Speak to IT, you need access to those folders if ou want to make the most of Maya.

[stylEmon]

I am still learning MR materials, and have much to learn. How do you know that the connection needs to be made to the Shadow Shader?

[shaneis]

Yes, there is much to learn. Keep at it though, try to learn one thing a day.

 

The mia_material, by default, doesn't make the shadow connections. This is an optimisation feature and makes opaque material settings a bit quicker. If you remember how the dielectric material needed the mib_shadow_transparency node to cast correct shadows, well the mia_material doesn't need an extra node to create shadow information, you just need to make the connection to the material's shadingGroup node. Again, this is an optimsed feature and allows the material settings to drive the shadow info. Much better too. Similar applies to Photons, where if you are using GI or Caustics, you need to connect the mia_material node to the Photon Shader channel in the shadingGroup.

 

I had a play with the presets you gave me, some of them don't work in 8.5. The metals are quite good, so's the two glass-architectural presets. The rest seem very similar - probably work very well in Max and maybe in Maya 2008, just nothing special in 8.5.

 

I also found a way for you to load the presets I sent...

 

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUsername\My Documents\maya\2008\presets\attrPresets\mia_material

 

That folder may not exist yet. Quick way to create it and ensure it's named correctly would be...

1. create a mia_material, then in the Attribute Editor, choose Preset>Save mia_material Preset...

2. In the Save Attribute Preset dialogue box, just save it as any name you like

3. Maya will create the folder and save that preset in it. Go to that folder, delete the preset you just made and copy the preset mel's that you want into the folder. Restart Maya.

 

[stylEmon]

Thanks for all the help Shane. I've learned a great deal in just 2 days.

Does the mia_material_x also need a ShadowShader applied to it?

If I am using GI, can I use the same PhotonShader and map that one to all my mia_materials?

 

I got those materials to work by using my user folder. Your method worked great!

 

I am pretty sure I am going to use this project as a spring board for using only mia_materials. My goal is to convert all my textures and shaders to mia by the time I have my final render.

Edited July 24, 2008 by stylEmon

[stylEmon]

Here's a little update from this morning. I got the color on the stone columns to punch up a little. I also got a few umbrellas in the scene. I am using the tinted glass preset.

[shaneis]

Thanks for all the help Shane. I've learned a great deal in just 2 days.

 

Does the mia_material_x also need a ShadowShader applied to it?

If I am using GI, can I use the same PhotonShader and map that one to all my mia_materials?

 

I got those materials to work by using my user folder. Your method worked great!

 

I am pretty sure I am going to use this project as a spring board for using only mia_materials. My goal is to convert all my textures and shaders to mia by the time I have my final render.

 

The mia_materials (including mia_material_x) don't need any additional nodes to turn them into photonic materials. You definitely don't want one photonShader controlling all materials, that would mean glass responds the same way to photons as concrete, for example. Best way is to use the mia's and get each individual material to control it's own photonic attributes - mental ray will get this data from the materials own set-up so no extra nodes are needed but you do have to make the connection (ie, ell the materia to affect photons).

 

See the attached file to show you how to make those connections.

 

NB: If you're using GI, you'll have to do this to all mia_materials within the scene. All transparent materials need to have the Shadow Shader connection.

 

Here's a little update from this morning. I got the color on the stone columns to punch up a little. I also got a few umbrellas in the scene. I am using the tinted glass preset.

 

I did some tests with those glass materials last night. They're quit good. Keep at it, tune one material at a time.

[stylEmon]

cool, i think i am now fully comprehending the shadow shader and photon shader. The material always has the option to project a shadow, and emit photons, but those options are "disabled" when you first create the material. So I just have to "enable" those options, not create a Shadow Shader node to connect to the mia material.

 

I would thing check boxes would be MUCH less confusing than making connections through the hypershade and AE.... You know what I mean, a check box that says enable "photon emmision" or "enable shadow"...

[stylEmon]

Here is the lastest update. I am having some issues with the "frostedGlass" preset. It keeps rendering as black. In the shadow, it is mapping correct, with a slightly blue tint, but the geometry is solid black...?? I used a mia_material_x, I'll try just the mia_material and see if that changes anything.

 

Anyway, I am rendering a larger image right now. I have a feeling I will need to match my lines on the stone columns more closely.

[stylEmon]

here is the large render. There were many small issues that I could see with the small renders, but they were all quick fixes.

 

No luck with MR frosted Glass. I need to research a little more about the mia_materials before I can create the effect I am looking for, so for now, I am using a maya material.

 

Here is the reference photo again.

Edited July 29, 2008 by stylEmon

[stylEmon]

I did a full size batch render over night. It turned out alright. Most of the issues from the last render are solved, but it seems that the "sun" is a little too bright and too orange. It's saturating the image a little too much, and casting harsh light on the shop in the back.

 

Today, I'll try to get a mia-material for the frosted glass, model the bench, and get some trees in the foreground.

 

EDIT* At thumbnail size its looking pretty close to the photo... If the actual size was a little closer!!!

[stylEmon]

while i was adjusting the reflection on the concrete stain, i found this nice view.

 

[stylEmon]

I added benches, trees and tweaked the lighting. Still messing with mia-materials for frosted glass.

[stylEmon]

This is probably as far as this one goes. I am now redesigning my website, so my spare time will go to that for now.

 

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the effect I wanted on the glass bulbs for the street lamps. but this will do for now.