Indigo Renderer Forum

Hi guys..
I try to post here a wip of mine, modeled entirely in Sketchy and rendered through SkIndigo. I'm sad to report that i was very excited about the 1.1.12 version of SkIndigo, but after an afternoon of trials i had to give up. It seems like all the features are supported, but few of them are actually working..
This isn't absolutely supposed to be a critic to Whaat's work, which is actually fantastic (..i think it's really hard to follow the real time implementations of Ono ) and i thank him a lot for his sacrifices. I just wanted to report some bugs, that's all. Then we can work together to fix them.

First of all, I think the fact we can import an external texture without having to insert it into Sketch is actually a very important feature. I counted a lot on it, but it seems like i couldn't get it to work.. I tried to link basicallyexternal exponent and bump maps: in the preview they just looked great, but in the render their effects disappeared. It was just a plain texture with an exponent value..

I really have to say that i was in a hurry, so i didn't spent so much time on that: i preferred to switch back to the stable version wich works perfectly (though my sketch file is something about 46MB now ).
I mean, perhaps (and that's not so improbable) SkIndigo 1.1.12 works perfectly and i simply misunderstood how to use external mapping.. Could be! ..I think i really have to save some time to practice well..

So, for now i post my wip.
It's a wip, it means i want to improve it. Go with the tips!!!

Hi Pibuz,
nice render.
It looks a little blocky in parts though. What splat filter did you use? What supersample factor? And what downsize filter?

...ehm...
..Ono, you're speaking chinese to me...
In SkIndigo we don't set ANY of the parameters you mention...

..perhaps i can explain something if i tell you i photoshopped it all a little, using also the sharpen filter...

..sorry ono! I'm so ignorant..

Ah, no worries, it just means Whaat has done a good job hiding the rough edges of Indigo
Sharp filter would cause the boxy look in some places, I think.

I agree that at this stage of the wip, some surfaces look flat, and some angles very sharp. I hope you will bevel or texture edges in the foreground; the left wall could have variations in shading, either by blocking or bouncing some light onto it. Generally I would avoid the even lighting on flat surfaces.

Great potential, eager to see more !

That's a fantastic model, Pibuz.

You could break the main (largest) and most visible angles with a bit of bevel, or make them a little less straight with displacement. That could make the render a little less "blocky" as Ono said.

I'd also add some tiny waves on the water on the right (SU's sandbox) - (it's water, isn't it ?!).

Nevertheless, great render already !

..ok guys..
thanks for your observations, i promise i'll take care or those ASAP!

Quick but important question for you: i'm trying to render an evening shot of the scene. So i have to put in some emitters.
BIG problem: if i set emitters' properties in order to see some light and glowing, the rest of the image suddenly burns out!

I tried a 50W efficiency 34 just to begin. I couldn't see any light. I stopped and raised the value, then it was too much. Then i tried lowering it down and okay i could see the light, but the stone and plaster actually burn out!
I first modeled a square inside the light component, and i thought it was this what caused the problem But, even if i take the emitting square out of the component, the problem shows up again..

Is there any reason? Whaat? Any ideas?

You mean:

A: indoor lights are ok, but
B: when you add outdoor lights, everything goes wrong ?

If yes:

1 - don't use reinhard tonemapping !
2 - find the right setting for the indoor lights alone with camera or linear tm
3 - turn the indoor lights off, light outdoor, and with the same value of tm than 2, tune the outdoor lights.
4 - When the outdoor lights are tuned up, light the indoor lights on
5 - I think that at this stage you will need to divide tm value per 2, or reduce it somewhat at least. But at least lights will match.

I hope I get your trouble right, if not then maybe tell us in spanish Pibuz ^^

...uhm..
first of all thank you CTZn for your quick answer!

..and, to get back to my problem, i think the images can sometimes speak for themselves better than i can do.. So i'll attach the two of them.

I'd pump their power even higher, and lower camera iso/ev... I'm referring to point 5, where in cam/linear tm, the power of lights sums up, therefore it claims for a less sensible film. I think sun is still too strong for an evening scene (pump lights up, lower iso).

If I'm wrong here I'll stop bothering you

Are you using an HDR probe (env. map) ?

Pibuz wrote: I tried to link basicallyexternal exponent and bump maps: in the preview they just looked great, but in the render their effects disappeared. It was just a plain texture with an exponent value..

Did you have a texture applied to the SketchUp material? If not, no UVs will be exported and the effects of the external texture will probably not be seen.

I appreciate the bug reports but it would help if you could post a sample SKP file or IGS file that shows the problem.

Hi Whaat! Yes, i had a diffuse texture applied, same original size as the bump and exponent textures. I know it sholud be useful to post a sample scene, but as i said i'm a little in a hurry, at the moment.. When i'll get to breathe again, i'll try with a VERY simple scene, so i can find if it was my problem or not. If not, i'll post it to you for sure..

Other thing: you have probably read the whole post. I have to report that the overexposure issue (only when using sun/sky and emitters at the same time) is present from the 1.0.9 version of SkIndigo. The following image has been rendered on a quad core machine Q6600 overnight using SkIndigo 1.0.8 and Indigo 1.0.9_3 (official release).
The workflow with emitters has been simple: i adjusted the overall exposure WITHOUT emitters, and then i made several attempts to pump their power so i could see them. No burnt out area at all.
Perhaps you've been forced to change something in the coding, i don't know..

So, here's a slightly postproduced image. Still WIP.

Eulgrand: no environment map. Just sun/sky!

This is a pretty spectacular image. Well done. In general, I would avoid the sharpen filter like the plague. Nothing brings out the grain so much.

Well done Pibuz!!!
Great work!
Luca.