#Refl. Mapping w/ a .FLC
24 messages in this thread
I have'nt been on line recently. I have seen the new notices re. a bug that is
deleting messages!! Well, I posted this message last week and it is gone
(poof!). So here I go again:
I have reflection mapped a logo with a TGA. This worked great while the object
was moving, but when it "landed" it seems a bit flat. So I made a flic of this
tga Rotating and mapped the flic to the object. It looks just like it did when
it was mapped with the TGA. No changes at all between frames.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Thanks in advance
-KT
Sheesh… I wrote up a long response to your question. Argh. I just don't
have time now to rewrite it. Sorry. Perhaps Alan or someone else has a copy
of it that they can dig up and upload here.
– G
I felt the same way when I saw that my message was not there.
However – I am under the gun waiting to render this animation…Your response
would, hopefully, enable me to finally get this thing out the door!!!
Please re-respond.!/*
Thnax
-KT
Yeah, this forum bug is driving me crazy.
First, I can't tell you what, exactly, you're doing wrong without seeing your
file. If you want to zip it up and upload it to me, I _might_ have some time
to look at it on Thursday or Friday.
If you want to make a reflection map move, you can use Auto-cubic reflection or
flat mirrors on the text (autocubic for the sides and flat mirrors for the
front work well sometimes). Then, make a texture-mapped object that the camera
can't see (due to face normals facing towards the text and away from the
camera), and move the "reflection source object" during the animation. Works
great.
– G
OK I created an object in between the camera and the logo w/ its normals facing
the logo. I texture mapped that flat object with the flic file and changed the
material on the front (flat) face of the logo to a flat auto refl. map. My
problem still exists though. Either the flic does not advance frames or the
renderer is only figuring the first frame of relection (which I have set to
every 1 frame). I don't think uploading it is an option since the flic file is
32 MB. Could this be why it can't advance the map???
Is there anything you can think of that would cause an animated reflection OR
texture map not to advance past the first frame of the flic??
Thanks yet again,
-KT
The method that I suggested to you is completely independent from using an
animated flic file for a refmap.
Regarding your flic not advancing… there are tons of ways for you to verify
what's going on yourself. First, make a test flic with big painted numbers on
each frame, and map that to your object instead of your 32MB monster flic.
Once you ascertain what's going on with that, you can move to the next step.
If that works, you know that you've got a problem with your flic. If it doesn
't work, you can send me the new example because it'll be small enough to
upload it.
– G
G,
Who is Allen?
If there is something you think he can do put me in touch….
-KT
Alan Iglesias is a regular on this forum, and is comfortable with a bunch of
different reflection mapping techniques, as is Sherwood Egbert.
– G
Hey, Keith!
Heck, give me a call — check your E-Mail for my #.
If I can help, I will….
-Alan Iglesias
Alan,
I created the reversed normals sphere as my reflection and did everything else
we talked about, How ever I have another problem.
The sphere is making very nice reflections on the front of my logo, of course
the camera sees through the sphere to the logo, but as you look behind the logo
the camera is staring at the inside of the sphere!!
i.e. I see the logo in front of the refl. map. How do I make this so that I
can see through to the background and still be able to rotate the spher?????
Thanks again…Your help is appreciated,
-KT
Hi Keith,
>but as you look behind the logo the camera is staring at the inside of the
sphere<
Yeah, I was gonna mention this during our conversation, but it slipped my mind.
If you are working with a black backround, simply line up a piece of
rectangular geometry behind your logo and make it a matte object. If it's a
specific backround you want, just map it on to the object. If you need a
fancier backround (video key, environment, etc.) just use the matte/black
backround with Alpha and Video Post — about anything is possible…
-Alan
<Yeah, I was gonna mention this during our conversation, but it slipped my
mind. If you are working with a black backround, simply line up a piece of
rectangular geometry behind your logo and make it a matte object. If it's a
specific backround you want, just map it on to the object. If you need a
fancier backround (video key, environment, etc.) just use the matte/black
backround with Alpha and Video Post — about anything is possible…>
The animation to the logo (before it lands and the sphere begins to spin) has
pieces flying forward. If I put a Rectangle there It will cover some of the
beginning keyframes.
Also, I had planned on rendering using alpha-split. I am unsure how I will
render the Hi-con in this example….Short of re-rendering w/ self-illuminating
white and no lights.
Thanks again
-KT
Keith, use a half sphere (either create a dome and remove the bottom plane
faces or create a sphere and remove half the faces). Map the map on the inside
of the half sphere, then create a dummy object centered on the text, link the
half sphere to the dummy object and rotate the dummy along with the camera. If
the camera is simply rotating around the text, then link the half sphere to the
camera, that way it's always behind the camera.
Yann Bertaud – I.D.L. Autodesk.
Both the camera and the text are not rotating or moving…The only thing I want
to rotate is the reflection map. Therefore I don't THINK (not sure) you
suggestion helps.?
Thanks,
-KT
Keith:
Alan Inglesias or Martin Foster… you could check with the Sysops… Joe McRae
often keeps old messages. Your message should have scrolled to your email box
if you didn't pick it up. Messages don't hang around here forever…
C#
Gary,
I have spoken to Alan and he has given me some needed insight. What I have
done now was create a sphere with normals reversed texture mapped with my TGA.
Then the front faces of the logo were made flat reflection. My reflections
look GREAT, but behind my logo is this sphere??? How do I make it so that only
the faces facing away from the camera are seen? (the sphere IS rotating).
Thanks,
-KT
Use a half-sphere, so only the part facing away from the camera exists.
– G
G,
The Sphere is rotating…..
Shouldn't be a problem. Just rotate the sphere about the depth axis, and
you'll still never see it.
– G
Keith,
I believe I have a better approach which I used to good effect for an animation
for Universal Studios (shameless namedropping, please forgive me <g>). You
would create a second camera pointing in the direction your text faces, that is
outwards and towards the sky-sphere/dome. You then render this view and save it
as a sequence of .tga files. You can then use this, in the second rendering as
a *texture* map on the front faces of the logo and the skydome doesn't need to
be there at all. No matte objects necessary at all and alpha-split will work
fine. Worked great for me and the client loved it – what more could you ask
for?
Hi Keith —
To make a "moving reflection map," here's another approach that works in a
number of software packages — I don't have 3D Studio (sigh), so am not able to
check it:
Use a single image that's reflection-mapped to the inside of an aribtrarily
large sphere. Lock all the objects in the scene to the reflective text. Lock
the camera and lights to the text, too. Then rotate the text — it will stay
perfectly still in relation to the camera, but the reflections will dance
across its surface.
Hope this helps!
jd
John,
Would it not be easier to just roate the sphere around the text?
Dave
David,
The rendering schemes I'm thinking of don't actually use an explicit sphere —
it's a virtual sphere!
The 2D image is projected and transformed *as if* it were on the inside of an
arbitrarily large sphere. Then the model references this special texture map by
polar coordinates, instead of rectangular coordinates. There's no actual sphere
to move, no normals, no sphere behind the logo, etc. Sometimes this is called
environment mapping, sometimes latitude/longitude mapping, sometimes chrome
mapping.
Maybe I'm confused here…I know 3DS supports cool auto-reflection mapping, but
does it only reflect discrete objects? Isn't Blinn-style environment mapping
supported?
Regards,
John D.
The Ref. mapping you describe here (generally)is your basic Spherical
Reflection Mapping in 3DS, John. It's been around since r1.
-Alan Iglesias