Refraction Mapping
18 messages in this thread
I just wanted to thank you (and your programmer) for the Refraction Mapping
IPAS — I got it on Monday and haven't had so much fun with an IPAS for a long
time.
This is a seriously useful routine — I can't imagine anyone using 3DS who
shouldn't have this (well, if they don't do any transparent objects, perhaps).
I've never gotten glass to look real until this, and it *is* lightning fast.
Wonderful stuff. This is so clever it's like magic.
Now if I could just get Hedra2 to do those beautiful gems like you… Sigh.
>>Refraction Mapping IPAS — I got it on Monday and haven't had so much fun
with an IPAS for a >>long time. This is a seriously useful routine — I can't
imagine anyone using 3DS who shouldn't >>have this
Thanks, Mike!
Refraction Mapping is not the best our routine – the best one is Aurora, which
entered its finishing stage of last betas and scheduled to be available on
AutoDesk University.
>>Now if I could just get Hedra2 to do those beautiful gems like you… Sigh.
Thanks again.
Let me give some advise, though: KeyFactory's author made avilable (for free)
great PMATH.PXP, which allows you to create meshes, just writing formulae.
Formulae for gems are not the rocket science – it's just a bunch of symmetric
intersecting planes, so use linear expressions for x,y,z (to make planes)
and a lot of ABS() functions (to get symmetries). And you may get results not
much worse, then with Hedra2 .
(one more "IPAS we don't need"?)
Regards,
Alex, Video International
What is Aurora? it sounds neat
jason
Aurora mapping will creata an inflated or deflated version of your mesh which
you can then apply an almost transparent material and create an aurora/aura
around your mesh 3-dimensionally. You will also be able to save inflated or
deflated versions of your mesh as new mesh objects. i.e. Make a characters
head appear to inflate. This is much different than simple scaling. If you
start
with nice square letters (helvetica) and inflate them, the final result is as
if you
poked a straw in and blew them up causing swelling along all the long streight
edges.
Lee
cool! thanks
Hi, Jason!
Aurora Mapping is intended to be a jack-of-many-trades.
Most important application of Aurora will be _True 3 dimentional_
_with animatable size_ ATMOSPHERE (aura, halo, magic field) with
soft (hard) edges around specified object.
Aurora should be able to create (very important)
ENTERING the Atmoshere (dust, fog) effect.
So the deeper your spacecraft enters the atmoshere (magig field, fog),
the less visible it became.
As an additional benefit Aurora will be able create new geometry
with the IPAS we call Inflate (see Lee Steel message).
Aurora is ready, but we need at least a month to implement this
"entering the atmosphere" effect.
Be patient,
Alex, Video International
Have you ever seen the arcade game Killer Instinct? Because in it two of the
rendered characters have a slight Aurora around them, one has mist, the other a
fire like substance. Will aurora mapping allow you to do this to 3DS generated
characters?
Thanks
Hi, Jason!
I haven't seen Killer Instinct yet, but tomorrow I'm going to the movie theatre
and wonder which character you are talking about (can you describe them
in more details?).
My preliminary answer would be YES: Aurora should be able to produce
3D halo around 3DS objects (BTW, objects, of course, could be refractive
or blobish, or both !!!)
Very first rendering with Aurora was Magic Sword (Excelsior) animation –
imagine StarWars sword with rainbowish animated glow and you will
get slight idea where it all began.
Regards,
Alex, Video International
Hi Aleksey!
As Andrew said the 2 characters are Glacius and Cinder. I think the effect is
really cool and am glad to here that Aurora can probably do the same.
Nintendo has been boasting how their graphics are created on "SGI
supercomputers" ever since the first mention of Ultra 64. I think that it is
really great to now see that with just a ordinary PC and 3DS, you can create
the very same graphics for much much less money! The gap between workstation
and desktop graphics is almost gone now, and will be closed with the release of
MAX!
Great job on Aurora, keep up the good work!
Jason
Aleksey,
How are you? Would you please tell me a bit about Aurora?
thanks,
Will
Aurora Mapping will create an inflated or deflated copy of your original mesh
object. You will be able to do this two ways. 1)AXP where all "new" mesh is
created at render time and 2)PXP where you will be able to generate the new
object and save it as a new one. There are some new features which involve
creating a "depth" effect similar to a planet's atmosphere. I believe Aleksey
has intended to upload some samples and I will do the same as soon as I
get the green light.
Lee
Hi, Will!
>>How are you? Would you please tell me a bit about Aurora?
I am fine. Thanks.
As for Aurora: please, read message #191726.
Also I uploaded file AURORA1.ZIP
with Magic SWORD.FLC in it: it was first animation rendered with Aurora
(before we added Fog and Dust capabilities). Enjoy.
(remember to wait 24 hours before file appears in the library).
If you are still want to participate in beta testing, please, contact Lee
(he helps me with managing this process), we will begin soon.
And yes, I do plan to be at AutoDesk University, where (hopefully)
I will officially announce Aurora readyness.
Good Luck,
Alex, Video International
Aleksey,
I know I have had mail from Lee but I regretfully forget his last name and
CSERVE number. Please forward to me. Thanks.
>>>If you are still want to participate in beta testing, please, contact Lee<<<
Perhaps we will meet at ADESK U.
Will
PMJI,
Being an avid KI fan I had to jump in here. I am assuming that you are talking
about Glacious and Cinder. Cinder has a slight glow around him which, from my
understanding, is exactly what Aurora will give you. Glacious' aurora is more
of a mist rising off of his body. I'm not sure if this could be accomplished
the same way but I'm sure with some animated opacity maps and Aurora this could
be accomplished.
Andrew
Hello Alex,
I enjoyed meeting you at Pyros's place at Siggraph. Great work on the
refraction mapping ipas!
You mentioned PMATH.PXP. Have you had any luck with PMATH? I tried it
yesterday and with the preset formulas (great shell, eh?!) or with my own
formulas, I get the same result: I get a nice-looking mesh in the editor but
when I render I get nothing. When I save the mesh to the disk and reload it I
get what appears to be a single vertex instead of a mesh. (I think the mesh
dissapears and the single vertex also shows up when I switch to the KF and then
back to the editor)
Have you seen any of these problems? Perhaps I have a bad copy of the IPAS?
If this works properly, it will be a very useful program.
JKJ, Oak Ridge, TN
Hi!
I had the same problem with PMATH. But I was promised that corrected (1.1)
version would be uploaded today, so you will see it in 24 hours in the library.
Alex, Video International