Standard materials no good? Glossy effects?

[davehitt]

Hi all,

We have been experiencing some bog downs with our rendering pipeline and I am attempting to troubleshoot a bit.

What is the real deal with using standard max materials? Does VRay not like them? Because in many cases, it is impossible to achieve the same look with a VRay material (specular tied in with reflections).

Also, we have been encountering some crippling bog downs from glossy effects, most notably, glossy reflections. However, these seem integral to replicating many common metal materials.

Any suggestions/advise?

(We're putting together a basic VRay list of guidelines in the office to prevent these system-freezing renders. Any other general guidelines would be GREATLY appreciated as well!)

[Da_elf]

you can always unlock the specular from the reflection glossies

[davehitt]

Right, I can adjust glossiness, just not specular level.

[vance3d]

the strength of the specular is tied to the reflective color

V Miller

[Da_elf]

combinations of reflection level (color swatch), reflection IOR and the glossy peramiters are what gives you the needed controls

[davehitt]

Ah, ok, thank you. Never thought about the index of reflection, but it seems so obvious now hehe.

[davehitt]

Wait, *foot in mouth*, by reflection IOR, do you mean highlight glossiness? Because there is a fresnel IOR but that controls the reflection falloff. What I am asking, is how do u make something highly specular without making it reflect whats around it? It seems to me, the only way to represent something like hard plastic would be to use a very blurred glossy reflection, which KILLS the render time. Wheras in a standard material, u just turn up the specular level.

[percydaman]

do what your doing, but uncheck trace reflection in the options rollout of the material. now you have the hilight without reflections.

[davehitt]

Thank you. That's what I was looking for.

[vance3d]

it would be nice to have total control of the fake specular so its not tied to reflection strength at all (if you don't want it to be).

it is a fake after all.

V Miller