Working in Non-Linear Space

[DaForce]

hmmm they are basically spot on.
And the light in your scene certainly isnt washed out or lacking contrast.. weird.. that so many people have had that problem tho.


Will "revisit" some scenes again and have a look.

Thanks man
Also thanks for the other info.. wsnt too sure about that whole dark MP being basically a global light MP. pretty neat.. hehe

[flipside]

Yeah much easier than go changing all your lights! If you want, I can replace the building with something else and post the scene, but in fact there is nothing special about it. I posted the light settings, the rest is simply making sure your materials are not washed out.

[DaForce]

nah thats fine. Now that i see your scene I find it hard to believe i was getting the result i got awhile ago when I tested it.. but yeah... weird.

I will have a shot and see what i come up with

Thanks again.

Actually.. if you could post a conversion of that scene..just incase i manage to fark something up. It would be good to have something to look at that works.

[jow]

Well it turns out for some reason the Gamma Correction method doesnt like Opacity maps, have a look here:-
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...ic.php?t=15271

[DaForce]

hmmm.. see my suggestions in that thread.

If its still not working i will have a look at it when i get back from dinner with a few trees that i have

[jow]

Cheers DaForce

[flipside]

Here's a simplified scene:
http://users.pandora.be/stor1/vray/gammatest01.zip . Light multipliers are different here because I used much lighter colors in general.

[DaForce]

Thanks mate, will have a look now.

[3ddesign]

How/where can i find out what gamma my monitor is
set at

Each monitor has its own gamma which differs from monitor to monitor. Mine is gamma 2.76. This is its native gamma. Since each monitor is different, Adobe Gamma was created to tweak you monitor to some arbitrary industry standard. For PCs its 2.2, for Macs its 1.8. This way there is a better chance that my image looks the same on my monitor as it does on any other set at 2.2. If you want to know your monitors native gamma, download the free utility that will tell you more about your monitor and computer than you ever wanted to know.
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm
Click the Monitor Asset Manager on the far upper left to download. One good thing I like about this program is that it gives you your monitors phosphor information which you can enter in the Adobe Wizard dialog. If you want, just use Trinitron, but if you want real accuracy, enter your phosphor numbers.

when i right click my desktop and check my settings in display
properties\Quadro FX1400\colour correction, it says my gamma is 1 and
when i turn it up to 2.2 my monitors just wash out.

You can use your graphics card software to change your monitor settings if you want but it isn't very intuitive. The gamma 1 that you mention is not the monitor gamma, but the amount of change from the native monitor gamma. Thus, gamma one means no change. Gamma 1.5 means change the gamma a certain %. I find this totally confusing so I just set my display software to defaults and forget it. Adobe Gamma is much better to use. Make sure you read the AIM_DTP blurb about calibrating your monitor and use the graphic just as described. I give links at the beginning of this thread.

Am i right in thinking that changing my gamma settings in max are best done during a quiet period and not halfway through a job

Yes. Yes. Yes. Only make changes when you have no important projects or deadlines.

Will me changing my workflow to non-linear have any knock on effect with other people that i work with, for instance people that maybe dont have photoshop set to adobe rgb 1998, or dont have their desktops set to gamma 2.2, things like that.

The only effect is that your images will most likely look better on their monitor than before. Adobe RGB is a medium gamut profile and encompasses all color gamut of sRGB. Since most prosumer products like digital cameras, scanners, printers, etc. are designed to work with sRGB you will be safe to use Adobe RGB. At the same time, if your consultants use a wide gamut profile, Adobe RGB will clip less of the information than the smaller gamut profiles like sRGB. So using Adobe RGB is a good all around profile to use.

As for others not calibrating to 2.2, don't worry. If they know how to use PhotoShop, they will be prompted to keep your profile or convert it to theirs. If they don't know how to use PhotoShop, Adobe RGB is the default so you're safe.

Hope this helps.

Craig

[SteveC]

Cheers craig, that's helped a lot.

I went to that website and went through their calibration process, checked
my gamma using the adobe gamma software and my gamma is at 2.2.
Now i just need some free time to convert max and photoshops settings
etc and do some testing\playing around with it.

cheers
steve

[Gijs]

In the tutorial on my website I described two ways to work linear:

Gijs, I don't think I've read your tutorial. Could you give me the URL?

It can be found in the tutorials link on my website

[3ddesign]

I've continued to experiment with the various settings promoted by the various LWF threads and am convinced that the method I outlined at the beginning of this thread produces the best results given the particular workflow I describe. There is one thing, however, that I have finally experimented with that I can't believe I've lived without all these years. Thats the color correction plugin found here.
http://www.cuneytozdas.com/

Compare the image without the color correction map...



...to this one with the color correction map.



The colors are right on the money. Now when I'm given a paint chip or a specific color to reproduce, I can run upstairs to graphics, use their little spider thingy, sample the color, imput the numbers, add the color correction map and have it render spot on. Cool.

Craig

[jujubee]

lol. I thought that was mentioned on several ocassions. You are adjusting the gamma in the colorcorrect rollout correct - as that's part of the whole entire linear workflow.

[3ddesign]

lol. I thought that was mentioned on several ocassions. You are adjusting the gamma in the colorcorrect rollout correct - as that's part of the whole entire linear workflow.

Yes, it was mentioned lots of times, and I never said I had anything new to offer. But a picture paints a thousand words and I hadn't seen any examples. I just thought that out of the 1400 or so people that have read this thread, there might be one or two who would benefit from the post.

[TRGraphics]

We have, this has been a good thread!

Tony