Vray Material Repository: Gathering of ideas

[gilpo]

I'm inclined to suggest going the non-lwf, linear color mapping 1-1 route. Like was previously said, those that use LWF know what to do to the material to make it look right in whatever gamma they're using. I am die-hard LWF now and have converted a few existing scenes over and it's not that big of deal to do. I even wrote an excel spreadsheet to convert my RGB color values so I don't need the color correct plugin.

As for the scene suggestions, I vote for 2. One like the maxwell test for a neutral environment and one exterior. As to the exterior lighting, I'd suggest vray sun/sky with the sun halfway between the zenith and the horizon. The maxwell scene would take care of the interior materials as far as I'm concerned. That way any color cast is eliminated and can be added by the ambient lighting when a person uses that material in their scene. I don't know how many times I've made a material for a specific scene's lighting and when it came time to use it in a different scene, it looked terrible. A neutral test would be beneficial.

Just some ideas.

[beestee]

I like the direction this is going.

I don't like the idea of using different scenes/studios for different material types. I think the Maxwell repository has got the scene setup just right. I don't have to see a glass material on a window to have a good understanding of how it will react when I use it on a window. IMO, the focus of the studio should be on a single object with other objects in the studio used only to show off the different properties achievable with VRay materials applied to the object of focus.

Maybe there should be some sort of contest to come up with the studio, and a poll for the users to choose which would work best. There is plenty of talent here to come up with something equally impressive to what the Maxwell community has.

[flipside]

I would go the LWF route, and linear color mapping 1/1. Especially for translucent materials, the LWF is the key to success, and converting a translucent material to LWF is not just a matter of converting the color values.

Also all hdri's are in linear space, so if you use a hdri for lighting and reflections in a non LWF scene, it looks wrong and it is incorrect.

LWF is noting more than setting the gamma option in color mapping (new in vray 1.5 I believe, at least in vray for rhin it is) to 2.2, leave color mapping to linear. Then set your max gamma settings also to 2.2. (you don't need to bother about saving as exr etc if you simply want to have the gamma 2.2 advantage).
If you do these 2 simple things, you can use any material created in an LWF environment. This info can easily be added to the site so users don't need to post the same question over and over again.

[Sawyer]

I think we have have to have 2 versions of everything. I don't image if the people who have not adapted LWF they will now.

[base2studios]

We're working on a similar thing over at the VizDepot.com and Scott's in on that discussion as well - in fact, that's actually what spurred the post here since Scott and I will be dealing with the VRay scene...

I guess my question is - does this really have to be this hard? I'm sure it can't be completely simple, but still....

The goal is to come up with one (or two) scenes that can test materials on a small scale as well as a larger scale. My thought was to use a simple structure, such as a child's playhouse like this:


inside the house would be a table perhaps draped in cloth to test those materials, then our little doohickey on the table - lit by either the sun/sky being used on the outside or a preset number of artificial lights. The interior could actually be materialized in the grid like the maxwell test scene and coming up with the thingamabobber would be the "challenge"

the larger issue we'll face at the Depot is that we're not just VRay as we are here, so (somehow) we'll need to get our other render engine moderators to convert whatever it is that we come up with to work similarly to its respective engine....sound like fun?

oh, and if, your God forbid, we start a vote on LWF or not....i vote LWF.
ME

[DaForce]

Wow, i get some sleep and the thread really takes off..

Ok, well we are all agreed on the lightbox scene. So thats good!! Lock it in.
I think what gilpo said could be sensible. The lightbox scene would take care of the interior materials, so then we just need an exterior scene, something like what base2studios is suggestion with the little kids house.

And as for "to LWF or not to LWF" well thats a tricky one. I can see the arguement both ways.
I would say no to start with I think.

[DaForce]

Also got this email sent to me while i slept.
Their materials look pretty damn nice to be honest.

So can I get some comments on this. Do we join forces or stand divided?

Thanks

Hi,

I just read your post in the vray-forum
(http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...ic.php?t=16126). As I can't post replys there I try this way via email

We (some guys from a german 3DsMAX-Community 3dmax.de) saw the Maxwell-Material-Galerie and we wanted to start such a platform for Vray-Materials. We are close to release our platform with a special ranking-system and much more features. We are VERY sure this could be the ultimate resource for Vray materials. Now we saw your thread at the vray-forum and it's shocking us, cause you guys have the same great idea

So please, if you have other outstanding ideas for that project share them with us - together we can offer the greatest V-Ray Platform on Earth Maybe you can post this Mail in the forum - I can't. And sorry for my bad English!

Thanks!

The Attachment is just a DUMMY-OBJECT. The final object is much cooler and we build up a light-scene like the dudes from next limit. So stay tuned

DOWNLOAD ATTACHMENT

Mit freundlichem Gruß
TEAMDREI PR-Werbeagentur
Marco Schrenk

[CCS]

Holy.....
Shoot, why reinvent the wheel? Looks like they have a cool object. That's the most important part, right? Part of it would depend upon their business model. Are they doing this for altruistic reasons, or financial?

There may still be room for an archvis repository. (Larger, exterior, etc.) Whether they do it, or we, or someone else...

Those is some nice mats tooooo. Me likey. Can't wait to spank those smug maxwellians with that!

----

On the LWF or not issue - Why not have both? The mats would all be in the same place. The LWF could be in a separate forum, or just have a tag so they can be searched and sorted. It would be a simple enough script. Then people just upload their mats to the proper folder. People who don't use LWF wouldn't have to worry about using or even seeing them. Only the people who do would have to bother with that scene.

[jacksc02]

that is a perfect object, all it needs is something on the ground for accurate falloffs

[DaForce]

Ok, I have emailed him back. Now we just wait for a reply

[mmikee]

Awesome mats !
Getting really exited about all this.

[RErender]

This is getting interesting

It would be cool, if not very practical, for someone to render each material on the same box and with the same settings to get an idea of the render expense of each material. There will probably be hundreds of mats..not sure I am volunteering. :P

[jacksc02]

maybe if there was a readme type file that came with the material that had the machine specs and rendertime in

[CCS]

Better yet, a script that would load each material one at a time and render them out and save render times to a text file. Lele?????

[jacksc02]

yeah thats a lele job.