PSD Manager - Mirror Reflection Isolations?

[MegaPixel]

I'm using Vray 1.5 and PSD Manager 2 on an Bathroom Interior where I have a healthy chunk of Countertop and Tiled floor visible in the Vanity Mirror reflection. The rendered layers only isolate parts of the countertop and tiled floor that are directly visible from the camera. The vrayreflection element doesn't help me too much since it contains way more then just the objects I'm tryign to isolate. So my question is, is there a way to include object reflections into the isolations using the PSD manager interface or am I going to have to strip the scene of all other reflections but the countertops and floor and do individual render passes to create isolations for these objects?

Thanks - Dave

[dans]

This is what you can use Material Effect IDs for in 3ds max. You for example set the Material Effects ID of the floor material to 3 (using the little flyout button in the material editor that is set to 0 by default). In psd-manager (G-Buffer Output rollout: Separated G-Buffer Material Effects Output) you can then choose the Material IDs to utput as a layer or channel. In your case just enter "3" into the Material IDs field (or "3[Floor]" to name the layer).

So far this will only get you the floor material on it's own layer/channel. Since you want the PSD layer/channel to also include the reflection of the material you need a material for your vanity mirror that supports 'reflecting' Material Effects IDs. For example in the 3ds max Raytrace material the option is named "Reflect/Refract Material IDs". So it depends on the type of material you use for your mirror and if it has a similar option if this will work for you.

Best Regards,
Daniel

[MegaPixel]

dans,

My Mirror material is a simple VRayMtl with 250 Reflect. Where might I look in the VRayMtl properties rollout for such an option for enabling what you speak of?

I noticed in the PSD Manager rollout that there is an area to turn on G Buffer Layers like "Object ID, Material Effects, Node Render ID, and Normal". Is it as simple as turnign on the Material Efects checkbox here?

Thanks - Dave

[dans]

Seems the VRayMtl does not support reflecting and refracting Material Effects IDs. Sounds like something for the wishlist.

As a workaround you could render one additional pass to get all masks for the mirrored objects using psd-manager (with the renderer set to Scanline, Raytrace material for the mirror, Material IDs set for the materials you need masks for). Then you can use this masks to isolate the parts off the VRay reflection render element.

Daniel

[MegaPixel]

I thought about that. Did you notice that the alpha antialiasing in the scanline renderer seems much cleaner then the vray rendered alpha channels? Alot of times I get some really strange jagged pixel edged channels coming out of Vray but perhaps it's just related to the sampling settings. Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions.

-Dave

[dans]

dans,
I noticed in the PSD Manager rollout that there is an area to turn on G Buffer Layers like "Object ID, Material Effects, Node Render ID, and Normal". Is it as simple as turning on the Material Effects checkbox here?

This option does not help you in your case. This Material Effects layer just shows you all the material IDs used in the scene (each material that has an ID assigned will show up with a different color in the layer). This is similar to looking at layer 0 of the Material Effects channel in the 3ds max VFB. You could use it to look where IDs have been assigned and if the IDs get properly reflected for example.

Daniel

[dans]

I thought about that. Did you notice that the alpha antialiasing in the scanline renderer seems much cleaner then the vray rendered alpha channels? Alot of times I get some really strange jagged pixel edged channels coming out of Vray but perhaps it's just related to the sampling settings. Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions.

-Dave

This is because of the sampling settings. Let me quote what Vlado said regarding this here.

This is because V-Ray does not by default aim at producing smooth object edges, if the color difference between the edges is small. If you are using the Adaptive subdivision sampler, you can tick the "Object edges" and "Normals" check-boxes to force V-Ray to antialias object edges regardless of the RGB colors.

Daniel