StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Modeled in Autocad at school- imported into Blender for texturing/rendering. Treads are modeled on.



http://www.deviantart.com/view/17821691/

I like the treading but the rim looks kind of odd.

Dalton wrote:I like the treading but the rim looks kind of odd.

Yeah, I can't figure out how to get reflections using environment mapping working correctly, and raytracing takes way too long. Any suggestions?

Pu-239 wrote:

Dalton wrote:I like the treading but the rim looks kind of odd.

Yeah, I can't figure out how to get reflections using environment mapping working correctly, and raytracing takes way too long. Any suggestions?

What doesn´t work with the environment mapping? Did you give the object mapping coordinates? It needs these to display the environment map (or in fact any map) correctly.

Yep...thats a wheel alright. Round even....

salm wrote:

Pu-239 wrote:

Dalton wrote:I like the treading but the rim looks kind of odd.

Yeah, I can't figure out how to get reflections using environment mapping working correctly, and raytracing takes way too long. Any suggestions?

What doesn´t work with the environment mapping? Did you give the object mapping coordinates? It needs these to display the environment map (or in fact any map) correctly.

I can't figure out how to get the environment map to reflect the rendered environment with shadows and all- it looks way too bright.

Ok, scrapped the environment map and rendered using the raytracer on a school computer. Rim looks a lot better, although the tire looks fake (too bright), and I think it still needs more detail.

Pu-239 wrote:Ok, scrapped the environment map and rendered using the raytracer on a school computer. Rim looks a lot better, although the tire looks fake (too bright), and I think it still needs more detail.

The rim looks a lot better, yes. You should add a "Goodyear" logo or something to the edge of the tire too.

Yeah, I can't figure out how to get reflections using environment mapping working correctly, and raytracing takes way too long. Any suggestions?

I don't think you can do it without raytracing. If you want convincing reflections, you need the accuracy it provides.

Your last image isn't showing up (at least I think you posted one?) so I'm guessing based on the first one:

1) Try using some scratch/specular/bump/etc maps on the tire. Right now it looks way too smooth and uniform, one of the major giveaways that something is cg.

2) Have you set your environment map to a spherical one? Just as planar it won't do the reflections at all right.

3) Try using a high-contrast environment map. It'll give more obvious detail in the reflections. You want some good patches of light and dark in it.

Since I use 3dsmax not blender, I'm not sure how much useful advice I can give. I know how I'd do it with my software, but I have no idea how much of that stuff applies to blender. What kinds of maps does it support for materials? What about radiosity/global illumination in the renderer?

I switched the original image in the OP.

To explain a bit better, try using something like http://www.habasanfleet.com/ufosunset.jpg for your environment map. The details won't be visible, but the high contrast will give good results in distorted reflections. That's the image I use for most "show off the object" renders, and it works pretty well. If that works, use it all you want.

I've looked through some of the blender documentation, but I'm not sure how some of that compares to 3dsmax. Have you set up radiosity in that image? That'll usually help a lot. I'd show you the material settings in 3dsmax, but that blender stuff seems written in a foriegn language.

Looks like the terminology for environment map is slightly different- the environment maps in Blender are computed from the surrounding environment, instead of an image mapped to the reflection color. The envmap is spherical.

Radiosity was enabled while rendering, and materials handle radiosity by default. I don't have any objects emitting light though, just three spotlights.

Anyway, I'll probably fix the texture on the tire, making it more irregular, but I'll probably move on to something else, since it's kind of defective and tedious to fix.