Comments on: mip_matteshadow and how I have used it http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/ more serious than before (in a good way) Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:58:27 +1000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10454 david Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:57:59 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10454 smokedogg: I hope it is working out for you. If not send me a scene and I'll take a look. I emailed you, so you have my address. Thanks for you kind words too! smokedogg: I hope it is working out for you. If not send me a scene and I'll take a look. I emailed you, so you have my address. Thanks for you kind words too!

]]> By: smokedogg http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10453 smokedogg Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:25:03 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10453 Hello David, well after my last post I did some more researching on hdr labs and re-read the sIBL GUI manual i believe after the creation and import/export, supposedly a mip_matteshadow should be connected to where ever and however the script loads. Im not sure cause im at work now and wont be able to give it a try for about another 9 hours. So hopefully now everything will just ok. Thanks for your time as your probably sick of hearing from me. Although you have become a saint to me for all the help you have brought to me thus far since I found your A+ blog! Hello David, well after my last post I did some more researching on hdr labs and re-read the sIBL GUI manual i believe after the creation and import/export, supposedly a mip_matteshadow should be connected to where ever and however the script loads. Im not sure cause im at work now and wont be able to give it a try for about another 9 hours. So hopefully now everything will just ok. Thanks for your time as your probably sick of hearing from me. Although you have become a saint to me for all the help you have brought to me thus far since I found your A+ blog!

]]> By: smokedogg http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10452 smokedogg Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:53:41 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10452 OK, I am understanding what you are saying but the 1 thing that is puzzling me is that when I go to connect anything from or to the matteshadow, I keep getting the connection editor and am not sure what attr. to connect to where. e.g.- I have my sIBL all setup, my building, and my ground plane. Now when I render I get no shadows. Thats where the mattashadow comes into play and now where I get lost. From here, I am not sure where and what goes what. I have downloaded your example scene and tried following what you have on your setup but no resulting shadows. I feel like a newbie again. Sorry. Maybe if I could somehow email or post my test scene and you could take a look at for me to see what I am doing wrong would be greatly honored. Thank you. OK, I am understanding what you are saying but the 1 thing that is puzzling me is that when I go to connect anything from or to the matteshadow, I keep getting the connection editor and am not sure what attr. to connect to where. e.g.- I have my sIBL all setup, my building, and my ground plane. Now when I render I get no shadows. Thats where the mattashadow comes into play and now where I get lost. From here, I am not sure where and what goes what. I have downloaded your example scene and tried following what you have on your setup but no resulting shadows. I feel like a newbie again. Sorry. Maybe if I could somehow email or post my test scene and you could take a look at for me to see what I am doing wrong would be greatly honored. Thank you.

]]> By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10451 david Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:19:55 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10451 smokedogg: This post kind of assumes you already know how mip_matteshadow works. If not then have a look at the link to zap's blog (in the first paragraph). There you will find some set up hints and example scenes too. I'm guessing (from your other comments) that you are going to be using mip_matteshadow with your sIBL setups. If that is the rayswitch that you are asking about, then probably the answer is no. You dont connect mip_matteshadow to that rayswitch. You were right in the last question - mip_matteshadow would be assigned to your floor geometry. As I have shown in my examples in this post, I often do use rayswitch nodes with mip_matteshadow, but not the one created with the sIBL loader. smokedogg: This post kind of assumes you already know how mip_matteshadow works. If not then have a look at the link to zap's blog (in the first paragraph). There you will find some set up hints and example scenes too.

I'm guessing (from your other comments) that you are going to be using mip_matteshadow with your sIBL setups. If that is the rayswitch that you are asking about, then probably the answer is no. You dont connect mip_matteshadow to that rayswitch. You were right in the last question - mip_matteshadow would be assigned to your floor geometry.

As I have shown in my examples in this post, I often do use rayswitch nodes with mip_matteshadow, but not the one created with the sIBL loader.

]]> By: smokedogg http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10449 smokedogg Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:23:49 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10449 Hey Dave, its me again onto this topic now. As you know, I was just asking you about the HDR and IBL stuff earlier on. And now I have came to this point with the shadows not showing up in my scene and have researched a bit into the mip_MatteShadow. Sounds and looks kind of confusing, probably cause its new me. But anyway, I have my scene setup with the rayswitch, and now what? Do I just connect the MatteShadow into the shadow slot on the rayswitch? Or is there more to that? Or is it suppose to go into say on my grounds SG node? Thank you. Hey Dave, its me again onto this topic now. As you know, I was just asking you about the HDR and IBL stuff earlier on. And now I have came to this point with the shadows not showing up in my scene and have researched a bit into the mip_MatteShadow. Sounds and looks kind of confusing, probably cause its new me. But anyway, I have my scene setup with the rayswitch, and now what? Do I just connect the MatteShadow into the shadow slot on the rayswitch? Or is there more to that? Or is it suppose to go into say on my grounds SG node? Thank you.

]]> By: david http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10372 david Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:22:47 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10372 agenesis: I'm glad you found my blog useful. I appreciate the comment. Unfortunately I have no experience with render passes. Using render layers, like in this post, are how I still do it. Even then refraction is tricky when it comes to alpha channels. I think I would probably try to set up a render layer with white objects casting shadows, but it would not be accurate like a true shadow pass. Hopefully someone else can help you with this. Good luck. agenesis: I'm glad you found my blog useful. I appreciate the comment.

Unfortunately I have no experience with render passes. Using render layers, like in this post, are how I still do it. Even then refraction is tricky when it comes to alpha channels. I think I would probably try to set up a render layer with white objects casting shadows, but it would not be accurate like a true shadow pass.

Hopefully someone else can help you with this. Good luck.

]]> By: agenesis http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10371 agenesis Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:33:28 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10371 Hi DJ, First off, thanks so much for all your help ... I've been following your blog for awhile and your tools and posts have saved me tons of time and taught me alot about mental ray. I've been having trouble getting a shadow pass to refract in mental ray ... first I tried a useBackgroundShader with a phong sphere in front of it, then i tried mip_matte_shadow with mia_material glass sphere in front of it (propagate alpha turned on), trace depths set high enough ... problem is, i still keep getting solid mattes of what should be just a shadow pass (need to refract / distort a shadow pass for compositing). I also tried pumping the useBackgroundShader's matteOpacity attr into the color in of a surface shader, and it works fine up until it goes through any geometry with a glass shader, at which point it just becomes solid white. any tips? i'm at the end of my rope. Thanks again for all your help, please keep it up! best, m Hi DJ,

First off, thanks so much for all your help ... I've been following your blog for awhile and your tools and posts have saved me tons of time and taught me alot about mental ray.

I've been having trouble getting a shadow pass to refract in mental ray ... first I tried a useBackgroundShader with a phong sphere in front of it, then i tried mip_matte_shadow with mia_material glass sphere in front of it (propagate alpha turned on), trace depths set high enough ... problem is, i still keep getting solid mattes of what should be just a shadow pass (need to refract / distort a shadow pass for compositing). I also tried pumping the useBackgroundShader's matteOpacity attr into the color in of a surface shader, and it works fine up until it goes through any geometry with a glass shader, at which point it just becomes solid white.

any tips? i'm at the end of my rope.

Thanks again for all your help, please keep it up!

best,

m

]]> By: sheldor http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10240 sheldor Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:03:27 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10240 thanks, thanks, thanks!!!!!!!! This was lifesaving. I have deadline tomorrow (ooooops, actualy that's today:) My problem was to get shadow from VUE trees in maya. And I only needed trees (+shadow in alpha) pass for compositing. And I hardly figure it out. I didn't realize (at first) that I can, actually must, assign mip_matteshadow as a material to object that is catching shadows (lack of concentration after several working hours). live long and prosper thanks, thanks, thanks!!!!!!!!
This was lifesaving. I have deadline tomorrow (ooooops, actualy that's today:)
My problem was to get shadow from VUE trees in maya. And I only needed trees (+shadow in alpha) pass for compositing.
And I hardly figure it out. I didn't realize (at first) that I can, actually must, assign mip_matteshadow as a material to object that is catching shadows (lack of concentration after several working hours).

live long and prosper

]]> By: dican http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-10223 dican Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:12:39 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-10223 thanks so help full thanks so help full

]]> By: loganai http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/comment-page-1/#comment-9889 loganai Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:08:35 +0000 http://www.djx.com.au/blog/2008/04/08/mip_matteshadow-and-how-i-have-used-it/#comment-9889 Ok! Well i guess there isn't a cure for everything yet! Thanks for you reply in any case. I did my composite in AE as well. Ok! Well i guess there isn't a cure for everything yet! Thanks for you reply in any case. I did my composite in AE as well.

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