Baking Mental Ray GI

Xsi
1

hi,
im posting this Mental ray question here even though i use 3dsmax and its connection to MR but i think they are the same concept:

im working on an animation for my show reel that has a 'toon' character and ive done tests with Final gathering but have only brought render times down to 20 minutes. as seen in the picture link (bottom of page), the camera is not very close to the subject, when it does get closer and i use the same FG settings i get the usual artifacts.

My question is: can anyone figure a way of 'baking' the 'solution' to texture maps or vertex colours? i accept that i will have to render every frame when lighting changes (overhead lights) but i'm worried about the upclose shots i plan to do- do i have to crank up the settings of can i use pre rendered texture maps?

One thought i did have was to renderout a cubic map of her head through using FG and apply that back to the model so that i dont need to use FG during long render sessions but only a texture, hmmm

was does anybody think?

Picture:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/slaveh/Webstuff...fs/Fixed082.JPG

2

Well, this is the Softimage solution:

1) Take your model back to SI3D and bake it there using Rendermap as SI3D also has mentral ray v2.x.

  • or -

2) Wait for XSI v2.0 when Rendermap makes it's XSI debut.

....well I guess another option is to render the character straight on from an orthographic view, then map the result as a camera projected texture. Once everything's aligned, mute the texture operator to retain everything as UV coordinates that follow the model when it bends.

I don't seen anything in your scene that should cause it to take 20 minutes. Perhaps your settings need adjustment?

Matt

Matt Lind
Animator / Technical Director
Softimage certified instructor:
Softimage|3D
Softimage|XSI
speye_21@hotmail.com