Re: Diffuse Color/Albedo Only Render Pass (Very limited...)

["peter boeykens" <peter_b(at)skynet.be>]

what the workaround does is override the surface normals (bump in XSI = 
normals), make them all point along the y axis (for instance) and then shine 
full white light coming from that direction. A very usefull workaround but a 
workaround none the less, and its perfectly normal that the incidence is 
affected by this, since it is normal dependant.
Pretty much all illumination nodes will be affected by overriding the 
normals in this way.

I'm not sure if you can feed geometry normals (see: vector state) rather 
than surface normals to the incidence node. If so, that would do the trick.

But IMO, you shouldnt rely on a workaround to do your shading. Its good if 
you made a quick n dirty scene, and want a flat colour pass, but you'd be 
better off approaching your shading with some forward thinking - especially 
towards how you split into passes and channels.
More and more, I end up creating a switching mechanism into shaders, so that 
I can set up the look I want for diffuse, specularity and other passes, with 
a simple override. With the switch off, you get the "beauty" - the result of 
your shader when affected by light. And with the switch you can then select 
the different channels / looks.

BTW, usually I wouldnt want any Incidence in my diffuse/albedo pass - rather 
have a seperate incidence pass.

And last but not least, you cant blame Softimage for the limitations of a 
(very nifty) workaround by a user.
Make sure you understand its limitations - and use it accordingly.

...


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Harkins" <charkocu(at)gmail.com>
To: <XSI(at)Softimage.COM>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: Diffuse Color/Albedo Only Render Pass (Very limited...)


> This method worked until I discovered one major flaw... Any material that 
> has an incidence node will render out as the node piped into the angle 
> perpendicular to the camera. For example, your simple incidence goes from 
> red (inner) to blue (outer), but only the blue(outer) renders and the 
> red(inner) is completely disregarded. This is incorrect as it is not the 
> albedo color and its totally throwing off my comp. Evidently, the vector 
> share hijacks the incidence node.
>
> I'm really disappointed if its this hard to do something so very simple 
> and necessary. There are plenty of packages like *censored* and *censored* 
> that do it at the click of a button. Is there yet another jerry-rig we can 
> perform to counter the last one to make an albedo pass? Or is this going 
> to be one of those jobs where you spend unknown hours making a custom 
> scene file just for one otherwise easy pass? Any insight and wisdom is 
> greatly appreciated!
>
> _C Harkins
>
> Andi Farhall wrote:
> > Alan jones pointed out a handy technique for this. You have a standard 
> > linear light pointing straight down, and then you overide the bump input 
> > on all the materials/partitions with a vector share to make all the 
> > normals point at the light.
> >  Andi.
> >
> >     -----Original Message-----
> >     *From:* owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM
> >     [mailto:owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM]*On Behalf Of *Jeff Greulich
> >     *Sent:* 25 March 2008 17:16
> >     *To:* XSI(at)Softimage.COM
> >     *Subject:* Diffuse Color/Albedo Only Render Pass
> >
> >     Is there an easy way to make an Albedo only render pass or frame
> >     buffer?  I need to just kick out the color information.
> >     Either it's an obtuse work around, or so easy I'm over thinking it.
> >
> >     Thanks.
> >     -- 
> >
> >
> >     *Jeff Greulich
> >     */Senior 3D Modeler/Texturer/
> >
> >
> >     *Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, Inc.
> >     *2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. Nashville, TN 37214
> >     *Ph*  615.885.6801 | *Fx*  615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com
> >     jeff(at)magneticdreams.com
> >
> >     Confidentiality Notice: This email, including attachments, is
> >     confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the
> >     original intended recipient(s). If you have received this e-mail
> >     in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox
> >     or any other storage mechanism. Magnetic Dreams, Inc cannot accept
> >     liability for any statements made which are clearly the sender's
> >     own and not expressly made on behalf of Magnetic Dreams, Inc or
> >     one of its agents.
> >
> >
> >
> >     /This e-mail may contain confidential information and is intended
> >     only for the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the
> >     intended recipient you may not distribute or copy this document in
> >     any manner whatsoever. The sending company does not accept
> >     liability for any damage, loss or expense arising from this e-mail
> >     or from accessing attachments./
> >
> >     / //please consider the environment before printing this email/
> ---
> Unsubscribe? Mail Majordomo(at)Softimage.COM with the following text in body:
> unsubscribe xsi 

---
Unsubscribe? Mail Majordomo(at)Softimage.COM with the following text in body:
unsubscribe xsi