Hello Bernie, on Samstag, 15. September 2007, 13:33:32, you wrote:
> I typically name my textures like this: > B_texture.jpg - Bump > D_texture.jpg - Diffuse (colour) > A_texture.jpg - Alpha (scope or fade) > So in the material now - you simply copy and paste the path (whatever > the texture was that you just browsed the path to and is now selected in > the colour field) into the scope path dialog, then just change the D_ to > A_ and thats it ! (This is my methodology and I find it completely > painless) Yes, good technique. Something similar Ive also used. But I would never use JPG files as textures. Simply because JPG adds noise to the image. Normally not visible not visible by simple looking at the image on the screen, but when heavy calculation are done on the image are done in VSL, the noise could be emphasised, and therefore visible in the final rendering. > You can even copy and paste the path directly from Dir Opus as well. Ah, a DirOpus user like myself. Nothing beats DirOpus, its a must have! :-) >> BTW: I would never ever use Gif files in combination with RS3D! > ? I use them all the time to good effect. > Have a look here: > http://www.vrgrafix.com.au/Gallery.html?&tx_gooffotoboek_pi1[srcdir]=48-Kambah > Note the word "signage" ? Thats simply a GIF file with transparency. Mhh, I dont know, but I see lots of noise. For example in this image: http://www.vrgrafix.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Gallery/48-Kambah/VR_10-09-2007_View3.jpg It doesnt look like JPG artifacts. Havent you used AntiAliasing? >> doesn't provide a true alpha channel. They only provide a 1 Bit mask. > correct. But in an on/ off affair such as this example, as long as the > image has a high enough resolution this is not an issue. The problem is that the transparency information of a GIF file isnt an apha channel! Thats why it is called Fade inside RS3D. The fade channel of a GIF file defines where the transparency is, but a alpha channel like the alpha channel of a PNG file defines where the colours are. So, to map the fade channel of a GIF image to the scope channel inside RS3D I have to add an Operation object with 1-p1 to convert the fade channel to an alpha channel. Theoretically this would raise the rendering time. Ok, practically not really measurable I think. :-) > Also GIF images are great for large rez images (3-5k) such as B+W site Ok, here begins now the hard part. For the last days, Ive sit down and thought Whats the best image size and colour depth when used as a texture? I havent found a text which describes this. Ive only found some rule of thumb like Use image resolution twice as big as your final rendering resolution. But no description why I should use this rule of thumb! So, I sit down and worked it out. I digged deeply in the field of signal processing and such alike. Its not final yet, but in the next days I will post another message which will explain my work. Please wait for it. > overlays etc. (Small file sizes = faster render times) I dont think that the size of the texture file on disk has anything to do with rendering time. Simply because RS3D has to decode the file to access the information inside. And the decoded format is every time the same. -- Best wishes, Marc Michael
