About Lights and colors

[PhotoComix]

I experimented a lot the different different lights and colors options, even making many variations of the same render to confront side by side, and trying many different maps

As conclusion i get a lot images i like (here the last series http://www.flickriver.com/photos/photocomix-mandala/sets/72157629271781841/ ) and to the same conclusion of Socrates ..."i know to not know"

Maybe i get confused to try too complex maps on too complex images, where they almost  give the expected results, ..well luckily they often did better than i was expecting and my artistic side may deal well with unexpected but the rest of my brain is baffled

Also  i see that any offset of the map on whatever axis usually produce wild changes...and than obviously each change of the coloring options would also dramatically modify the results

Any pointers to understand how MB3D use and apply lighs , colors and map and the practical differences between the different coloring options ?
(including differences in render time..some seems slow done beyond hope ,other are surprisingly fast...)

[Pangaea]

Hi there.

Sure applying any sort of texture or colour pallet to a fractal is tricky and fickle at the best of times. Might i suggest trying out a 2d fractal program and see how the colours lay on that, when you get a comprehension of that adjusting them on 3d is a little easier. However its always a gamble, and any tweak usually results in drastic changes simply due to the nature of the geometry your applying it to. If you've had any experience with mapping and colouring with regular 3d graphics, well now is the the time to chuck that all in the bin, at least when it comes to applying and controlling texture and colour.
I think I understand what you mean, like you try so many colour themes and they all look amazing, you just cant stop, the next tweak looks better then the last..etc etc, and you might often end up with a bewildering choice.. but that is when the artist in you should step in. The artist in you will know which one is best depending on what medium you indented to use it for, which brings be onto my next point. In my opinion one colour theme looks great for one medium but not ideal for another, for example more vivid and high contrast is great for print, and will display well on a wall, in all light moods, and viewing angles and distances... the same may not be true for magazine prints, and then electronically displayed images such on on monitors, tv`etc is another kettle of fish altogether, so that is another thing to also keep in mind, think of the medium your producing it for.

As you also mention, yes indeed colour and/or texture is only half way there, composition, lighting focus and mood.. again here we can endlessly tweak and make something better then the next, but again think of your medium, and the artist in you will do the rest.


best`o`luck
pan

[PhotoComix]

The artist in you will know which one is best depending on what medium you indented to use it for

The artist in me is enthusiast he really doesn't need a rational understanding to play some magic with lights & colors, it is the more rational part of my brain that would love decipher a logical pattern from all that experiments

...but any link for some documentation (if  notspecific for MB3D for something that use color lights and maps with a similar logic ) may help

[Pangaea]

Ah ok, im sorry, I must have got the wrong end of the stick, however Im still unsure what it is you mean, are you talking about how the brain/mind interprets certain images, colours , patterns?... or perhaps some sort of mathematical or scientific method of determining the right image?

[PhotoComix]

well first i would like to understand the different options in the "coloring" tab...
There is something a bit more detailed than the tool-tips on the matter ?

[Pangaea]

lol, right ok, now i see.. and im sorry again.. half asleep here (past 2am)
Well the readme that comes with it briefly explains each option, I have not studied it too much myself ... im sure the forum here has some help on a better explanation of the various settings.
sorry again for misunderstanding you

regards

[lenord]

Also  i see that any offset of the map on whatever axis usually produce wild changes...and than obviously each change of the coloring options would also dramatically modify the results

Basically the Maps, Lightmaps or Difuse gradient Maps operate as to placement the same way BG images loaded in Full Spherical Mode do. Use a small fractal image(in respect to the full screen) load a BG in Full spherical mode and play with the X-y-z to see what it is doing to get used to it.

Any pointers to understand how MB3D use and apply lighs , colors and map and the practical differences between the different coloring options ?
(including differences in render time..some seems slow done beyond hope ,other are surprisingly fast...)

Colors or Lights should have no effect on Render time, You can change Lights, gradient or maps without having to re render the image so why would they affect render times at all, reflections will but not Gradients and Lights. One thing I have found is Map size is important depending on the effect you are trying to achieve. Square tilable type as gradient for complex irregular surface Fractals and Maps that are the same aspect ratio of the image they are being used on and applied on Normals for large area smooth surfaced fractals.

[PhotoComix]

Colors or Lights should have no effect on Render time, You can change Lights, gradient or maps without having to re render the image so why would they affect render times at all, reflections will but not Gradients and Lights. One thing I have found is Map size is important depending on the effect you are trying to achieve. Square tilable type as gradient for complex irregular surface Fractals and Maps that are the same aspect ratio of the image they are being used on and applied on Normals for large area smooth surfaced fractals.

My fault here i was not sufficiently clear :
Colors or Lights  have no effect on Render time, EXCEPT the options located in the "coloring" tab (under the julia mode tab ) changes there require render again to take effect (at least so is written in the tooltip ) and was at that options that i was referring now

[crex]

Try this:

Open MB 3D, then Calculate 3D so you have an image.

1. click "Lighting"
2. Click the color bar "Diff"
3. click and drag to the color square at the right, somewhere close to the bar middle.
4. make sure "glue sliders" is uncheck now.
5. drag a different slider.  you can even move it past others.
6. right click to change a color.  Perhaps by now you notice how it affects the fractal.

For other things, above the colorbar "Spec", you will see tabs Ambient and Background Pic.

1. Click Ambient
2. Adjust the Dyn Fog slider.  Find a setting you like.

The lights:

There is one On.  See at the top of Lighting panel Li.1.
Adjust slider Light Xangle a small amount some times so you can tell what's happening with this 1 light.
Also try Light Yangle.

Like color, light angle will affect the mood of your scene.

Within the Object Colors tab (below the angle sliders) are the Specularity (highlight) and Diffusion (object brightness) sliders.  A strong specularity will make for a "hard" surface like metal or ceramic.  Specularity enhances an object by a significant amount.

When you experiment, pay attention to the mood.  Soon you will be a master

[lenord]

My fault here i was not sufficiently clear :
Colors or Lights  have no effect on Render time, EXCEPT the options located in the "coloring" tab (under the julia mode tab ) changes there require render again to take effect (at least so is written in the tooltip ) and was at that options that i was referring now

Ah, OK
Well after dinking around with the diff options there for hours I now only use either Orbit Trap or LLI, routing on axis and Map Vectors just never give me what I want, almost alwys use LLI for Reflections or Object Maps on Normals. If there is a Render time difference it should be minimal, I never really noticed so it must be minimal.
Another thing that has a great affect on image appearence are the type of Shadows, scene specific or Distance Estimated. I used SSAO24r and ZRthresh for a long time, now I almost always use SSAO24r Thresh to 0 and Adjust ZR thresh, more realistic to me

[PhotoComix]

Leonard
a lot of thanks for the tips very appreciated

...or LLI

LLI ..another mystery !
What is  LLI ? i saw but i had no idea of the meaning of the acronym...LLI is a shortening for ...what ?

[Sockratease]

Leonard
a lot of thanks for the tips very appreciated


LLI ..another mystery !
What is  LLI ? i saw but i had no idea of the meaning of the acronym...LLI is a shortening for ...what ?

Last Length Increase.

Hover your mouse over the number entry field for this, and many other things, and read the pop up description of many features that are otherwise unexplained