Additional Shaders? Effects?

[76561198253511502]

I've ported a LOT of MMD models, and I'm wondering how I can put more depth to the model. One option is to somehow convert these really neat MMD shaders:

(Might wanna use this as a key) {LINK REMOVED}http://xoriu.deviantart.com/art/MMD-Shader-Preview-3-456570375
{LINK REMOVED}https://bowlroll.net/file/1091
{LINK REMOVED}http://ux.getuploader.com/Elle_DataPort/download/8/SeriousShader_v021.zip
{LINK REMOVED}https://bowlroll.net/file/7602

Or just create stuff like that manually. Which way is better?

[R234]

MMD shaders are not compatible with the Source engine. You'll have to work with Source's own material shaders and shader parametres to get a similar result.

[76561198253511502]

huh. So how do I do that? I've tried $phong 1, but the grainy stuff doesn't really make a difference.

[TruBlu0014]

Originally posted by sfm animator:

huh. So how do I do that? I've tried $phong 1, but the grainy stuff doesn't really make a difference.

Grainy? What are your render settings set to currently?

[76561198253511502]

Uh, default. The ambien occulision is what I meant by the "grainy stuff"

[76561198253511502]

Also, neat thumbnail, @TruBlu0014.

[R234]

So what's the problem then, what are you trying to do? Maybe a screenshot could help us understand too.

If the problem is grainy AO, you just need to increase the amount of depth of field (and motion blur, if you use it) samples in render settings.

[76561198253511502]

I'm trying to add depth to the model, because they look a bit too...depthless. I know lights may help, but not that much...

Like this: {LINK REMOVED}http://aquamarineperidot.deviantart.com/art/Alone-at-Sea-VIDEO-644418820

I'm trying to get an effect similar to this: {LINK REMOVED}http://wineinanopenwound.deviantart.com/art/I-m-Back-641408892

[episoder]

that first screen is just nothing. wth. just map lighting. you gotta add lights with placed shadows and use ambient occlusion. if you got grain in the viewport you gotta look in the clip editor and raise the number of samples. you can also control the hardness of the ao using the ssao camera controls. if you want a different color for the ao you gotta look in the element viewer. it's got a color picker for the value for it. if you want real fancy you can use lightwarptextures for the very special shades. that's all i got for you.

[76561198253511502]

OOOH! Lightwarptextures?

[76561198253511502]

Also, about the lights:

{LINK REMOVED}http://aquamarineperidot.deviantart.com/art/Coming-Soon-642636729

Pretty cool....

[Marco Skoll]

Well, you're definitely going to need to do something with the lighting (or possibly mess with the ToneMapScale) - as it is, the first render you linked is very dark. Checking a histogram for the preview picture, the brightest pixels are no more than about 60% brightness, which is part of what's responsible for the flat and washed out look.

As far as material configuration, it is often more of an art than a science - assuming the download on your dA is largely up-to-date, I'll do a bit of experimentation myself and see what seems to works best.

(I'll come back later when I'm sure I'm giving good advice!)

[76561198253511502]

Oh, the first link is from a test animation, the second is from some really cool animation I'm working on.

[TruBlu0014]

Originally posted by sfm animator:

Uh, default. The ambien occulision is what I meant by the "grainy stuff"

There's one problem. Turn your render settings up so that your samples, as mentioned by episoder, will be higher. Go for 1024 smaples instead of default. It should lessen the grain effect severely.

Originally posted by sfm animator:

Also, neat thumbnail, @TruBlu0014.

Thanks.

[76561198253511502]

I tried that at least ten times and it only worked ONCE.

[Marco Skoll]

Originally posted by TruBlu0014:

Go for 1024 samples instead of default.

While turning the samples to maximum definitely has the highest quality, it also has a large impact on render times.

That's not necessarily a big deal for image renders, but it'd be a complete waste of time for a video render. Nobody can see trivial imperfections in a compressed video when it's zooming past at a few dozen frames per second.

People should definitely use more than the default sample settings, but the best advice is probably to just turn it up until either a) you can't tell the difference any more or b) the render times are getting too intolerable.

Personally, I find AO graininess is fairly trivial at 64 full-scene samples and nearly imperceptible at 128 samples. If I've got the samples turned higher than that, then it's to do what it says on the tin - to get more samples for the Depth of Field or Motion Blur.

Thing is, SSAO is already sampled several times per pixel (I'm not sure exactly what it is in SFM, but around 16 samples is relatively normal for games), and that gets multiplied up every time SFM does a full-scene sample (such as for DoF or motion). Hence why I only use the highest sample rates for what they're actually intended for.

~~~~~

sfm animator - I've started taking a look at the model* and started getting phong and AO to work for it but it's now very late, so I'll have to leave it until tomorrow to keep messing around with it.

* If I can be blunt, the download is a mess. The files aren't supplied in the correct folder structure, so it took me some time to get it to work at all (and even then, the wing materials seem to be missing).