A major challenge?

[Ceciliabr]

@bdfd

Bonjour.

I think I know what has happened.
In the dialogue-box that opens when you right-click and select "Save target as", you should select the "all files" option as your file format. Windows is probably using zip as default.

cec

[Ceciliabr]

@ Miker777

Thank you! [:)]

Ah, the double table cloth – that was my grandmothers way of decorating her bedside table – one cloth on top of another. I made it with Poser, and used it when I decorated my bedroom.



The size of the models should be 180 for James and 178 for the girl ( with high heels).

But I'm not really concerned about size. I'm concerned about illusions, and resize models as I see fit. [:)]

cec

[Miker777]

Hi Cec
Sorry, i did not mean physical size, kb
my bad
Mike

[Ceciliabr]

@okh

I have changed the fabric on the lampshade, adjusted the lights a little bit, and made a new rendering:



I actually used the same fabric as I'm using on the tablecloth, just reducing the fill to 20%.



And yes, I adjusted the colours a bit.

The problem with using a tiny light source inside the lampshade, is that it creates very hard shadows. I have an idea I might be able to avoid that by making a small circle of tiny, tiny lights to go around the bottom of the bulb, but I have to try that later.
To quote Hannibal Lecter: "I'm having an old friend for dinner tonight", so I have to get busy.


cec

[Ceciliabr]

@Miker777


I just assumed, since I actually got a mail asking about the size, pointing out the fact that the chair did not fit the girls body.
So I naturally thought you were referring to the conspicuous disparity between the elements. [:)]

At the moment the models are about 30Mb including the ( very large) textures. I'm still experimenting, and will not do anything to reduce the size until they are done.

But I'm not going to reduce the size to the extent that the quality is lessened. I want them to look as best they can, even on close-ups.
Besides, I think modern computers can handle large 3D-models easily. Even my oldest MacBook from 2013 is able to handle projects weighing around 2GB.

cec

[okh]

..tiny light source inside the lampshade, is that it creates very hard shadows...

Yes, and a larger light-source inside the boundaries of the model keeps interfering with the model itself. Still, your result is better than I managed so far. But then, I got caught up in getting the bulb to look right as well. Will work with your inspiration exploring the .mtl opacity further at some point, but not tonight. A boat trip around the Oslofjord put me in a different mood - really this hot, this time of year... Not normal. Good luck with the dinner party. Love dinner parties, except the last 10 minutes before when getting everything ready seems impossible (and the tidying up afterwards). Hope your guest tastes well [:)] ok

[Ceciliabr]

@okh

Have a look at this:


Making the bulbs round and placing a circle of tiny lights around them, really made the difference. The shadows appear a lot more diffuse with multiple light sources. The texture is now 50%, but I think maybe 80% will give an even better result.

The project file is here( not zipped [;)]

LAMP-with-shades-and-bulb.sh3d Just the lamp and the wall this time. 21Mb.

My Norwegian grandmother used to have lids on top of her lamps, to avoid lighting up the ceiling.

Love dinner parties, except the last 10 minutes before when getting everything ready seems impossible (and the tidying up afterwards).

He was fashionably late, as expected. No stress. And (I probably should not mention this) we have a girl living with us, an au-pair, or rather; a nanny for my daughter. Well, being a nanny was the job she applied for. But today we just call her "bestyrerinden" - oder die Geschäftsführerin - our manageress. She has taken over the management of our household, our accounts, the logistics and the kitchen, as if it's in her nature to be the boss. Unfortunately we are losing her after Christmas. She has qualified for a scholarship from a medical company, and is moving to France to study bio-chemistry.

Me and all my digressions ...

A boat trip around the Oslofjord... I envy you. Norway is such a beautiful country, and especially in the autumn. I have memories of my birthday-parties in Norway, beautiful tables, decorated with autumn leaves...
When I lived in Oslo, I felt Danish at heart, but after moving back to Denmark, I have started to introduce myself as Norwegian when I make new acquaintances.
I never thought I would miss Norway.

cec

[Puybaret]

Just to answer to the initial question of this very interesting thread, I made a quick test for transparency support in Sunflow, enabling alpha channel in the generated image (with [font=courier new]TYPE_INT_ARGB[/font] instead of [font=courier new]TYPE_INT_RGB[/font] in PhotoPanel class), but this doesn't seem to be enough.
Will need further investigation...

[okh]

Yes, very nice result, pretty much the kind of effect I have been looking for. Thanks, some good ideas here.

Making the bulbs round and placing a circle of tiny lights around them, really made the difference.

Absolutely. I did not try that. In part because typing up all those light-source properties in the model will take some time. As my objective is a bit different, I need to experiment further: Aim is to make a relatively simple model with built-in lights for a library file. While this is a step in the right direction, there are a couple of things I still need to look at (once the weather discourages after-work trips out in the fjord).

• The rendering of this lamp is pretty demanding on the cpu - slow on a slow computer. Ideally, I would prefer to avoid that kind of bottle-neck. How much is down to the large lamp model, and how much is down to the number of lights I have yet to figure out.
• The approach actually works quite well even if I halve the number of tiny lights surrounding the bulb. Not quite as nice, but still reasonably nice. And it does solve the bulb issue.
• In order for the lamp to light up the surrounding area "through" the lamp-shade, it will, I think, need (large, soft) light-sources outside the perimeter of the lamp itself. While this is possible by using an invisible part of the model where the light-sources are placed, I hesitate, because that would mean that the model dimensions are no longer accurate (at least I have not succeeded in using negative or outside values for the lamp-sources in [font=courier new]PluginFurnitureCatalog.properties[/font]).
• Also, the light-source should have a tint in the same colour as the lamp-shade. My preferred solution would be for the light-sources inside the lamp-shade to take colour from the material in the shade, so that if I change to a green lamp-shade, the model will give off a greenish light, etc. (Having access to the light-source properties from within the model, would help, but I am under the impression that Puybaret does not want to over-complicate the general SH3D interface by giving access to all those lovely properties in [font=courier new]PluginFurnitureCatalog.properties[/font]).
• Just did a quick test surrounding the lamp(-shade) with a light-source. Whether it will work in the .properties file, i.e. the diameter of the lamp extending outside the model, I do not know, but that might just be an idea.

So, anyway, food for thought.

..grandmother used to have lids on top of her lamps, to avoid lighting up the ceiling...

Sounds very familiar. Actually, I still have a fondness for ceilings hidden in the dark. But then, I quite like dark - or at least subdued light - in general.

..answer to the initial question of this very interesting thread...

A thread with lots of twists and digressions, but it would be nice to know more about the initial question too.
ok

[okh]

@maz

-- a wall made from switchable or 'smart' glass: Depending on the setting, the wall could be 100% transparent, 100% frosted (about 92% opaque), or partly transparent and partly frosted,...

Speaking of alpha channels and transparency - and not least building materials - you may enjoy this demonstration of smart glass: snooperscharter.co.uk (or YouTube). A video stunt related to the UK Investigatory Powers Bill. ok