ring renders

useroperator

just some renders

Wee Dangerous John

Very impressive, I like the first render most, but I also like the diamond - did you make that too ?

useroperator

I can't say for sure if I made it, but I do recall having to do stuff to it to make it refract properly, which probably does mean I made it because the way normals are handled in hexagon, unless lines are reinforced, normals are too smooth for facets, there's basically 4 close together lines for every edge to make them sharp, and it probably helps add to refraction qualities too. It's from another ring I made a while back. But it is actually quite simple. There is a much high resolution version below, and here's a copy of the model: http://www.filedropper.com/diamondgems

Roygee

That is indeed impressive - well done :)

What application did you render in? Why I ask is because I believe that Daz Studio automatically applies some sort of smoothing and Carrara softens edges, giving it a marshmallow look. In Carrara this is easily fixed by selecting the edges and applying creasing. Any other rendering application keeps the edges sharp, so reinforcing is not needed unless you apply smoothing.

So, it is not Hex that is at fault here, but the receiving application :)

useroperator

nah it's hexagon. example: I create a primitive sphere

tthis is the faces it should have...

....and this is the way the normals actually are...

but if I export them from hexagon without normals and calculate them in the renderer, this should fix it. of course at the time of making the gem, I didn't know that, I had to learn that through trial and error.

I think the extra edges can add a little depth to refraction though. I mean it's not like gem facets are perfectly flat planes with zero volume edges in the real world.

useroperator

here's a gem hot off the presses you might enjoy. utlra high res.

Roygee

Another really good one :) If made by you, a tutorial would be most welcome - looks like a lot of work!

Yes, in your second pic above you have selected smoothed shaded, so it would show some softening of the edges.

What I meant about different applications handling edges differently - see the attached. Bryce, Sculptris, Meshlab, Blender and Hexagon keep the edges sharp while Poser, Studio and Carrara soften them. In Carrara the "After" pic shows how this is fixed by applying crease edges.

Which is why I'd be interested to know what application you used to render in.

useroperator

exporting from hexagon without normals, should always keep edges crisp when importing into any renderer.....and it might help if you import into a renderer without calculating normals in the renderer either. some renderers calculate normals automatically and thus you end up with smoothed edges.

I mess around through trial and error, so except for very simple ones, It's hard to recall exactly what I did. but it generally involves a low point primitive geodesic sphere, with some shape changes and 1 level of bezier interpolation, doo sabin or loop subdivision smoothing options. Sometimes I do one smoothing option then a different one on top of it. each gem probably takes less than several steps.

here's an image of the gems I just made, I haven't rendered them yet so I have no clue how well they will look. the one at the bottom is the gem rendered from above.

useroperator

and the grand finale....it's actually rendered soo large that the gems themselves are larger than the upload size limit.

GussNemo

@user.operator: That last image looks exactly like a photo of those gems. What program are you using for the final work?

useroperator

https://www.keyshot.com/try/

have fun.....use this power for good only ;)

Roygee

Thanks for the explanation - that is a really useful piece of information :)

I tried exporting without normals, but that didn't make an iota of difference in the applications I use. That probably means the ones which do automatic smoothing calculate normals on import and there is probably no way to switch that off.

Found that if I import into Carrara as facet meshes instead of the default vertex primitive, it does not do automatic smoothing - provided exporting normals has been switched off when exporting from Hex - which is useful to know. I'll have to experiment to see whether this has any adverse effect on texturing - especially using bump and normal mapping.

Your renders are really great - but at that price, I'll give it a miss :)

PoisenedLily

I was attempting to download the model file to check it out but it says I have to sign up? Am I missing something? Thank you!

useroperator

it seems like the file isn't there anymore. Probably has to do with a timelimit from the last download, automatically deleted. reuploaded.

http://www.filedropper.com/diamondgems