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Intermediate OpenGL

marblemarble Posts: 7,500
edited December 1969 in Daz Studio Discussion

I have been experimenting with animations for a small project.

The quality doesn't need to be high so I don't need IRay or Luxrender or even 3Delight quality. I noticed that there is a mode called Intermediate OpenGL but when I try to render anything, either with the headlight or with added lights (I added AoA lights to the scene), I just get a black figure.

I can't find any documentation on how to use this render mode.

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Comments

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited June 2015

    I think it will depend on your Graphics Card what kind of result you get.

    It works for me, with the exception of transparencies in the eyes and eyelashes on G3F, and I have a fairly old NVidia card (4 years old) The lighting looks fine, but the eyes are opaque and the lashes are just black lines.

    You can look at Help > Troubleshooting > About Your Video card, and it may list something that helps.

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    Post edited by JimmyC_2009 on
  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    Well, the odd thing is that I switched to 3Delight, rendered a single frame and then switched back to Intermediate OpenGL. Hey presto, it works now.

    I have had issues with my GPU before. Even though it is NVidia, it doesn't work well with Iray either. I get screen artefacts which require a reboot to clear (this has been reported to support but no response yet). Nevertheless, I only have these problems in DAZ Studio. I don't have many games but the few I do have play fine as do movies and any 2D image processing.

    I'm not sure how Intermediate OpenGL is better than the basic version. I'm finding it difficult to see any difference.

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited June 2015

    In my system at least, Basic OpenGL is just a simple screen grab of the viewport, just as if I had done a Print Screen.

    The intermediate one looks a lot better, except for the eyes etc. but it does show better lighting.

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    Post edited by JimmyC_2009 on
  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    The eyes look ok on mine - certainly not like your image above. Except that the sclera is a bit too bright. I dare say I could adjust that in the surface settings (or are they effective for 3Delight only?).

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    I switched off the 'Use OpenGl Shader (GLSL)' in the Advanced tab in Render Settings, and it fixed the eyes/lashes, but it is very bright, just with the Headlamp on.

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  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    Ok - OpenGL shader was off already for some reason. I have a standard DAZ Spot and Distant light so that I can adjust the intensity.

    However, the shadows are either fully on or fully off, whether I use raytrace or deep shadow. On is too harsh so I have switched the shadows off (and set to zero).

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    marble said:
    The eyes look ok on mine - certainly not like your image above. Except that the sclera is a bit too bright. I dare say I could adjust that in the surface settings (or are they effective for 3Delight only?).


    I don't know if that would work or not, but it's worth a try.

    I used a Distant Light, and switched shadows on, but it is a hilarious result, my card obviously can't handle them at all :)
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  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    Turning down the ambient on the sclera did work but I can't get soft shadows. Shadowless will do for my purposes, however.

    I tried with the GLSL shaders on and got a completely black image except for the eyes which were white.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    marble said:
    Turning down the ambient on the sclera did work but I can't get soft shadows. Shadowless will do for my purposes, however.

    I tried with the GLSL shaders on and got a completely black image except for the eyes which were white.

    Then for some reason, your system isn't finding any usable GLSL shaders...

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    I have no idea where I (or the system) would look for them.

    Seems that both of us (above) have had problems with GLSL shaders - JimmyC with the eyes and me with the whole image.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    That's just it...the GLSL/OpenGL shaders are somewhere, but no idea where that some where is. Studio has some, included, but they seem to be pretty basic. Most modern games have a much better set. And that's where the problems lie...the set included doesn't have much in the way of features, including multiple transparency maps, the way transparency is handled...and so on.

    Not finding anything at all, is a bit odd..unless it wasn't finding something that Studio could 'translate' the 3DL shader to...because the all black is the 'no good/usable shader' indicator for the OpenGL, like the blinding white you get when the AoA shader goes 'off' in 3DL.

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:

    Not finding anything at all, is a bit odd..unless it wasn't finding something that Studio could 'translate' the 3DL shader to...because the all black is the 'no good/usable shader' indicator for the OpenGL, like the blinding white you get when the AoA shader goes 'off' in 3DL.

    Yes - that happens quite often too. I usually just delete the "brickyard" folder in Temp to solve that. It would be a very useful thing to have OpenGL shaders that were more versatile. Animation would not be so tedious and might attract a whole new bunch of enthusiasts who are presently put off by long render times. I just rendered 1000 frames in OpenGL in less than an hour.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Studio should be capable of using just about any GLSL shader...take a look at the Shadertoy website to see some of what is doable...or any modern game. I just haven't ever been able to figure out where or how to switch them

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:
    Studio should be capable of using just about any GLSL shader...take a look at the Shadertoy website to see some of what is doable...or any modern game. I just haven't ever been able to figure out where or how to switch them

    Way over my head, I'm afraid. I did a search but could only find this old video. No idea if it means anything to you ...

    https://vimeo.com/21709028

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Basically, it looks like a DS3 (?) script to expose the parameters of the existing GLSL shaders...which would be fantastic. The maker of that video does have several more on the subject and got as far as a nice looking toon skin in DS 4.0. It is possible, but not sure how easy, since his project doesn't seem to have continued much past the DS4 vid.

    And yes, expanded OpenGL rendering would be very animation friendly.

  • bob gentzbob gentz Posts: 58

    can someone help me?  the hair in my renders takes on a frosty appearance and i dont know why.  plz help.  if the figure is alone i will render it with the same frosty appearance with a checkerboard background like above.  this just started happening and i dont know why

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