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I would argue that physically-based raytracers actually make things more difficult for artists, because they tend to be less flexible. Being physically correct

I would argue that physically-based raytracers actually make things more difficult for artists, because they tend to be less flexible. Being physically correct is great if what you get out of the renderer is exactly what you want, but as soon as you need to cheat anything to achieve a particular look, it's much easier to not be bound by physical correctness.

Keyframe 11y ago
You've described a struggle that's very real in production with the off-the-shelf renderers today. People seldom realise that.
solidangle 11y ago
The Disney BSDF [1, 2] is extremely flexible and offers a lot of artistic freedom. The only real limitation is that the BSDF is required to be energy conserving, but that's hardly a limitation. A physically-based renderer is still able to produce non-photorealistic results. [1] http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2012-shading-course/burley/s2012_pbs_disney_brdf_notes_v3.pdf http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2012-shading-course... [2] http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2015-shading-course/burley/s2015_pbs_disney_bsdf_notes.pdf http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2015-shading-course...
berkut 11y ago
Maybe, depends on whether you're doing CG animation (Pixar, Dreamworks style) or more realistic stuff - VFX, photoreal stuff. If the former, then maybe a bit. But the beauty of physically-based is that in many cases, you can take a model that's been textured and lookdeved and it will work nicely in many different lighting setups. Before Physically-based, you practically had to re-do stuff completely when you changed the lighting to get the look you wanted. However, Physically-based still isn't a complete win - you can't looked something close up and expect it to look good in the distance - it just won't. You need to be aware of the LODs and create different asset variations appropriately for different distances.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  It would be really nice to be able to do things like this in RT: http://www.zeitguised.com/geistxyz#geistxyz01 http://www.zeitguised.com/geistxyz#geistxyz01 https://vimeo.com/150824660 https://vimeo.com/150824660
jmpeax 11y ago
Pixar switched to a path tracer for Monsters University, and it made it easier for the artists (once they unlearned the tricks and hacks they would have needed for less sophisticated renderers).

Keyframe 11y ago

You've described a struggle that's very real in production with the off-the-shelf renderers today. People seldom realise that.

solidangle 11y ago

The Disney BSDF [1, 2] is extremely flexible and offers a lot of artistic freedom. The only real limitation is that the BSDF is required to be energy conserving, but that's hardly a limitation. A physically-based renderer is still able to produce non-photorealistic results. [1] http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2012-shading-course/burley/s2012_pbs_disney_brdf_notes_v3.pdf http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2012-shading-course... [2] http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2015-shading-course/burley/s2015_pbs_disney_bsdf_notes.pdf http://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2015-shading-course...

berkut 11y ago

Maybe, depends on whether you're doing CG animation (Pixar, Dreamworks style) or more realistic stuff - VFX, photoreal stuff. If the former, then maybe a bit. But the beauty of physically-based is that in many cases, you can take a model that's been textured and lookdeved and it will work nicely in many different lighting setups. Before Physically-based, you practically had to re-do stuff completely when you changed the lighting to get the look you wanted. However, Physically-based still isn't a complete win - you can't looked something close up and expect it to look good in the distance - it just won't. You need to be aware of the LODs and create different asset variations appropriately for different distances.

TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
It would be really nice to be able to do things like this in RT: http://www.zeitguised.com/geistxyz#geistxyz01 http://www.zeitguised.com/geistxyz#geistxyz01 https://vimeo.com/150824660 https://vimeo.com/150824660

jmpeax 11y ago

Pixar switched to a path tracer for Monsters University, and it made it easier for the artists (once they unlearned the tricks and hacks they would have needed for less sophisticated renderers).