Daz DoF, lighting & rendering

[Rich]

Specifically in Daz, the only difference I found between any emissive surface & their 'ghost light' products, is that the latter can be properly hidden without affecting the illumination, while, for an example, an emissive plane - cannot.

Ya - I've never investigated, but I suspect that the "Ghost Light Kit" plays some minor tricks with its shader to get around that issue. That may be the purpose of the "Apply this preset first" script...

 

[alexander3rd]

That may be the purpose of the "Apply this preset first" script...

"material_library" : [
{
"id" : "Light",
"diffuse" : {
"channel" : {
"id" : "diffuse",
"type" : "float_color",
"name" : "Diffuse Color",
"label" : "Base Color",
"visible" : false,
"value" : [ 0.7529412, 0.7529412, 0.7529412 ],
"min" : 0,
"max" : 1,
"clamped" : true,
"step_size" : 1,
"default_image_gamma" : 0,
"mappable" : true
},

Here's part of the script. Tl;dr, my guess would be that the script just changes something we cannot change in the UI. It could as well be replicated on a plane by making another script with just the hide property, probably.

 

[Vexon731]

If i want decrease render time just simply dial down the reflectivity values on materials. Lot of reflective material take longer render time. You can also render 200% resolution, stop rendering when still grainy, then donwscale the image, your image will be noise free. Dont use HDRI maps, they slower than point/spot light. If your surface complete black/dark light them up, "complete" black dont exist in real life. If you render indoor scene, use Architectural sampler, and use light portals at windows. Glass is also tricky, if you dont want make caustic dont apply caustic campler. I like sharp renders, so i change the default gauss filter to mitchell with 1.0 value. You can use the build in light meter to setup correct exposure. Its next to the quick iray render icon when you rendering. Max path lenght also can tweaked. The default value is -1 (infinity....)