Sculptris+Blender+Cycles Tips

[CaptainNemo]

Hey Guys
As I thought that maybe some guys are there that are interested to know about rendering with this powerful engine so decided to just start a thread with some simple hints about Sculptris+Blender+Cycles workflow.
I'm not a Cycles Guru , so let's hope that some pro artists like Piz that is a master in texturing as in modeling and lighting, join us in this thread and let us to learn more .
at last thank you Master Brecht !
and at second last , this thread is dedicated to dear dreamz for all he has done for organizing those good days contests ...

Ok ... Let's do it :

1.Download the suitable Build of Cycles from GraphicAll .
-you can find your suitable Build by using the filters on the right side of the first page :



by choosing any button in each row you just multi filter all Builds that are uploaded to site. eg. choosing windows --> 32 bit --> ...
-Cycles Builds at this time are not installing versions; they are zip file. So you can keep your installed version of Blender and just have experiments with several builds of Cycles that are there without need to install anything.

2.Unzip the downloaded file anywhere in your hard drive. There Will be a folder with the name of that particular Build of Cycles. In this folder you can find a Blender.exe file. just run it.



3.Now you have a blender window with a layout like this

4.Change your Blender Render Engine to Cycles (See above Picture)

5.Change the display mode to "Rendered", and you have a live render in the viewport ( you have to be in 3DView Mode )



6.you can add a Primitive mesh like a plane to the scene and instantly ir begins to render in the viewport

7.You can change the default material (See the picture)

8.Choose A material type ( Diffuse, Glossy, Glass, Emission , ...)

9.Change the default properties of the material and see the changes live at the viewport

[CaptainNemo]

10.In a default scene the light comes from the global light

11.just for Test Make a Plane and assign an "Emission" Material to it , Move, Scale and rotate it and see the effects in the scene.





12.Ok It's time to play with Sculptris Meshes and Cycles
13.As there isn't any "Import Obj" option in recent Cycles Builds, you can't Import your "Sculptris Exported Obj" to Cycles embedded Blender.
so ...
-just Import your Obj in your "Installed Version of Blender"
-Save the Scene
-Run the "Cycles Embedded Version"
-Open the Saved Scene in this "Cycles Embedded Version"
-That's All

I've uploaded a scene contains a studio lighting setup and some meshes, fell free to download and explore some arrangements by yourself.
I'll be happy if I could answer any question about "Rendering Sculptris Meshes by Cycles"



Download here --> CyclesBlenderTestScene
Ok...
Just Sorry if there is so obvious tips, ...
Hope you like it ... and sorry for my English
Happy Sculpting and Rendering .

[Serek]

Thanks, I guess.

Whenever I open a scene it jumps into the typical Blender interface and it doesn't render a thing with the Cycles engine (BTW the Sculptris obj was saved with Blender 2.58 - not 2.57). So far I can only use Cycles to render the default primitives.

[holyenigma74]

try this version of Cycles..

you need enable the Cycles addon first in the preference menu ,
you get the regular Blender interface.

here.

[Serek]

Nope, it doesn't work. Maybe I'm doing something wrong and Blender's interface doesn't help. It may have changed but IMO it's still more suitable for robots than humans.

I tried this version also although I have a nVIDIA GPU with CUDA.

[holyenigma74]

just did a little playing with it..

the best Cycles build if you have 64bit Windows and Nvidia Card with Cida seems to be

this one..

When importing test scenes from people, it can change your settings,etc.
(remember if you like Maya navigation, you can set that in the preference menu)

you can also combine the windows if you want to, by draging the corners, like normal(look for tutorials on the interface)

this version is limited to only opening .blendfiles, like the other person said, but Cuda does work.
(however it doesn't work on the .blend file provided upthread for some reason, it does however work on all other files i import into it)

[holyenigma74]

maybe i spoke a little to soon..
about the Cuda version..

I would just use the CPU version in post #4, or use the Cuda version in CPU mode..

not sure whats the problem but Cuda seems to work on and off
at least on my system. (not very reliable, CPU seems to work albeit slower)

[CaptainNemo]

@Serek :
You mean that when you open a scene in the Cycles Version, it ignores and automatically runs the installed version of blender ? so strange ...
I've tested maybe 3 or 4 Builds of Cycles, both in 32 and 64 bit , CPU and GPU and never had a same problem.
For me the 32bit version is the best one with minimum bugs, I guess its name begins with 555 ...

[michalis]

For mac users, cycles builds here:
non cuda
http://graphicall.org/117
with cuda support (you have to install the cuda driver first)
http://graphicall.org/180
these both work and they are dependency-less on 10.6.7, 10.6.8
they are 64 bit builds, stable and they also include obj importer.

For sculptris best result you gonna need a retopology tool or even the quasi autoretopo method.
(just export the hi res Sc obj and use decimation in sc (even manually so to have a less than 8k mesh), export both meshes in blender, make UVs on the lo res, use shrinkwrap to reproject hi dens details. Paint hi frequency bumps etc etc. All in Sc and blender.

Or simply, use 3dcoat and/or Zbrush.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=143454
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthr...148#post851148

[holyenigma74]

Another cool renderer on Blender in Yafaray.


this guy has the best Blender builds IMHO..

64bit with Yafaray

just enable it in the preferences/addons/renderer section.

sometimes if you click it, it wont look like it has been enabled,
but go to the pull down to Choose what renderer you want to use and it will show up.

[Serek]

You mean that when you open a scene in the Cycles Version, it ignores and automatically runs the installed version of blender ? so strange ...

No, it doesn't run the installed Blender but the start up Cycles interface changes to a Blender's default looking one. In the render engine selection I can choose either Blender or Cycles and, while Blender's works, Cycles don't - or it does but it just render a black screen.

I expected to load my scene in the same window where the primitives are, everything works fine there, but it doesn't seem to work that way.

[CaptainNemo]

@ michalis :
Thanks man... , very nice tips , I'll give it a try ASAP (I mean shrinkwrap)

@holyenigma74:
Yes dude ... Yafaray is a great Engine too, with so many nice features; but personally I love Cycles (actually I love what Cycles is going to be in the future ... <img src="http://www.zbrushcentral.com/pixo/atn.gif">)

@Serek:
I just had a similar experiment (black screen render) with one of the early Builds, but in the recent Builds never have seen it again.
May be a dumb question <img src="http://www.zbrushcentral.com/pixo/atn.gif"> but :
Are you sure that there is a mesh in the scene with an Emission material assigned to it ? (to work as light)
OR
Is there a Background assigned to the World Material ?

[Serek]

IDK - I supposed it would be rather automatized. I'll check later.

[CaptainNemo]

Download Here : DofTestScene

[michalis]

While the 'empty' use is great for traveling camera this is also helpful and much more precise for static pictures. Just enable 'limits' under camera properties and have wireframe view mode. Use 'distance' parameter to focus. Lenses radius as captainemo mentioned.
A closer to real photography approach. (real photo, what am I writing now... ?)