3ds max 2017 - Render to texture - Reflections from a specific camera position

wysiwyg

Hey guys,

I'm using an HDR image and trying to bake it into my 3D unwrapped model. I have no problems baking the ambient light.

Although, I'm trying to bake reflections that would be based on a specific camera angle. When baking, there seem to be no option to select a camera. I dont mind rendering in VRAY, Mental Ray or default Scanline Renderer. As long as I can specify a camera or a specific POV. So far, the only result I get is the reflection that is in the direction of the face normal which doesnt work for me.

Note that this is for VR and my camera wont move in the end result which is why I want to bake the reflections. If thats not possible in 3ds max, is there another 3D software that allows this?

Thanks for your input!

Eric Chadwick

Render To Texture doesn't work that way. It renders from an orthographic projection of the UVs.

If you want to project a specific part of a panorama into your uv, I'd suggest just uv-ing it into the diffuse, and baking that.

wysiwyg

Hi,
Thanks for your answer.  In fact, I don't necessarily want to re-project my pano into my 3d model. Although, I need to have the proper specularity on the model based on the POV. Note sure to understand how I would bake that.

Is there another software that can bake ambiant/reflection/spec/gloss based on a camera angle?

Thanks,

Eric Chadwick

If it's a fixed camera angle, then I would simply render the camera's view and map that directly onto the model using camera-aligned UVs.

wysiwyg

Hi,

Its a fixed camera position but you can rotate the camera (its a VR project). You're body is a 3D model, your head is the camera and you're looking at a 360 panorama.

Noren

As far as I remember RTT used to render view dependent things like Specular etc. using the active camera or viewport. Perhaps that's true for the framebuffer displayed at rendertime only and maybe that has changed in the meantime.

Eric Chadwick

wysiwyg said:

Hi,

Its a fixed camera position but you can rotate the camera (its a VR project). You're body is a 3D model, your head is the camera and you're looking at a 360 panorama.

That doesn't change anything. As long as the camera position is fixed, the render will still be correct.

wysiwyg

Thanks for the answer! I've never done camera mapping before so I might give it a try and look for tutorials. So, just to make sure I understand what you re saying.. this will still work if I can view my 3D in every angle? Here is an image to illustrate what I would need:




Thanks and sorry for my lack of understanding in this technique :-)

Eric Chadwick

Yes. Try a test and see.

Shive

You can also try a matcap shader. You render a sphere holding all your reflections. The shader picks the right pixel of your rendered sphere, according to normal direction. See picture:
https://help.thefoundry.co.uk/modo/content/resources/images/images/shade_render/matcap_sample.png

The Matcap render can be quite small, and you can overlay the matcap information over your albedo or other maps that you have. It's an efficient way to have "baked" reflections afaik.
http://acegikmo.com/shaderforge/wiki/index.php?title=Matcap