Steve's Most Wanted :)

STEVE'S MOST WANTED FEATURES:

1) New HDRI images with clear skies, flat horizons, and alot less image detail: For cleaner lighting without all the HDRI image noise.

2) Omit/Include options for each HDRI in randomization: To include the good and omit the bad HDRIs in randomization. As it stands, lighting is limitted to including either one or all HDRIs in randomization with no further control over it.

3) Ability to set lighting control parameters for each lighting scheme: To eliminate all possible bad lighting areas in each HDRI during randomization.

4) Option to include lighting controls with primary filter controls: So users can have direct access to them with the rest of filter controls without having to tab to them.....and as a means to control lighting parameters in randomization.

5) HDRI editor to build custom HDRIs in FF and implement as components: This would take care of #1, #2, #3, and #4 here.....and be the slickest thing since sliced bread

6) Lockable filter controls.....little check boxes to the right or left of controls: To have the ability to lock control values so the randomizer can be used as a much more efficient tool to zero in on desired effects and troublshoot filter problems.....especially with control-laiden filters.

7) Omit/Include option for "Size, Pixels" control, ability to set "size, Pixels" control parameters, or option to disconnect components (or fix/lock component size) from the "Size, Pixels" control: So the "Size, Pixels" control is not left being disfunctional on filters that rely on fixing component scale or scale parameters. The Size and component Scale are similar, but they are not the same.....and there are alot of effects where it is much more desirable (and sometimes necessary) to just use component scale.

More Noise: There's alot that can be done with existing noise that hasn't been done, but there's alot that can't be done as well.....at least not without slowing filters down to a crawl. Expanding the spectrum of noise components would drastically increase possible effects while making filters faster and more efficient from not having to create alternate noise with multiple existing noise components.

No no no, it won't be so idyllic this time, more like...

*** insert sound of whetstone slowly running across the blade of the legendary two-hander 'Razor of Occam' ***

... and subsequently...

*** insert sound of metal swiftly slicing through air, followed by that distinct THUD sound that skulls make when hitting a stone floor ***

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StevieJ wrote: Hmmmmm.....so, in other words, my ideas suck

On the contrary: they're all sound.

It's just that I had the impression Vlad was rather frustrated with our constant barrage of feature requests. Naturally, one has to imagine a soundscape fitting this scenario...

I dunno, we all have a zillion things we'd like changed/added. I'd rather have 10 little things changed/fixed than 3 new things added though. For instance, why can't we change the lighting, without a preview render having to start over at the same slow speed, why can't that just be a layer, then it only has to recalculate that layer part instead of ALL the rest of the filter internals. But, maybe that's just me, I'm interested in speeding up the workflow, and fixing/adjusting a few things I consider important to making the Pc version of FF ready for prime time as I like to say. *shrug*

jffe

not sure you could do a pre-preview with just the altered settings. think about it. you are mapping effects through components. each alteration has to map through however many components you have. so, to get a preview of a preview, you still have to map that pre-preview through all the steps in order to achieve it. in order to do what you want, you'd have to have some sort of weird cache of the components and their staged effects stacked on top of each other and only alter those in that cache where changes occur. i mean, it's probably possible to do, but not very practical in terms of coding and code size.

oh, ok, jffe. you did say lighting. i see what yer sayin now.

You have the "Reduced preview" already, no more cookies for you
Actually, while we're not going to do "reduced quality" previews, we might implement the relighting scheme. I believe I have something similar along with a possible implementation written down in my project notes There was a limitation though, regarding a fact that you won't be able to use the "relighting" when the image is larger than some predefined size (think like 1200x1200 or so) due to possibility of using too much memory.

Also, final decision is done by Vlad so don't be so sure that relighting will be implemented at all

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onyXMaster wrote: StevieJ, doesn't the "reflection blur" slider help your #1?

It does in alot of filters......but not with my plethora of (un-submitted) 3D glass filters which can't have that high polished/reflective glass shine without capturing the HDRI image in it.....so the clear sky, low flat horizon, and low detail would take care of that problem.....

Personally, I would do cartwheels and handstands if I could just have full control over lighting parameters.....so I could set a high randomization level to switch between all the lighting environments, cut out all the bad areas in each environment, and have every randomized effect be good....

I think the current set up relies too heavily on the user already knowing that most filter's access to different lighting environments is thru different presets.....and that they are just randomizing in one lighting environment under the moderate randomization level. I think that there are alot of users that just want to use the filter without trying to figure out how it is set up......so they get it and just start randomizing from the lead preset.....not realizing that they are only randomizing in one lighting environment and a fraction of the usable effects......

How I would like to see it.....

you could also do it with custom hdri's, steve, but of course that has the liability of not being very transferrable.

yup, i think we've requested about three or four sub-editors now, hdri, scripts, math, paint, and i forget what all. lol. how many do you think we'll likely get? but yes, internal hdri editor would be interesting. just not sure how you'd implement it.

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onyXMaster wrote: Customizable HDRIs? What's this, they are bitmaps that represent a sphere surface after all, how you want to "customize" a bitmap?

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onyXMaster wrote: I might agree though that there must be a way for users to include their images/HDRIs with filters.

That's what I meant.....be able to create/use our own HDRI images....

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onyXMaster wrote: HDRIs as components? I don't get it at all

If possible.....separate HDRIs from the surface result into their own components for placement anywhere in the filter tree.....allowing full control over lighting parameters, inclusion of lighting controls with primary filter controls, and all kinds of other interesting things through placement and combinations. Of course, I don't know how feasable or even possible this is with how the program is currently set up.....

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onyXMaster wrote: Vertical lighting environment rotation is something I plan to explore, might be even for 2.0.

Excellent.....that might allow me to take care of alot of HDRI image detail in my 3D glass filters......as well as adding tons of new lighting variations to each existing HDRI......

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onyXMaster wrote: Vertical lighting environment rotation is something I plan to explore, might be even for 2.0.

Yes, this is already on my list.