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Leaf Shader - How to get realistic translucency?


JonathanGranskg

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Hi,

 

I'm having a ton of problem creating a realistic leaves for a personal project. Basically, what I'm having trouble with is getting good-looking translucency for my leaves.

 

What I've tried: Custom shader with diffuse from both sides of leaves, Mantra surface with thin-film refraction (best results) and SpeedTree's shader. I haven't achieved anything I'm too happy with with any of these.

 

So if you have any tips on how to deal with this, please fire away.

 

Cheers,

Jonathan

 

References/Examples:

http://images.fotocommunity.com/photos/nature/abstract-nature/sunshine-through-the-leaves-d4b9bf47-1098-46fc-9c4a-1a58022d81a8.jpg

http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/attachments/landscape-vegetation/10295-realistic-foliage-test01.jpg

http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/attachments/landscape-vegetation/10273d1346438773-realistic-foliage-img_1594.jpg

Edited by JonathanGranskg
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Have you tried the translucency option for refraction in the surface model?

 

I tried playing around with it before, but your scene seems to get pretty good results so I'm going to try using refraction translucency again.

 

Thanks for the help and the scene file.

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While not directly applicable since it's a tutorial for Arnold, it shows how the different passes contribute to the overall look.

 

https://support.solidangle.com/download/attachments/5180878/rose.gif

https://support.solidangle.com/display/mayatut/Shading+a+Rose

 

A combination of translucency and subsurface scattering will help get you closer to photorealistic leaves. Good luck with the project!

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While not directly applicable since it's a tutorial for Arnold, it shows how the different passes contribute to the overall look.

 

https://support.solidangle.com/download/attachments/5180878/rose.gif

https://support.solidangle.com/display/mayatut/Shading+a+Rose

 

A combination of translucency and subsurface scattering will help get you closer to photorealistic leaves. Good luck with the project!

 

Thanks!

 

That looks interesting, I'm going see how it looks with a very thin extrusion on the leaves. I already have something I'm pretty happy with after using Stephen's tip.

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I hope sidefx is taking notes of how to do a documentation properly.

Arnold makes Mantra documentation looks like a little kid coloring book.

 

Can't you write a better one yourself?. i.e. Jordi didn't wait for SideFx to write a SI to Houdini guide.... 

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Can't you write a better one yourself?. i.e. Jordi didn't wait for SideFx to write a SI to Houdini guide.... 

 

I am not sure if you are being serious or sarcastic but i will take it either way.

If the developer can't even document properly and clearly of their own creation,nobody can.

I have seen Mantra smoke Vray and Arnold on some of the heavy duty productions yet only a few people know how to take advantage of mantra.

I know the Houdini documentation is getting better compare to 10 years ago but it's my interest to keep voicing to get better.

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Hi, since I've found this topic to be the closest to what I was looking for I will continue from here.

I am also having a translucency problem using refraction, considering that I am also using it for tree leafs and that my geometry is also flat but my problem is not with results but with render times I have thousands of trees on the field of view and if I turn refraction on the render times goes to the roof and I get more noise, I was wondering if someone have some tips about how to get a translucent leaf with a less costly render times using PBR.

Thanks! 

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Dude, it hit the post! almost there, I just added a "PBR diffuse" with translucency inside the surface model and it worked but the problem now are the shadows I tried to use the "fake caustic" but it messes with the transparency, any tips on how to affect physically them or fake it without messing with the transparency?

Edited by Mzigaib
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1 hour ago, Mzigaib said:

Dude, it hit the post! almost there, I just added a "PBR diffuse" with translucency inside the surface model and it worked but the problem now are the shadows I tried to use the "fake caustic" but it messes with the transparency, any tips on how to affect physically them or fake it without messing with the transparency?

I'm not seeing a shadow issue with a very simple setup - see attached.

Screen Shot 2016-05-29 at 7.04.36 pm.png

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