Status of the AoN:studio Shaders.

[AlexK]

Wowowow, this looks awesome Thomas! :bounce: :applause: :thumbsup:
Can't wait till I meet the masterbrain next week.

[EDDIEthePIRATE]

Very Very Cool!!!!

[PaulNewman]

Really amazing! I am sure your documentation effort will be greatly appreciated. :thumbsup:

[jono338]

Thomas,

I was pretty much already sold on your shaders, but if the manuals also go some way to demystifying the shaderflow, that's an outstanding and much needed bonus for us all ( well at least for some of us, hey Wegg?). :D

I'd be happy to volunteer to help proof-read the docs, and be a test subject. And no, I'm not looking for a discount.

Cheers,
Jonathan.

[ThomasHelzle]

Thank you all :-) :bounce:

Jonathan:
Thanks a lot for your offer. I'm sure there will be quite some things to correct and I will be very happy to get some help and feedback from the community in this area :-)
The docs will be freely downloadable for everyone to have a look at. This has to do with the fact that I don't think I will be able to provide a demoversion for the shaders, but the docs should help people making a well informed decision since they show almost every detail and tons of renderings (Ridged Multifractal as one of the more complicated algorithms currently has more than 40 example renderings, showing each parameter at different settings...)

As for the discount :) : There will be an introductory offer for something like one week after the release at a price of 75.- Euro including Taxes and after that period the price will go up to 95.- Euro.

The license file you get when buying it will be bound to your messiah:dongle so you can easily move it around with you.

Network rendering will be free, you only need licenses for your workstations.

Bugfixes and minor updates will be free for paying users.

I hope this is acceptable for everyone. :bowdown:

[ghopper]

I hope this is acceptable for everyone. :bowdown:

Price is absolutely ok, since it seems to come with quite detailed docs as well.

Nice :wip:

[Julez4001]

See Rock Formations...absolute reason to have some type of surface baking and then partial or full deformation baking.

[Labuzz]

Let me Order Thomas!:)

[lmilton]

Thomas, I have to say that you give some great sample renders:}) I'm really looking forward to seeing some full final renders that use your shaders. I bet they would be impressive.

-lyle

[ThomasHelzle]

OK, another update:
Some last minute changes to the shaders were quite successful and while writing the docs I have killed some more minor bugs. It is cool to test all settings while documenting them :-)
The docs have reached 34MB today and almost all functions are covered now.
I will go into writing some tutorials as a next step (I think about three with increasing complexity for now) and finishing the texture libraries.

The latest changes were made to the AoN:Wood shader that I haven't shown yet if I remember correctly. While I couldn't implement everything internally like I wanted to, because of some SDK limits, all the parameters can be controlled with external nodes, so you are amazingly flexible anyway. The first profession I learned after school about 22 years ago was carpenter/cabinetmaker so I wanted this one to look right. And so far I'm satisfied for now. :)
The two objects use exactly the same material, it just looks more busy on the spherical thing because of it's shape. The plank on the other hand could maybe use some more "action".
The rendering was something about 15 minutes (sorry, I missed the exact time from the statusline) because of my quite high settings: AntiAlias Enhanced Level 4, Threshold 0.015, Pattern RG, Size 1.0
Direct Light with Monte Carlo, GI Samples 6, GI Depth 3 and GI Intensity 5. With the fine grain from the pores, the AA was getting quite slow...

http://www.screendream.de/stuff/AoN_Wood.jpg

I will keep you updated on my further progress. :wavey:

[chikega]

The wood looks very convincing. The shaders are really looking great, Thomas. I can't wait to try them out! :)

[ThomasHelzle]

Sometimes developing is really fun. I had an idea about how to define branches in the wood if you need them to be at specific places with specific diameter and guess what - it works :bounce:

http://www.screendream.de/stuff/AoN_Wood_Branches.jpg

Believe it or not: you define the branches simply with metaeffectors!

Edit: Rendertime was 2:15 minutes

[Sil3]

Shaders keep looking better and better Thomas, hurry up m8 :applause:

[ThomasHelzle]

Thank you!
LOL - I try my best and I think I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel...

[Sil3]

Thank you!
LOL - I try my best and I think I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel...
DONT FOLLOW THE LIGHT...u must resist :p

[xtrm3d]

hi thomas ,
your wood.. look great .. but the first bild in this thread get all my love !!! :applause:

[FB_Turbine]

Drooool............. :applause: the wood looks great,

can't... wait... much... longer...

[EDDIEthePIRATE]

It's looking really GREAT !!:applause::applause::applause::applause:

[ThomasHelzle]

I hope you guys will not hate me for posting another rendering that I did after a long day of doc-writing and rendering example stuff. Those docs are getting massive - I reached 40MB today.
Now 2-3 more tutorials are missing but then we can start to explore those shaders together. I can't wait to see what YOU will come up with!

Proudly presenting: The "Atomic Orange" :) And please, don't eat that fruit!

http://screendream.de/stuff/AtomicOrange.jpg

Before you ask: I wasn't after realism, just having fun.
Rendertime 5 minutes. Everything is procedural with a total of 6 nodes.

Cheers :bowdown:

[Adam-Han]

What are you talking about? It looks like a perfectly realistic atomic orange to me :) Keep them coming.
-adam

[xtrm3d]

cool , look like a disco stage.. could be funny to add some dancing 70's style chgarachter action in the midle :scream:

[lmilton]

I'm with xtrm3d... it's time dig through the closet for the polyester bellbottoms and platform shoes.:D

-lyle

[rush123]

Thomas,

Any updates on your progress?

Ray

[ThomasHelzle]

!Yes!
The Shaders will be released this week! :bounce:

I'm in the process of finishing it all up and build the webshop.
Docs have almost reached 50mb now.
More than 200 material presets are done.

Cheers,

[rush123]

Good to hear!

Any idea of the price? Were you going to make a sample of the manual available for viewing?

Thanks

[ThomasHelzle]

The price will be 75.- Euro for one week, after that it will rise to 95.- Euro.
The complete manual will be available for download freely after the release.

[chikega]

I'm first on your list Thomas :drool:

[ThomasHelzle]

It is finally done!
Here you go:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?p=1598222#post1598222

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