One of the features which I really wanted to see in EI was the addition of refraction mapping - not a big WOW! feature but with the addition of true HDRI it will be very, very useful. A good solid implementation.
A quick example - top has refraction mapping and bottom has not. Nothing else is different. It adds that little bit of extra sparkle.
http://homepage.mac.com/sherstobitoff/.Pictures/EI%20V7/RefractionMap.jpg
Hi, Paul
Maybe not a big WOW! feature, but a WOW! difference. Can´t wait for the arribal of my upgrade.
FelixCat
Dear Paul,
could you please post no more tests over weekend. My copy will be delivered on Monday and I really can’t wait for it, if see more of these features:-)
Frankg
Paul has a new toy! 
I would be interested to see what you come up with as well. My copy hasn’t arrived yet and I haven’t had much play time lately.
Yeah, stop with all the great samples! I’m on the east coast and I won’t see my copy of 7 until Dec 5th!
Thanks for posting Paul, its good to finally see this without the need of hacks and workarounds 
New 3D toys…better than Xmas!
Yes, no hacks needed and a good, simple implementation.
I did get a chance to test out (not much of an image to show) how effective IBL is with transparent objects - it reads them properly and will create a nice shadow (if the map has the right directional lighting imbedded) but it can also be slow. Maybe faster than the soft raytraced shadows but there’s a hit.
Very nice that it is working as it logically should though.
That comparison is really helpful, Paul. Thanks a lot.
I’m in the middle of a glass project and will just have
to start over – with pleasure – when V7 arrives.
Jim Mulcahy
Paul,
How do you think this V7 stacks up against Brazil? IMO your best work was rendered in Brazil. The glass image HDA03.jpg is the best glass that I have seen.
Here’s the address
http://homepage.mac.com/sherstobitoff/PhotoAlbum24.html
about 3/4’s of the way down the page on the left side. That whole page is exceptional.
Thanks. I like that one too…and Brazil as well:-)
Actually the one beside it, HDA04, is my favorite.
Those were done after having the full features of Brazil about 6-8 months, maybe even a year where-as EI V7 will take a bit of getting familiar and used to. My first samples of glass in Brazil weren’t as nice.
Comparison…my favorite feature of Brazil is the ability to under-sample. This makes previews and render tests very fast. And that’s where things get sorted out…at the test stage. Also just got a PC with a quad chip and now Brazil renders 4 times as fast as it did.
I think EI has a very similar look to that of Brazil (much more-so than Modo, Vray or C4D). Brazil’s area shadows are much faster than EI with transparency.
The glass you are refering to is heavily controlled by the HDRI maps present. Without them, the image wouldn’t be anywhere near as nice.
I’ll see if I can find the exact HDRI’s used and put together a sample project with very similar geometry - we’ll see if I can make it work as well as in Brazil. I’m very curious myself.
By the way, the V7 examples I have put up aren’t great…just quick and dirty test stuff. Mind you, so were the Brazil one’s…but with much more experience using HDRI’s for glass.
Give me till the end of today or tomorrow and I’ll see if EI can acheive a similar look.
Here’s an attempt to match the Brazil image.
http://homepage.mac.com/sherstobitoff/.Pictures/EI%20V7/Glass01.jpg
I found it almost impossible to match up the refraction (especially) and reflection maps…and the look is so dependant on getting the maps just right. Also the models while similar, are different enough to have thicker/thinner edges which reflect and refract differently.
I abandoned trying to match exactly as the refraction map didn’t look right so went with another one:-) Hey! It’s my glass.
I think there is a little more map detail (it does have a little bit of unrealistic detail though pleasing to the eye) in the Brazil glass - I’m not sure if it’s me or the program. The EI glass feels a little too contrasty though not bad. I definitely could have paid a little more attention to AA in the EI version.
I can see I need to get upto speed on controlling and clamping HDRI’s so as to be able to predict a look I am after. I’m hitting the surfaces a little too hard and things are freaking out a little and over-blowing more than I like.
Can’t say it’s my favorite thing to do - trying to match a past look. I thought it turned out ok but there is much room still to tweak.
I have no trouble using the quality in EI for any sort of daily glassy renderings.
Looks good, a bit different to the Brazil version, still good, its worth experimenting with exposure controls in image viewer and the gamma too, i found that HDR’s are “read” differently between apps and they sometimes come into EI looking very dark or under exposed, in that case it does have a big effect on the end result.
Yeah, there are lots of options when it comes to using HDRIs - just even a touch of rotation to the refraction map can change the whole look.
Here’s another one - much better than the first…I’ll get it eventually:-)
http://homepage.mac.com/sherstobitoff/.Pictures/EI%20V7/Glass02.jpg
Maybe a touch busy but it still sells the idea of glass.
Hi Paul, really really nice glass as usual,
If you haven’t already messed around with them, the output remap options (don’t forget the enable button) can take care of the overheating issues. Bringing down the X value is a start (start with extremes so you can see what the control is doing.).
Apologies if you’ve already worked this stuff out, again, good work,
Ian
Great second test Paul ! :bounce:
What i notice is that caustics from EI are really really good ! 
Clean and detailed, they approach what you can find in unbiased renderer and at least are A LOT more detailed that what i can end up with LightWave. :love:
I would sign with my 2 hands (and even my feet ! :twisted:) for EIAS 7 if only Camera was multi-threaded (maybe it can be “replaced” with Renderama…) and Animator had a real DoF rendering, i.e. a raytraced one… 
Cheers,
Laurent aka Tartiflette
I’ve spent a little time within the interface but there is much more experimentation needed. It would be nice to have a little more visual feedback from the interface rather than a fresh new render test.
The caustics are great in EI.
Actually I purposely softened them up in the Brazil render as I found the detailed ones look pretty but not that realistic. I had soft ones in EI but liked the look of sharper ones. EI’s caustics are the best I’ve used in any app…fast!
Eventually the glass will get better and better in EI as I find ‘the’ right maps to use.
I hear you on the multi-threading:-) - I’ve made my peace with the fact it’s not and will use the software to it’s strenghts.
Does strip-rendering work well with GI and the other new features (I seem to recall some of them required full in-one-go rendering)? I’d push for automatic strip-rendering for previews in the next v7.x release as a stop-gap measure until EITG solves the multithreaded Camera equation.