Hi, Im new to the community here, been using max for a while, and trying some new techniques with the MIA_shader in the lens shader box, ive found limited information on the net, none at all in the help in 3d studio max reference guide, was wondering if anyone out there could help me make sense of the of the numbers (pedestal, gain, compression) and how to use the preview. the info i did find on the new was pretty helpful though, some respects (German Mental Ray Forum :: Thema anzeigen - TUTORIAL - Exposure / mia exposure simple workflow) (http://xsi.wiki.avid.com/images/7/77/Ar ... ibrary.pdf ) but the rendered image i get looks grainy, i didnt know if its suppose to look like that, if its part of the process of using the exposure settings, or if I’m doing something wrong, it seems like a really nice way of setting up a rendering, to get good tweaks on lighting levels, any help would be great.

I feel your pain.  It took me forever to find information on the mia_exposure_simple shader.  I plowed through the German forums and scoured the web, but didn’t find anything great as far as a detailed write-up.  Then, I was perusing the MentalBoutMax website and saw that they had a module out about exposure control and the mia shader was listed.  I forked over the seven or eight bucks and downloaded the module, and it was very helpful...not only for the mia_simple shader, but for exposure control in general.  I’d recommend checking it out.  It’s real cheap, but has some great information/techniques for exposure.

I hope that helps at least point you in the right direction.

-marc

DELL Precision T5400
2x XeonQuad X5460 (3.16GHz)
8GB RAM
Nvidia QuadroFX 3700
Vista Ultimate 64-bit (gasp!)

Yeh, i came across that too, I was going to get that tutorial, just gave me a little more incentive to get it.  Thanks.

If anyone knows the answer it’s probably Zap Anderson.
Here’s the link to his blogspot:  http://mentalraytips.blogspot.com/
Maybe you can find a way to contact him directly through that site.

Pixels, Polygons, get’m while their hot

Hi!

The folks at http://www.mentalboutmax.com/ have an excellent, and inexpensive, video you can download on exposure control.  Covers logarithmic and the mr shader.  Highly recommended!

Jenni

Author of “Mastering mental ray”:  http://www.mastering-mentalray.com
4D Artists, Inc.:  http://www.4da-inc.com
Chicago 3ds Max User’s Group: http://www.max3ds.com

Max Design 2012; Win 7x64 12gb i7 Dual GTX 580; Win 7x64 Intel i7 4-core@3gHx 12gb Quadro 5000 and Tesla C2050.

Hey Guys,

With the new ‘Photographic Exposure’ that we will
get in Max 2008/MR 3.6 I don’t think there will be
many uses for the mia_simple, although there is
a lot to be said for having the ‘simple’ approach
available when it is all you need.

Regards
Bri

PS Thanks for the kind words, gives me a nice
warm fuzzy feeling for the day.

Video Training Modules for 3Ds Max - Mental Ray - VRay:
http://www.mentalboutmax.com

MBM News & Updates:
http://www.mentalboutmax.biz/Blog

Yea, I can’t wait for Wednesday.  :D I could have used these new features this past year, and it will be nice to play with them.

Your video on exposure controls gave me the information I needed for a project I was working on, an interior daylight-lit scene.  The logarithmic control wasn’t working well, and knowing how to use the simple exposure control did the trick.  Also, the tips on setting the Physical Scale - even when not using the log controller or standard lights - helped a lot, and also fixed issues with HDRI environments.

Keep up the good work!  :coolcheese:

Jenni

Author of “Mastering mental ray”:  http://www.mastering-mentalray.com
4D Artists, Inc.:  http://www.4da-inc.com
Chicago 3ds Max User’s Group: http://www.max3ds.com

Max Design 2012; Win 7x64 12gb i7 Dual GTX 580; Win 7x64 Intel i7 4-core@3gHx 12gb Quadro 5000 and Tesla C2050.

Jennifer O’Connor 12 October 2007 03:06 PM

Yea, I can’t wait for Wednesday.  :D I could have used these new features this past year, and it will be nice to play with them. Jenni

Wednesday ?
How do you know it will ship on Wednesday ?

WOW -and I was waiting for the 20-21st of this month.
I hope you are right !!!!

NIR

Yea, never bet on a release date.  :D

That is what my redeller told me, so we’ll see!

Author of “Mastering mental ray”:  http://www.mastering-mentalray.com
4D Artists, Inc.:  http://www.4da-inc.com
Chicago 3ds Max User’s Group: http://www.max3ds.com

Max Design 2012; Win 7x64 12gb i7 Dual GTX 580; Win 7x64 Intel i7 4-core@3gHx 12gb Quadro 5000 and Tesla C2050.