LDD2POVRAY - Transparency for Instruction Making

[JM1971]

The idea is to render a model or parts of a model with everything slightly transparent so you can see everything for quick as easy building instructions.

But in povray transparency is not something you can add easily and I've have no success there, making your model into glass would increase rendering times a lot, parts just need to be see-though.

I tried emailing the maker of LDD2POVRAY but the contact form keeps giving a error.

I did manage to change reflection of a whole model by changing ldd_finishes.inc , _{^{reflection { 0.4, 0.5 falloff 1 exponent 1 }}} is the change.

^{#ifndef(ldd_finish_shinyPlastic_255)}

^{#declare ldd_finish_shinyPlastic_255 =}

^{finish {}

^{ambient ldd_ambient_light_color}

^{#if (version>=3.7)}

^{emission ldd_ambient_light_color}

^#end

^{diffuse 0.6}

^{brilliance 1}

^{phong 1 phong_size 40}

^{specular 1}

^{roughness 0.02}

^{reflection { 0.4, 0.5 falloff 1 exponent 1 }}

^{conserve_energy}

^}

^#end

Results...

Edited October 6, 2013 by JM1971

[JM1971]

Martin (the maker of ldd2povray) was very helpful steering me in the right direction.

In the converter scene>tick transparent, lights>untick shadows.

Add...

#declare ldd_filter_alpha_255 = 0.2;

#declare ldd_transmit_alpha_255 = 0.5;

#declare ldd_outlines = 1;

#declare ldd_white_outline_treshold = rgb <0,0,0>;

To the beginning of your .pov file, result is ok but needs more work, render time is fast.

Edited October 7, 2013 by JM1971

[hrontos]

There is also possibility to make the current step parts opaque and parts from previous steps transparent. May be with colored outlines it would look even better. The "only" problem is how to define nicely the building steps in LDD.

[JM1971]

That would save a lot of paper and make following and making instructions so much easier, very good idea.

The building steps could be read from the file but LDD sometimes does impossible moves, you really appreciate how difficult some things are when you try doing it.

[JM1971]

Can povray render every object weather it is hidden or not?

[hrontos]

Can povray render every object weather it is hidden or not?

POV-Ray takes into account also objects which are "behind" camera as they might be visible in reflections.

It is also possible to add no_image parameter to any object. As a result object will not be visible but it will be visible in reflections and will cast shadows.

Edited October 10, 2013 by hrontos

[JM1971]

I'm trying to get every brick visible at once, but I think the result would be unrecognizable.

[Nachapon Bricks]

Using group function of LDD to quick render a color selection mask for picture editor (ie: GIMP). Then you can add any effect to any color zone. (ie: Transparency, brightness, contrast, shadow...).

GIMP: Paste color zone mask to another layer then use select by color tool to pick zone. Use the selection to edit main rendering layer.

LDD2POVRAY - Transparency for Instruction Making by Nachapon S., on Flickr

Edited October 19, 2013 by bbqqq

[JM1971]

I was hoping to avoid doing hard work but its not to be lol.

@bbqqq, thats a very good method, I'll try it, thx.