Lance Birch wrote:
> 
> I was considering doing an animation for the IRTC about a month ago.  It
> turns out I haven't even had time to start it so I guess I'll have to wait
> until the next round.  What I was wondering though (since we're on this
> subject at the moment) is:
> 
> Can you use 3D Studio MAX (don't worry, I own the commercial version, so
> there're no probs with edu.)?  MAX primarily uses a scanline renderer and
> automatically switches to it's raytracer when necessary (like when it hits a
> reflective sphere).  Now, for the scene to be "legal" do you have to use
> raytracing on everything?  This isn't much of a problem really, it's easy
> enough to make MAX use a raytracer (or raytracing plug-in such as RadioRay,
> a raytracer built for MAX) it's just that it is much slower.
> 
> The other thing I've been wondering about is:
> 
> Can you use MAX's motion blur?  It's motion blur is internal in the
> renderer, but applies the effect afterwards to the objects.  It is
> incorporated in such a way that it kind of post-processes the image, but it
> gets its OMD (Object Motion Data) directly from the renderer, whether it be
> raytraced or scanlined.  It is part of the package, it is not an image
> filter and not part of MAX's Video Post (like a DLO or FLT MAX plug-in) and
> it is part of the rendering engine and the modelling environment.  Is this
> seen as post-processing?  The reason I ask is that when you compress things
> to MPEG it greatly helps if the objects are motion blurred because the edges
> are smooth and compress well (so the temporal quality ratio doesn't hae to
> be as high, which results in a smaller file size).

Max is perfectly ok for IRTC use and, in fact, quite common.  The rules
do *not* require a ray tracer, only a 3d rendering system.  Scanline,
pure radiosity and other 3d renderers are perfectly ok.  The idea is to
get a rendered image, not one drawn with a paint program.  As to the
internal motion blur of Max, that is ok too.  In any case, the animation
contest, *unlike the stills contest*, does allow some postprocessing
(although it may cost you "elegance" points with some judges).  Check
the rules at http://www.irtc.org.

Jerry Anning
cle### [at] dholcom

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