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The secrets to photorealism in Blender; dynamic range and Filmic Blender


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https://www.blendernation.com/2016/12/07/filmic-blender-magic-render-button/

Filmic Blender is an OpenColorIO configuration for Blender that will help you improve your renders - but there's a catch. Read on as Manuel Albert tells us about his experiences with the script.If you ever asked for that magic render button in Blender, the one button that just instantly improves your Blender scene, you should definitely check out Troy Sobotka's Filmic Blender Repository on GitHub.

It's an OpenColorIO configuration crafted by Troy Sobotka and meant to eventually replace Blender's current sRGB EOTF configuration with a far more closer-to-photorealistic view transform.

To break it down, that means that the linear render data that Cycles internally creates will be translated into a far better looking image. You'll have better highlights, better dynamic range and the way light and color look will just be amazing and more natural. Even though it may seem subtle, it's a real game changer.

When I first saw some filmic Blender examples on Twitter, I couldn't exactly pinpoint why the renderings looked so much better, much more realistic. So I just had to try it myself. I downloaded the repository, replaced the color management files in Blender (which is easy - just copy and paste) and rendered the scene.

Unfortunately though, it didn't really look like the examples in the renders and it wasn't really improved. But talking to Troy, asking questions and seeing other 'imagers' use it, helped a lot. Being used to render with sRGB view transform and the tricks you have to use to make things look good were actually the problem. With filmic blender you don't really have to cheat like you were used to and you can use way more realistic values when it comes to setting up lights.

Bassam Kurdali summed it up on Twitter:  "When I first used it, I had the same experience other people did: I threw the luts on a scene already lit to see 'how better it would get'. The reason is simple - I had tweaked the lights, materials, setup in my scene with all sorts of hacks to make it look good. The trick is to start a new scene, and light it with intensities that mimic better real light - typically much higher than we used. It's so much more forgiving: smooth roll offs + wide range > clipping, pretty bounce/light wrap effects, sweet hilights"

If you haven't checked it out yet, please give it a try and be amazed by the #filmic_blender examples out there. Thank you Troy Sobotka for educating me (us) on this!

This is the original thread on Blender Stackexchange where it all started & it get's frequently updated with examples.

 

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/46825/render-with-a-wider-dynamic-range-in-cycles-to-produce-photorealistic-looking-im/46940#46940

 

https://www.poliigon.com/

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWgn0IupCxKKxjPDn3NHMWg

 

https://twitter.com/PoliigonHQ

 

 

Edited by L'Ancien Regime
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