Hi folks,

I'm trying to calculate a polygon's normal. I've read CreatePhongNormals() can return an array of (vertices point?) normals if there's a Phong tag. How do I use that to calculate a normal at poly UV?

// psuedo code
po = (PolygonObject*)obj;
SVector *norms = po->CreatePhongNormals();

if(norms)
{
    int ply = 4;  // let's get normal for polygon 4(5), points abc
    Vector uv;  // the uv spot of the normal to get, on ply
   
    Vector normal = (norms->operator[](ply*4) + norms->operator[](ply*4+1) + norms->operator[](ply*4+2)) / 3;

    // do something with normal, etc.

    GeFree(norms);
}

Would like to include blending across the polygon if possible (i.e. the normal at spot uv). Not worried about speed, just learning.

WP.

@PluginStudent Thanks , progress bar sorted. For anyone reading, cast the vpBuffer into a Bitmap and use SetData().

Re GetDDescription(), I hard code my descriptions, but the function is never called. Any ideas?

WP.

OK, I've managed to get the 'render' plugin going, I can see it drawing in the PV. A couple of followup queries:

• can I update the PV progress bar manually?

• how can I break the rendering in my custom threads when the 'stop rendering' button is pressed?

• am I suppose to use GetDDescription() to draw the options in the render settings dialog (mine isn't showing anything)?

WP.

@m_magalhaes Sorry, I was a bit unclear on PixelPost, I need to stop working at night. I'll try this way - if I'm working at a pixel level, is SetLine() still the best way to do it?

Re timer, thanks for the thought. My dialog doesn't need to be realtime, 500 sounds like a good starting point.

WP

@m_magalhaes Thanks, makes sense. Is this kind of dirty update inside all points that touch the pixel colours? E.g. does PixelPost also do this when setting col inside ExecutePixel()?

Just out of interest, what's a reasonable refresh rate for a timer with something like this? 200-500ms?

WP.

Thanks folks,

PluginStudent - I missed the SkipRenderProcess() function, thanks for pointing that out, that takes care of one part

Manuel - no probs on the other thread, I know you guys are busy I'm still trying to nut out how I want this to work. But I'm looking at the code in the thread you linked to, and I've got it running in a VP plugin (with higher render passes to see the changes). It looks like Cinema takes care of updating the PV window, is that correct? If so, what initiates this update e.g. colorBuf->SetLine(), a timer, or a core message?

WP.

Hi folks,

I've recently been doing some work on a multi-threaded draw plugin. I posted a topic here recently related to it: threading bitmaps.

I've been thinking I need to try make a video post plugin. It's not meant to be a render engine, it's just something I think I could use this way (i.e. use the render to picture viewer as a kind of display port). So I built a video post plugin. But, Execute() gets called multiple times, and while my draw does happen in the background, it also ends up rendering the current scene to the PV, which is of no use.

At this point, I've already built the draw to happen in a multi-threaded environment. So two queries:

• how can I achieve a render to PV with live image update, without having to shift code from what I already have?

• if I have to make a video post plugin as well (which would be handy so I could use the render to PV button shortcut), is it possible to prevent Cinema from drawing the current scene and just use my draw object that's already threaded?

Cheers,

WP.

Hi folks,

I've either had a brain fade, or I haven't done this before. I have a GeDialog with a bitmap, and I'm running a background thread to set pixel colours. I'm only setting a line of pixels white for testing. I'm also wanting to make this function multi-threaded in future, which is why I had the bitmap sitting in the dialog.

I pass a reference of the bitmap to the thread. But, when I try call SetPixel(), it isn't doing anything. When I display the bitmap on one of the dialog's buttons, or in the picture viewer, the pixels are all black.

Is setting bitmap pixels from another thread not doable? Or do I need to go back and study my code again?

WP.

Thanks Ricky,

but I'm not sure if that's what I'm after. That looks like normal object rotation, but I'm trying to make a direction vector. The example given in a previous post did something like this:

CreateRay(Ray* dst,Real x,Real y)
{
	CameraMatrix = MyCam->GetMg();
	
	Vector H = CameraMatrix.v1;
	Vector V = CameraMatrix.v2;
	Vector A = CameraMatrix.v3;
	Vector direction_vector = H + V + A;
	
	// how do I "add" 4.5° yaw to the direction_vector?
	// similarly for pitch
	
	dst->v = direction_vector;
	dst->p = CameraMatrix.off;
}

How do I "add" 4.5 degrees to the yaw with something like this (taking into account the camera's rotation as well)? I'd like to see the math so I can play around with that.

If it's easier, think of it like this - I'm trying to create the standard camera ray without any lens effects (trying to keep it simple). How is the standard camera ray done?

WP.

Hi folks,

I can't get this right. Sometime a go I posted a topic on CreateRay(). I got a (spherical?) example which was awesome, and I could play around with it to some degree. But I'm not grasping how I can expand on this.

Instead of a spherical lens, if I have two angles that I want to 'add' to my camera's rotation, how do I create a direction vector from the camera matrix with this? How would this look in math/coding terms with the following added to the camera rotation:

yaw = 4.5°
pitch = 3.7°

I'm trying to create a direction vector that's based on two angles from my camera's centre. So 4.5° left/right and 3.7° up/down kind of thing.

WP.