Topic: The Water reflection in movie

[zyjz999]

Why do not let  reflection ball automatic follow the camera in Lumion3.0 like in Lumion 1.0? If so, the water reflection have greatly improved.

I really like  the water reflection effect in 1.0's movie, Arther , is this possible?

[Morten]

Hi zyjz999, the problem is that there is no ideal solution that works in all situations.

If the Reflection Control object always follows the camera there are situations where you end up with gigantic reflections of trees/people/cars on shop windows for example.

We saw this very often in videos from people who were using Lumion 1.

From Lumion 2 and onwards, the developers decided to place the Reflection Object several hundred meters above the terrain by default. This results in generic reflections of the surroundings which, again, is not ideal in all situations, especially when rendering interiors.

If you add the Reflection Control object to your scene you can place it where you want it and/or animate it in individual clips.

[Simoni]

Does this mean you cant get realistic reflections in movies in Lumion 3?

[Morten]

Hi Simoni, zyjz999 is not talking about the new planar reflections in Lumion 3.

He is referring to the old 'projected reflections' functionality which still works the same way as in Lumion 2.5.

These 'projected reflections' are still applied to non-planar reflective materials in Lumion 3, e.g. to a curvy chrome surface.

You can however get accurate planar reflections on flat surfaces (e.g. a marble floor, a mirror etc) if you use the new Reflection effect in Lumion and in that effect add some reflection planes.

It's very easy and works well as you can see in some of the new 3.0 videos.

[Simoni]

I cant seem to get reflections to render in movies, I apply a reflection plane say to the floor in the demo mountain cabin scene, the reflections are visible and render when rendering a still, but when I go and render a movie, they disappear from the preview window, and are not on the fully rendered movie, the reflection special effect is switched on. I am obviously doing something basic wrong.

[Morten]

I cant seem to get reflections to render in movies, I apply a reflection plane say to the floor in the demo mountain cabin scene, the reflections are visible and render when rendering a still, but when I go and render a movie, they disappear from the preview window, and are not on the fully rendered movie, the reflection special effect is switched on. I am obviously doing something basic wrong.

Hi Simoni, did you use the Copy effects / Paste effects buttons in the top left corner to make sure that the Reflection effect was applied to your clip and not just to the Photo section?

[Simoni]

Thanks Morten, looks sexy!
I have imported some wine glasses, applied a glass material, they render reflections wonderfully in movie mode, (see attached) all great. But what does the reflection control sphere do now? there wasnt one in the scene and the reflections look great?

[Gabbiano]

I have imported some wine glasses, applied a glass material, they render reflections wonderfully in movie mode, (see attached) all great.

Are really glasses reflecting objects around them?
It doesn't seem so...

[Morten]

I have imported some wine glasses, applied a glass material, they render reflections wonderfully in movie mode, (see attached) all great. But what does the reflection control sphere do now? there wasnt one in the scene and the reflections look great?

Please read my earlier reply:

From Lumion 2 and onwards, the developers decided to place the Reflection Object several hundred meters above the terrain by default. This results in generic reflections of the surroundings which, again, is not ideal in all situations, especially when rendering interiors.

You might want to add the Reflection Control object (Lights & Special objects category -> Utilities -> Reflection Control Object) to the room to improve the projected reflections on the glasses.

If your camera moves during your animation you can also use the Move and Advanced Move effects to animate the Reflection Control object.

By the way, I don't see any planar reflections on the floor?

What you need to do is to assign a reflection plane to the floor in the Reflection effect, and then make the floor material more reflective.

TIP: A great way to preview the reflections in Build mode while you adjust the floor material is to click on the new Build with effects button in the top left corner.

[Simoni]

Thanks Morten thats all clear, where would you place the Reflection Control object in relation to a moving camera, same position(s) as the camera?

[Morten]

The same position as the camera seems to work well in some situations, but not in others.

It depends on how much glass/how many windows you've got and where they're placed.

Experimenting is the order of the day