Greetings.
Rampa's experiments were very similar to what I was referring to in my first response to this thread. I finally got around to doing some testing, and there might be some hope for doing it in iClone. As always, it depends on the level of detail (quality) you need, and the effort you're willing to put into it.
I did some experiments using the REFLECTION MAP.
Here are the relevant controls in iClone:
This is my Reflection map (I circled an area of interest):
First test, using some primitives - you can see the reflection that I highlighted in the previous picture:
An initial test on a CC avatar - shows some promise:
Using a "cropped" version of the Reflection map, trying to show only the center- Everything around it was black - not very attractive because the black was visible on her skin - also tried white (not shown) which was equally unattractive:
Rather than a white or black "background" on the Reflection map, I tried a *transparent* background for all but the area of interest (don't worry about the small black frame, I left that there on purpose since I was experimenting):
It looks like the alpha (transparent) layer on the reflection map was honored, and now I see only the smaller portion of the image being reflected on her face:
NOTE:The lighting is not very flattering. I realized later I still have an IBL image active, which is making her less attractive, but the concept seems to be working. It didn't seem worth re-doing all the pictures.
NOTE 2: Actually, the "black cropping" might have worked just as well as the transparent alpha layer, which makes sense. I may have dragged the wrong image onto the transparency map. I'm getting pretty much identical results with a "black cropped" and an "alpha cropped" version of the transparency map. (The white version is ghastly since it reflects white paste all over her face. Could be good for a horror show). Sorry about the confusion. Also, I know I'm using the word "cropped" inaccurately, but I hope you know what I mean. I wanted to remove 90% of the image. The example image above should help make it clear.
SUMMARY:Looking at these images, I'm started to get a bit more optimistic. It doesn't project onto her hair and stuff like that, but for story-telling purposes, if you want to make it look like she's seeing a computer monitor display or something like that, I think it would be pretty effective, and the audience would be unlikely to leap from their chairs and shout, "Hey, it's not shining onto her hair!" Yeah, I'm feeling far better about this than I anticipated.
@DragonSkunk - I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Let us know which way you go and how it works out.
iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
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Edited
8 Years Ago by
justaviking