Redshift

Getting Started

1. First thing you’ll need to do is make sure that you have ZBrush 2023 installed on your system. Once you have done that, open ZBrush. Click on Lightbox. Open the project file named “RS_Demo_Test.zpr”

2. You should now be looking at the Redshift demo file. This will be helpful for you to use moving forward so that you can develop your own Redshift Materials for you to save an use for future sculpting.

3. Bring your Render Pallet out and dock it to the side of your UI. Go to Redshift Renderer and activate Redshift.

4. Click on Progressive rendering. Assuming you are in preview mode, click the BPR render button and your first image should render in your viewport. Notice the quality level with these settings. These are what are know as production settings and not what you’d want to use for a final render. Notice you can enjoy most of what Redshift can offer at this point, however you are still left with quite a bit of noise. This is fine for dialing in your materials as you work.

5. To activate your presentation settings, deactivate “Progressive Rendering“. This will initiate Redshifts other method for rendering images called “Bucket rendering“. This is designed to work differently with the CUDA cores located on your GPU. Bucket rendering will give you a more polished version of a final image. both can be applicable to turntables and other animations you create.

Lights

Using lights with Redshift is expected to evolve over the next few releases. Currently there are only a few ways that you can light your subject. Lights need to be applied to any object with geo as an emissive light.

First create your base line and turn off all of your lights. Create and set up each light with all of your other lights turned off. Don’t create and dial in your lights leaving your lights always on.

Global Illumination (GI)

Global Illumination (GI) is a rendering technique used to simulate the realistic behavior of light in a 3D environment. It is a vital part of creating photorealistic images and animations. GI calculates the way light is bounced, scattered, and absorbed in a scene, providing a more realistic and lifelike representation of light and shadow.

The technique simulates the way light behaves in the real world by taking into account the color and intensity of light sources, the properties of surfaces, and the way light is scattered and absorbed by the environment. This allows for the creation of highly detailed and realistic images, with accurate reflections, refractions, and soft shadows.

GI is used in a variety of industries, such as film and video game production, architectural visualization, and product design. It is a powerful tool that allows artists and designers to create highly detailed and realistic environments, providing a more immersive experience for the viewer. With the advancement in technology, Global Illumination is becoming more accessible and efficient to use, allowing for more complex and detailed scenes to be rendered in less time.

Subsurface Scattering (SSS)

Subsurface scattering allows for more realistic skin and other translucent materials Subsurface scattering (SSS) is a technique used to simulate the way light interacts with translucent surfaces, such as skin or wax. In Redshift3D, SSS is implemented using a subsurface scattering shader that can be applied to materials to create more realistic and detailed renders of translucent objects.

The Redshift3D SSS shader uses a combination of physically-based calculations and user-adjustable parameters to simulate the way light penetrates a translucent surface and scatters inside of it. This allows for the creation of realistic and detailed renders of skin, wax, and other translucent materials.

The Redshift3D SSS shader includes several parameters that can be adjusted to control the look and feel of the SSS effect. These parameters include the scattering radius, which controls the distance that light travels through the surface before being scattered, the anisotropy, which controls the directionality of the scattering, and the falloff, which controls the rate at which the effect decreases with distance from the surface.

In addition to the SSS shader, Redshift3D also includes a set of tools for controlling the overall look and feel of the SSS effect, including options for adjusting the lighting, color, and texture of the surface. These tools work together with the SSS shader to create highly realistic and detailed renders of translucent surfaces.

Exporting and Saving

Export the final image: Use the Zplugin > Import/Export > Export Render to export the final image to your desired format.

BPR Filters

BPR (Best Preview Render) and NPR (Non-Photorealistic Render) filters in ZBrush are used to create stylized and non-photorealistic renderings of 3D models.

BPR is a rendering engine that is designed to produce high-quality, photorealistic images of 3D models. It uses advanced lighting, material, and camera settings to create detailed and realistic images. BPR also includes a number of post-processing effects, such as depth of field and motion blur, to further enhance the realism of the image.

NPR, on the other hand, is a set of filters that are used to create non-photorealistic renderings of 3D models. These filters can be used to create a variety of different styles, including sketch, toon, and painterly. The NPR filters in ZBrush include a number of different options for adjusting the look and feel of the image, including brush stroke width, line weight, and color.

Both BPR and NPR filters in ZBrush are powerful tools that can be used to create a wide range of different images, from photorealistic to stylized and non-photorealistic.

Depth of Field (DOF)

Allows for the creation of selective focus and other depth-related effects. Depth of field (DOF) is a photographic and cinematographic effect that refers to the distance between the nearest and furthest objects in a scene that appear in focus. In other words, it refers to the area of an image that appears sharp and in focus, while the rest of the image appears out of focus or blurred.

In photography and cinematography, depth of field is controlled by adjusting the aperture of the lens. A large aperture (small f-stop number) creates a shallow depth of field, where only a small portion of the image is in focus, while a small aperture (large f-stop number) creates a deep depth of field, where most or all of the image is in focus.

In addition to aperture, the focal length of the lens and the distance between the camera and the subject also affect the depth of field. A longer focal length lens will create a shallower depth of field, while a shorter focal length lens will create a deeper depth of field. Similarly, the closer the camera is to the subject, the shallower the depth of field will be.

In Computer Graphics and 3D rendering, depth of field can be simulated using special algorithms, these can be computationally expensive, but allows for more control and flexibility over the final image. It can be used to create a more realistic and natural-looking image, as well as to draw attention to specific parts of the image by blurring out the background or foreground.

In summary, Depth of field is a technique used to control the area of an image that appears sharp and in focus, it can be adjusted by controlling aperture, focal length and distance between the camera and the subject. And it is a powerful tool used to create a more realistic and natural-looking image and to draw attention to specific parts of the image.

gpu’s

In the context of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) with Redshift3D, GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) plays a crucial role in the rendering process. It is responsible for performing complex mathematical calculations required to generate the final image. The more powerful the GPU, the faster the rendering process will be.

In terms of GPU architecture, CUDA cores are the key component of a GPU that performs the calculations required for rendering. They are similar to the CPU cores in a computer, but are optimized for handling the mathematical calculations required for rendering. The more CUDA cores a GPU has, the more powerful it is, and the faster it can perform the calculations required for rendering.

When it comes to Mac and PC GPUs, the main difference is that Mac GPUs are only compatible with Mac computers, while PC GPUs can be used with both Mac and PC computers. Additionally, Mac GPUs are typically more expensive than their PC counterparts, and may have fewer CUDA cores. However, they also have support for Apple's Metal API which can provide some performance benefits.

In terms of PBR rendering with Redshift3D, it is recommended to use a GPU with a high number of CUDA cores, as well as a large amount of VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) to handle the large amounts of data required for PBR rendering. This will ensure fast and efficient rendering and produce high-quality images.

Overall, while Mac and PC GPUs may have some differences, the most important factor in PBR rendering with Redshift3D is the number of CUDA cores and VRAM the GPU has. A high number of CUDA cores and VRAM will ensure fast and efficient rendering and produce high-quality images.

Memory

Memory usage is a critical aspect of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) with Redshift3D. As Redshift3D uses CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) technology, it relies on the GPU's memory to perform the complex mathematical calculations required for rendering. The more memory a GPU has, the more data it can store, and the faster it can perform the calculations required for rendering.

Redshift3D uses a memory-mapped architecture, which allows it to take advantage of the large amounts of memory available on the GPU. Memory-mapped architecture allows Redshift3D to map the data it needs for rendering directly to the GPU's memory, eliminating the need to transfer data back and forth between the GPU and the CPU. This significantly reduces the time required for rendering, and allows for more efficient use of the GPU's memory.

Memory-mapped architecture is important for PBR rendering with Redshift3D as it allows for the handling of large amounts of data required for PBR rendering. The more memory a GPU has, the more data it can store, and the faster it can perform the calculations required for rendering. Additionally, memory-mapped architecture allows Redshift3D to take advantage of the large amounts of memory available on the GPU, which results in faster and more efficient rendering.

In summary, Memory usage is a critical aspect of PBR rendering with Redshift3D. The more memory a GPU has, the more data it can store and the faster it can perform the calculations required for rendering. Redshift3D uses a memory-mapped architecture that allows it to take advantage of the large amounts of memory available on the GPU. This results in faster and more efficient rendering. The use of memory-mapped architecture is crucial for PBR rendering with Redshift3D, as it allows for the handling of large amounts of data required for PBR rendering.

Resources:

• Material IOR Settings

• Learn it from the pro’s: Redshift - Ian Robertson

• Learn it from the pro’s: Redshift - Shane Olson

• Learn it from the pro’s: Redshift - Paul Gaboury

• Learn it from the pro’s: Redshift - Mike Thompson

• Learn it from the pro’s: Redshift - Nacho Riesco