darkvertex.com » compounds http://darkvertex.com/wp Bringing CG to life, one rig at a time... Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:17:36 +0000 en hourly 1 Rendertree Compound: Shadow AOhttp://darkvertex.com/wp/2009/12/24/shadow-ao-rtcompound/ http://darkvertex.com/wp/2009/12/24/shadow-ao-rtcompound/#comments Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:18:08 +0000 Alan http://darkvertex.com/wp/?p=94 Ever noticed that Ambient Occlusion doesn’t happen in the real world in lit areas? It’s more of a darkness thing… so why apply it everywhere?

With this Rendertree compound you have AO in darkness and that’s it. Simple! :)
Notice how there's no AO in lit areas

Shadow AO compound

Now….. can you spot the differences between these images below?

Diffuse pass, boring looking, no AO:

BAD — Sloppy AO that’s been applied everywhere: (notice how dirty it looks towards the center light)

GOOD — Shadow-aware AO, only exists where it should… in darkness:

Credit where credit is due; this method was originally pointed out by Guy Rabiller many years ago, back when our software was called a 3 letter word.

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