Documentation todo

From LuxRender Wiki

This page is a list of various tasks that need to be done in order to improve the documentation. If you want to help out, just pick any item and start working on it. The issues that have a name between brackets behind them are currently being worked on. If you have any questions, just ask on the forum or IRC channel. If you're planning to contribute regularly, please contact Abel on the forum or IRC (luxrender@freenode).

Contents 1 tasks for upcoming 0.8 release 1.1 Introduction section 1.1.1 Introduction to LuxRender 1.1.2 Goals and Philosopy 1.1.3 Features 1.1.4 Gallery 1.1.5 Screenshots 1.1.6 Exporter status page 1.2 Download section 1.2.1 Download 1.2.2 license 1.3 Installation instructions 1.3.1 installing LuxRender and LuxBlend 2.49 on Windows or Linux 1.3.2 installing LuxRender and LuxBlend 2.49 on OS X 1.3.3 LuxBlend 2.5 installation instructions 1.3.4 Glossary 1.3.5 Frequently asked questions 1.4 Videos 1.5 Using LuxRender 1.5.1 LuxRender Manual 1.5.2 interface 1.5.3 lighting 1.5.4 camera 1.5.5 materials 1.5.6 materials, continued 1.5.7 portals 1.5.8 textures 1.5.9 tone mapping 1.5.10 noise reduction 1.5.11 light groups 1.5.12 render settings 1.5.13 lens effects 1.5.14 network rendering 1.5.15 luxconsole 1.5.16 luxmerger 1.6 LuxRender tutorials 1.6.1 pearl material 1.6.2 gold tutorial 1.6.3 soap material 1.6.4 caustics 1.6.5 light groups 1.6.6 amazon cloud 1.7 LuxBlend manual 1.7.1 overview/workflow 1.7.2 LuxBlend materials 1.7.3 Camera, environment 1.7.4 LuxBlend render 1.7.5 LuxBlend Output 1.7.6 LuxBlend system 1.7.7 keyboard shortcuts 1.8 luxblend tutorials 1.8.1 your first scene 1.8.2 simple interior scene 1.8.3 image textures and mix materials 1.8.4 procedural textures and displacement mapping 1.8.5 video tutorials 1.9 other exporter manuals 1.9.1 LuxMax tutorial 1.9.2 LuxBlend 2.5 tutorial 1.9.3 LuxC4D manual 1.9.4 SU2Lux manual 1.9.5 LuXSI manual 1.9.6 LuxMaya 1.10 developer documentation 1.10.1 Patch submission 1.10.2 LuxBlend25 Architecture 1.11 documentation writers 1.11.1 wiki howto and guidelines 2 recurring tasks 2.1 create / improve content 2.1.1 LuxRender manual (general) 2.1.2 colour space / gamma 2.1.3 LuxBlend documentation 2.1.4 glossary 2.1.5 render settings page 2.1.6 create 'tips and guidelines' page in LuxRender manual 3 continuous tasks 3.1 follow discussion of new futures on the forum and document them 3.2 follow user problems on the forum and IRC channel and add them to the FAQ 4 future tasks 4.1 create new materials for the material library 4.2 start translated pages 4.3 find the right place to add information about how LuxRender deals with units (meters etc.) 5 0.9 page collection

tasks for upcoming 0.8 release

The upcoming release of LuxRender 0.8 will require a number of additions to the documentation. At the same time, it could be the right moment for a thorough overhaul to bring all pages up to date. This document lists the state of various wiki pages, as well as a todo list for those pages needing attention. The order that the pages are linked to on the main page is used here as well.

Introduction section

Introduction to LuxRender

no change required

Goals and Philosopy

no change required

Features

This page will need to be expanded with the new features of LuxRender 0.8. Those features are being described on this page: http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/index.php?title=New_in_0-8. That latter page should follow the layout of the Features page so that the two can be merged easily.

• image needed: volumetric scattering, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: GPU acceleration, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: ex. photon map, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: microdisplacement, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: outlier rejection, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: film response, 360x240 pixels
• image needed: GUI improvements, 360x240 pixels (for example: show the export to image menu)

• the tone mapping image on the existing features page needs to be created
• check, update exporter section -Text updated, icons need more work. We have Blender - Max - C4D - Softimage. Should probably drop C4D, add DAZ, Poser, or both.

Gallery

external page, no change required

Screenshots

• update Windows screenshot
• update OS X screenshots
• update Linux screenshot
• add LuxBlend 2.5 screenshot
• remove one LuxBlend 2.49 screenshot
• check if C4D screenshot is still up to date -Exporter is abandoned, remove?
• remove LuxMaya reference, or create screenshot
• add 3ds Max screenshot

Exporter status page

• check if all information on this page is correct: http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/index.php?title=Exporter_Status
• if so, add a link on the main page

Download section

Download

external page, no change required

license

• find out why lines don't break, repair

Installation instructions

• (optional, for the time being) add a general page about installing and setting up LuxRender for non-Blender users
• add page for installing and setting up C4D
• add page for installing and setting up LuxMax
• add page for installing and setting up LuXSI

installing LuxRender and LuxBlend 2.49 on Windows or Linux

• Check if all information is up to date. If not, create a new page for 0.8.Info is still accurate-J the A
• Update all screenshots

installing LuxRender and LuxBlend 2.49 on OS X

• Check if all information is up to date. If not, create a new page for 0.8. *Update all screenshots.

LuxBlend 2.5 installation instructions

This is a living document, while LuxBlend 2.5 evolves changes are being made regularly. Hopefully the page will be really simple by the time 0.8 is out.

Glossary

This document is currently unlinked from the main page, so this doesn't have much priority.

• add explanations to all missing words
• add terms that are missing

Frequently asked questions

• Check if all answers still reflect the 0.7.1 situation.
• Add (and indicate!) information about how 0.8 deals with things if there is any difference.
• Add questions if any common questions seem to be missing
• Subdivide the “using LuxRender” chapter in chapters like “setup and installation”, “render speed and image quality” or whatever seems reasonable. Currently the list is long and it's hard to see if a particular question is being answered here.

Videos

external site, no change required

Using LuxRender

LuxRender Manual

• add links to all pages
• decide if this page is useful, if not, remove it or convert the current link on the main page into plain text

interface

• duplicate the page to create a 0.8 version (http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/LuxRender_0.8_Interface)
• update the screenshot (this will have to be done once more when 0.8 final is out)
• see if anything is missing
• check all descriptions, update if necessary

lighting

• Create an image (mostly horizontal) showing the difference between point light, spot light, area light, physical sky. the “emitter compared to physical sky” should then be removed. point/spot/area added
• rerender the project image using fog in the room, optionally something standing in the pat to get a nice silhouette in the picture
• illustrate the effect of rotating hdri environment (clockwards?)

create new series of images for the physical sky:

• one series showing five different sun angles
• one series showing turbidity (separate sun and sky turbidity? maybe the section would get too long), note the values in the image capture
• one series showing sun size, note the values in the image capture

explain the geographical sun feature

• update the .hdr/.exr note, stating both 0.7.1 situation and 0.8 situation
• add a text example for regular data, explain that this should be inserted manually in the scene file
• add a text example for irregular date, explain that this should be inserted manually in the scene file
• remove the reference to the older version lamp spectrum image

camera

• Depth of Field examples are ancient, a new series needs to be created, with values noted in the image caption
• motion blur needs to be illustrated
• motion blur needs to be explained
• the field of view image contains an odd white line on the left, needs to be cropped
• the camera clipping image could be replaced with a nicer series of images

materials

• see if we could make an image link to a material page directly instead of going to a wiki image description page
• consider splitting the material page:
  • material types
  • material channels, bump and displacement (also micropolydisplacement?)
  • volumes, mediums
• bump needs examples with different values, note values in caption
• displacement needs examples, with values in caption
• effect of gamma on displacement needs to be explained (and ideally illustrated)
• emission needs an image
• find a better section for the mini tutorial about alpha maps; maybe expand it and create a page of its own - has been moved to Null's page for now
• roughness image series needs to be updated as exponent values have changed
• volumes and mediums need illustrations of their asymmetry setting

materials, continued

matte material

• illustrate sigma parameter

matte translucent material

• illustrate energy conserving mode
• illustrate reflection color
• illustrate transmission color
• illustrate of interaction between reflection and transmission
• illustrate sigma

glossy material

• move absorption section to main material page
• create roughness images
• change roughness text to reflect exponent option

metal material

• render all metal types
• illustrate exponent on one of the materials

shiny metal

• illustrate roughness
• illustrate thin film coating
• illustrate reflection and specular colour

mirror material

• illustrate thin film

glass material

• add note about when to use glass and when glass2
• illustrate architectural option
• illustrate IOR
• illustrate transmission colour
• illustrate reflection value
• illustrate cachy B
• illustrate thin film

glass2 material

• illustrate architectural option
• illustrate dispersion

roughglass

• add thin sheet example from forum, cropped to convenient size
• illustrate transmission
• illustrate reflection
• illustrate interaction between transmission and reflection

carpaint

• add more generic introduction
• render all presets
• revise existing text, using wiki style (italics for terms instead of quoting, no rhetoric questions)

velvet material

• illustrate thickness
• illustrate p1, p2, p3

mix material

• create examples
• create better luxball example, maybe using texture for mix amount
• show different mix values
• show procedural mix option

null material

• render preview with invisible material to replace left luxball

portals

• check if "Portals currently only works for infinite light, sun light and sky light." is still correct

textures

no changes required

tone mapping

• create a series of images showing difference between tone mapping algorithms and settings
• add description for "auto linear" tonemapping
• add note of intended use of gamma
• add note about abusing the gamma control as tone curve
• include jeanphi's quote in the text, without quotingThis quote was about gamma correcting HDRIs, and was completely unrelated to linear tonemapper. Removed.
• color space introduction
• available color spaces and their use
• whitepoint explanation
• series of images showing various white points (maybe even all presets?)
• describe use of high precision editing
• describe RGB color space option, link to relevant wikipedia article
• describe film response
• show a series of film response examples
• show the link between histogram and images (black/overblown areas with lots of pixels outside borders)

noise reduction

• documentation is completely missing, check if GREYStoration has documentation that we are allowed to use

light groups

no changes needed

render settings

• illustrate different samplers
• illustrate metropolis strength
• illustrate maxrejects
• illustrate usevariance, and/or write in which scenarios this setting makes sense
• illustrate bounces (showing some transparent objects with too shallow depth)
• illustrate eye depth, path depth
• improve filter illustrations, using infinite checker plane
• show mitchell ringing effect compared with settings that prevent it
• improve, expand accelerator introduction
• give some accelerator recommendations
• describe grid accelerator -NOT NEEDED, Grid is removed from the core in 0.8
• describe tabreckdtree settings
• add qbvh accelerator
• describe qbvh settings
• add bvh accelerator
• describe bvh settings -Removed from core as well

lens effects

• improve bloom image, create a compact horizontal series -Better set is up, but it is not a compact-line
• improve vignetting images
• improve chromatic aberration images

network rendering

update screenshots

luxconsole

• describe new verbosity options -Copied and pasted in results of luxconsole --help

luxmerger

no changes needed

LuxRender tutorials

pearl material

• modify the SSS section such that it mentions that nowadays we have volumes, but the tutorial doesn't use them yet

gold tutorial

ok

soap material

• remove altogether? or convert to new material system?
• consult Xray

caustics

ok

light groups

• remove link to detailed tutorial (unfinished, to be deleted?)
• integrate "fast lane" tutorial in main lightgroups tutorial

amazon cloud

ok

LuxBlend manual

overview/workflow

This is the very first text that LuxBlend users may be reading; the text can use some revisions. --Did some revisions on existing text, but not sure if it's all that's needed. -- JtheA

LuxBlend materials

• update screenshot
• add text to emission section
• mention units of displacement, link to main displacement/bump page

Camera, environment

• update screenshot
• focus more on how to set settings, not on what they do - link to general pages instead --Partially complete. Have not modified environment lights section. JtheA
• create motion blur section, possibly with example -Added in section but linked it to primary motion blur page. JtheA

LuxBlend render

• update screenshots
• focus more on how to set settings, not on what they do - link to general pages instead

LuxBlend Output

• update screenshot
• document new buttons
• redact text, get rid of "I"
• add link to general pages, for example color space and gamma

LuxBlend system

• update screenshot
• document new buttons
• link to relevant pages (including accelerator)

keyboard shortcuts

ok

luxblend tutorials

your first scene

• fix layout at bottom

simple interior scene

• add introductory comment about old screenshot

image textures and mix materials

ok

procedural textures and displacement mapping

Compare http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/LuxBlend_tutorial:_Displacement_Map and http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/Tutorial_3:_Using_Procedural_textures_and_displacement_mapping; decide which one is best and if there is so much overlap that one should be deleted. Then improve the best one.

• render nicer image, without blue cast
• check pigm file link

video tutorials

• check if all linked tutorials are still relevant

other exporter manuals

LuxMax tutorial

• follow page development

LuxBlend 2.5 tutorial

• develop page as LuxBlend 2.5 develops
• redact page
• create screenshots where needed

LuxC4D manual

• check out if this is still up to date

SU2Lux manual

• add introduction mentioning limitations, alpha status (including: no material support yet)

LuXSI manual

• check out if this is still up to date

LuxMaya

• start with introduction about supported versions
• combine some of the pages?

developer documentation

Patch submission

Need to update commands for mercurial - still has old cvs info.

LuxBlend25 Architecture

Finish off outline of how materials/textures are exported.

documentation writers

wiki howto and guidelines

The old page (http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/index.php?title=Wiki_HowTo_%26_Guidelines) needs to be merged in the new page (http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/Wiki_HowTo_and_Guidelines), after that the old page should be deleted.

recurring tasks

create / improve content

LuxRender manual (general)

Undoubtedly, there are features and settings that have not yet been documented and with the program being developed, more may be added while others become obsolete. When encountering such a feature, either describe it in the appropriate page or add it to this page so others know about it.

colour space / gamma

LuxRender features various options for colour space settings. None of them is currently documented. --Basic explanation of color spaces added. Nothing really in depth. JtheA

LuxBlend documentation

In the LuxBlend documentation pages, some items are listed as "todo"; those should be completed. Other functions (like copying and pasting settings or saving materials) are not documented at all.

glossary

• describe items without description
• add terms, if necessary

render settings page

• add descriptions, recommendations

create 'tips and guidelines' page in LuxRender manual

• write about improving render times
• show examples of transparent objects and the effect of air gaps between objects

continuous tasks

follow discussion of new futures on the forum and document them

follow user problems on the forum and IRC channel and add them to the FAQ

future tasks

The following tasks will need to be done at some point, but considering the state of development now is not the right time.

create new materials for the material library

start translated pages

find the right place to add information about how LuxRender deals with units (meters etc.)

0.9 page collection

The following are pages being worked on for features not present in 0.8. These pages should NOT be linked to from the main page or added to other pages quite yet. The links here are intended only to help documentation writers find them.

• LuxRender Materials Layered
• SPPM
• New in 1.0
• Normal_mapping