PSD-Manager and Gamma

If you save a 32-bit per channel (HDR) PSD file:
There is no gamma correction applied to anything by psd-manager itself. Photoshop expects a 32-bit (HDR) file to have a linear color profile (which means Gamma needs to be 1.0). Photoshop will show you the colors corrected for your display if you have enabled View > Proof Colors, so you will see the image adjusted.

In the V-ray Color mapping rollout you should set Gamma to 2.2 and enable Don't Affect Colors (adaptation only). This tells V-ray that you will later want to display the image using a Gamma of 2.2 (like on a typical sRGB monitor) but will not actually bake the color correction into the pixels. So you are setup for whats called a linear workflow this way. 

If you save an 8 or 16 -bit per channel PSD file:

psd-manager uses the Gamma options set in the 3ds max Preferences dialog. So if you have setup an 3ds max output gamma of 2.2 then this is what psd-manager will use. However there are important exceptions to that:
Per default there is no gamma correction applied to render elements, only to the main render output (and layers using RenderCutout mode). This is important because otherwise render elements would not match the look of the main render when combined.  So in Photoshop you will typically add an Exposure Adjustment layer on top of your render elements layer stack to correct the Gamma (to match the rest of the file).

If you don't want psd-manager to apply Gamma correction for some reason then you can turn it off in the psd-manager Advanced Options dialog (Gear Icon button in psd-manager).

Recommended typical setup for V-Ray:

V-ray Color mapping rollout:

• Gamma: 2.2
• Don't Affect Colors: on
• Linear workflow: off (this is an old option in V-ray, you have a true linear workflow without it)

3ds max Preferences > Gamma LUT:

• Enable Gamma correction: on
  
• Input Gamma & Display Gamma & Output Gamma: all set to 2.2

Your V-ray setup:

If you set Gamma in V-Ray Color Mapping to 1.0 that would be fine for saving 32-bit PSD, and also fine for saving 8/16 bit PSDs if your 3ds max Output Gamma is set to 2.2. But it would help the V-Ray renderer if you set the V-Ray Gamma to 2.2 and turn Don't Affect colors: on. V-ray will then spend more time calculating detail in darker areas instead but not actually do a gamma correction to the color values. So this is better than you having to fix it it by cranking up other V-Ray options for the whole scene to counteract lacking precision in dark areas that becomes visible when displaying the image using a sRGB working space.

If you set Gamma in V-Ray Color Mapping to 2.2 and you have Don't Affect Colors turned off, then you would get a double gamma correction if your 3ds max Output Gamma is set to 2.2, because psd-manager will use this value for its gamma correction and apply it on top (just like it happens if you save using the 3ds max VFB with the same options). 

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“No great work is ever done in a hurry. …to do anything great requires time, patience, and perseverance.”

—

W. J. Wilmont Buxton

How to Be Creative – eBook

How to Be Creative – eBook

PsyBlog's new ebook, How to Be Creative, explains six key principles of the psychology of innovation to help you be more creative.

If we can all be creative, why is it so hard to come up with truly original ideas?

It's because creativity is mysterious. Just ask any scientist, artist, writer or other highly creative person to explain how they come up with brilliant ideas and, if they're honest, they don't really know.

But over the decades psychologists have given ordinary participants countless tests, forms and tasks and conducted hundreds of hours of interviews. From these emerge the psychological conditions of creativity.

Not what you should do, but how you should be.

Six scientific principles of creativity

In the scientific literature six principles of creativity recur again and again:

1. Knowledge - explores the dangers of expertise.
2. Problem construction - how creative problems should be approached.
3. Emotion - explains which types of emotions are most creative.
4. Combining concepts - why the raw materials are already out there.
5. Abstraction - how to see your creative problem more clearly.
6. The wandering mind - reveals how to think flexibly.

Each are explained with examples from the research and are directly applicable to everyday creativity.

Friends Don't Let Men Buy Bananas

Are these bananas ripe enough to eat? Eight percent of men have absolutely no idea. That's about how many men have red-green color deficiency, a condition that makes it hard for them to distinguish the greenish-yellow of an unripe banana from the brownish-yellow of a ripe one.

Women are far less likely than men to be color-deficient in this way. That's because red-green color deficiency is a recessive trait linked to the X chromosome. With two X chromosomes, a woman has a much better chance of getting at least one good copy of the genes necessary for normal color vision.

The Next Battle for Internet Freedom Could Be Over 3D Printing

By: RICK KELLY​

Remember SOPA?

In case you've forgotten already, earlier this year some Congressional legislators attempted to protect intellectual property through the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The language in the bill was far-reaching and ambiguous; thus prompting concern that application of the law would extend beyond its intent.​

TechCrunch’s own John Biggs explained that SOPA “would allow the US government to essentially ‘turn off’ part of the Internet that it doesn’t like.” Many people reacted adversely to the proposed legislation and after a wave of activism encouraged by non-profits, corporate titans, and thought leaders, SOPA never came close to being enacted.

The internet has traditionally represented freedom to many people. It has become a global commons where information is rapidly and freely proliferated, unimpeded by governments or corporations. The fear that this freedom would be lost formed a large part of the backlash against SOPA earlier this year. Soon, we will face another wave of potentially liberty-limiting legislation involving our internet activity.

What will be the source of this legislation? 3D printing.

To date, 3D printing has primarily been used for rapid commercial prototyping largely because of its associated high costs. Now, companies such as MakerBot are selling 3D printers for under $2,000. Acurrent project on Kickstarter is attempting to raise funds for a 3D printer with a price of $1,199. Given the typical price and product cycle we’ve seen in the past, it would be no shock to see 3D printers selling for under $500 in a few short years.

Eventually, 3D printing will enable individuals to print just about anything from the comfort of their own homes. Already, hobbyists who own 3D printers are creating jewelry and toys. In the commercial space, 3D printing can print homes, prosthetics, and replacement machine parts.

3D printers can also print guns and synthetic chemical compounds (aka drugs). In July, user HaveBlue reported on the AR15 forum that he had used a mid-1990s. 3D printer to create a fully functional .22 caliber gun. He wrote: “It’s had over 200 rounds of .22 [caliber rounds] through it so far and runs great!” The 3D printed portion of the gun was printed in plastic with a reported material cost of about $100.

The potential policy implications are obvious. If high-quality weapons can be printed by anyone with a 3D printer, and 3D printers are widely available, then law enforcement agencies will be forced to monitor what you’re printing in order to maintain current gun control laws. Otherwise, guns could become more widely available and firearms permits won’t matter to someone like James Holmes or Jeffrey Johnson. They can circumvent firearms laws by simply printing their weapons from a 3D printer for under $100.

That is, unless federal agencies monitor every CAD file sent to a printer, whether or not it is harmless. Monitoring of every file sent to a printer means that federal agencies would need access to every home and office network.

It is likely impossible that the government will be able to successfully prevent every illicit item from being printed, chiefly because a 3D printer would not have to be connected to the internet to print from a local computer. However, you can expect that a time will come when perhaps well-meaning politicians will attempt to prevent guns and synthetic drugs from being created using 3D printers. If passed, the resulting laws would be draconian in their invasion of privacy while simultaneously ineffectual in preventing the creation of the products they seek to prohibit.

Either we allow for the ambiguity that freedom and unregulated 3D printing will bring, or we enforce far-reaching laws that may decrease liberty without changing results.  For those who appreciate the internet because of its democratizing effects and freedom, I believe the choice is clear. We should decide now that we will oppose any law that attempts to undermine freedom on the internet, no matter the consequences.​

Frank Gehry Is Designing Facebook's New Office Building

Frank Gehry, the genius architect who designed the Wall Disney Concert Hall or the curve perverted one-trick pony who litters beautiful cities with Toontown buildings because he can't draw a straight line anymore (depending on your perspective), is going to be designing Facebook's new engineering office building. You don't even need to know architecture to know Gehry, he's an icon. This is a good thing because it proves Facebook has taste. But a horrible thing because its taste is so generically terrible.

10 best iPad art apps for painting and sketching

From established tools like Zen Brush to new upstarts like Sketchbook Ink, these powerful painting and drawing apps can help you start creating iPad art today!

When the iPad first launched it was pegged squarely as a media consumption device. To create professional art and design, you'd still need a fully-fledged laptop or desktop system running a full-fat operating system like Mac OS or Windows. Right?

Wrong. The iPad art apps in this list prove that Apple's tablet has moved beyond just being for media consumption and is fast becoming ripe for content creation. If you're an illustrator, artist or graphic designer, you can now work effectively on the move - sketching, painting, prototyping, and annotating photos. Invest in a good quality stylus and try one of these amazing iPad apps on for size...

http://www.creativebloq.com/digital-art/art-on-the-ipad-1232669

Knowledge....

Knowledge of construction and better than average design ability are frequently required for architectural rendering art. As often as not, the artist finds himself working more with ideas and sketchy reference material than with the detailed plans provided for other forms of architectural illustrations. He must be prepared to invest and improvise when necessary wthout straining the credibility of the subject.

Giving your left brain a vacation

Familiar objects often look unfamiliar when you view them upside down.  After all, the visual information that your left brain automatically applies to certain objects is no longer available when you look at them from a new perspective.

When your left brain can't name the various parts of a particular subject, it gets confused and eventually gives up trying to identify that subject - which is when the right brain jumps in and takes over. The right brain sees the lines of your subject differently than the left brain sees them. It focuses on the way the lines curve and how they create shapes ans spaces within the boundaries of your view-port instead of trying to classify the lines and shapes as belonging to a particular object.