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Introduction,
or
"What's The Problem?"


If you're a real world photographer and want to take a photo with a mirror involved, of course you can see what the mirror reflects, in real time.

Not so in Poser's 3D world where you only can guess because the preview doesn't show the reflection.
You only see the final output if you render, or at least do a "Raytrace Preview" window check.

To make scene creation a little easier, and camera positioning more predictable, I invented the "Raytrace Helper":


It is a simple figure which can easily be parented to any reflective surface (mirrors, anything glossy and reflective)

It has two interconnected "tubes/cones" which represent the reflection path.







How To Use:

(for the sake of brevity the "Ray Trace Helper" is abreviated to "RTH" from now on!)


The components:


SUMMARY:

(In a nutshell)

  1. Load your mirror prop, or whatever reflective surface you want to apply it to.
  2. Load the one RTH.
  3. Select the mirror or prop that you want to apply it to. (IMPORTANT!)
  4. Run the "1.3. Parent RTH to Mirror" script.
  5. Point the RED tube towards the object you want to see reflected in the mirror.
  6. Position your camera as described above.
  7. Do a preview render to check if you've set it up all right.





EXTRA:



If you want to load more than one RTH:

  1. Load your mirror prop(s), or whatever reflective surface(s) you want to apply it to.
  2. Load the FIRST RTH.
  3. Select the mirror or prop that you want to apply it to. (IMPORTANT!)
  4. Run the "1.3. Parent RTH to Mirror" script.
  5. Load the SECOND (or next) RTH.
  6. Select the mirror or prop that you want to apply it to. (IMPORTANT!)
  7. Run the "1.3. Parent RTH to Mirror" script.
  8. --> REPEAT steps 5 to 7 to add and parent more RTHs.



If you want to "chain" a succession of RTHs:
(e.g. for a mirror cabinet)

  1. load all mirrors and RTHs. Parent the RTHs to their respective mirrors.
  2. Start with the LAST RTH in the line (counting from your camera position)
    Point the RED tube at the target.
  3. Now move to the next RTH in the line. Adjust it's RED tube so that it PERFECTLY aligns with the GREEN tube of the previous RTH.
    The more precise you adjust this, the better the results will be.
    (the "Wires" inside of the tubes are your friend here)
  4. Like this, work your way down the chain until you've reached the first RTH. Position your camera.
    Now you should be able to get reflections along the whole path you've set up, finally showing your target object.



I know this is a complicated procedure.


Alas, it's the only way to get predictable results without guessing, and a hundred preview renders.
The RTH is just a simple tool to help you in getting better results, a little easier and faster.





Please note that this is still a "Beta" product!
Any suggestions on how to improve this are very welcome.



END OF MANUAL

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Do the Tom Jones and "Keep On Smiling"!

Life is too short to be taken too serious.

Kiev, October 2018

Karina