Lighting
8 messages in this thread
I'm looking for some "quick & dirty" advice on lighting interior scenes. I'm
using a few different spotlights in different rooms, it's ok, but It just
doesn't look quite right… I guess I need some advice on light placement.
Most of the models I do are either outdoor shots, or logos, ect.
-/Robert/
Go to a photo store or you local bookstore in the photography section and
check out some books about light (indoor/outdoor) for photography. The
rationale is the same and you will learn a lot.
Just like in film and photography, lighting indoors is one of the great 3D
Studio challenges (for me, at least). The most important thing I've found
is to get the omni lighting in the right balance with the spots for
daylight interiors.
For spotlights, keep the source of the light in mind at all times. You've
probably got windows, so there'll be light coming in from outside, it'll be
bright and warm (higher red and green values). Then there's any
incandescent or neon light indoors that's part of your model or what "would
exist if you could see it", so you would set spots where those appear.
The next step is fill lighting. If you've keyed everything proplerly,
gotten your single or two omni lights balanced, and you feel that some
parts of the interior are unaestheticaly dark, you can pop in some fill
lights to smooth out the contrast to an acceptable level.
Sound easy, huh <g>?
Have fun,
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Yep, the use of the omni lights for fill is what I ended up stumbling upon.
I was getting those really dark areas all over the place. After 45 minutes
of killing the image with ambient light, I gave up, and switched to finely
tuned omni lights. Thanks for the direction…
-/Robert/
… and in some cases, when you need a homogene lighted surface use a
selfilluminated material. Save a lot of work.
Ingo
>> and in some cases, when you need a homogene lighted surface use a
selfilluminated material. Save a lot of work.<<
Good idea! Believe it or not, I just recently started using the %slider on
the texture maps in coordination with self-illuminating materials. I'd
always hated that you couldn't adjust the brightness, but now I find out
you can, so I've been using them more often.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Robert,
How goes it? There is an excellent article in the June '93 CADalyst on
architectural rendering that discusses lighting issues. If you don't have a
copy I could send or fox a copy of the article. Also, just from experience
I think the best way to light indoor scenes is with lots of spots. That way
it's easier to control shadows, highlights etc. Maybe a few omnis just to
give ample overally light.
Dave Mennenoh
Hey sure, fax that article to (414)-523-0566 – just put my name on it, and
they'll figure it out. Thanks!
-/Robert/