WIP thread New Users Contest - May 2013

TotteTotte Posts: 13,473

Totte said:
Sponsored by DAZ 3D

Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest…
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“3D Lights & Magic”

In creating a great looking render, light is at least 50% of the task. You can make any great looking prop of figure look flat and dull with the wrong light, and you can make a good looking figure or prop look absolutely fantastic with the right light.
Intent: To create a scene where lighting is used in clever ways to really make the scene look fantastic.
This months sponsor is ART Collaborations, store: http://www.daz3d.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=artcollaborations (bundles excluded)

I will be checking in on the WIP THREAD as will the rest of the Community Volunteers to try and help with anything you all may need.
For a list of the current contest rules, please see this thread: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/3440/

A list of tutorials regarding lighting and how to set it up.
DAZ Studio 4: http://amandabb.com/daz-studio-tutorials/daz-studio-tutorial-4-adding-lights-and-rendering/
DAZ Studio 3: http://www.sharecg.com/v/50204/
Poser: http://poser.smithmicro.com/tutorials/lighting_basics.html
Poser: http://poser.smithmicro.com/tutorials/poser_IBL.html
Carrara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0SfYlWc1nA
Bryce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C772CuZ6RgI
Bryce: http://www.bryce-tutorials.info/bryce-tutorials/lighting-and-skies.html#
Bryce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH58aGjCfR8
Bryce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_mzhnLRx0s

For those veterans of the forums that would like to help, because this contest is designed for the beginner to learn from, we will be randomly selecting posts offering helpful tips and/or critiques to receive a special voucher as well so whether you are a seasoned artist or an aspiring one, there is fun for everyone!


Closing Date: May 31th 2013

Post edited by frank0314 on
«1345678

Comments

  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,258
    edited May 2013

    The Study

    Lights used, UberEnvironment, 3 UberSurface: window, oil lamp, fireplace, 3 Linear Point Lights used, 2 for the fireplace, one for the oil lamp. Image is from this thread which has a bit on lighting if anyone is interested.

    UberEnvironment is set to a blue for moonlight. Fireplace US color of light is set to fire diffuse map with 2 lp lights, smaller is brighter and orange, larger is red. Window glass light is set to glass diffuse with I forget opacity. Oil Lamp is dusky pale yellow. The only ambient in the scene is applied to the US surfaces. The out-of-the-box render for the scene is at link above.

    Software used, bare bones install of DAZ Studio with only 'The Studio' prop installed. No post work.

    Study.jpg
    800 x 800 - 65K
    Post edited by Joe Cotter on
  • Alpha01Alpha01 Posts: 160
    edited December 1969

    Hi
    I would like to make a few requests for help with my try at this months contest.
    As one of the things I find the hardest to do is to get the light levels right.

    My entry this month is a little tribute to Steve McQueen from the epic movie "The Great Escape" I am doing the famous jump scene at the end, where he makes his jump for freedom.

    Any how this is where I am at with the picture, I will be changing everything around as this is WIP.

    I am posting to request if any one has some "Barbed Wire" I could use for the fencing, or point me in the right direction, where to get some.

    Cheers
    Adrian

    the_great_escape.jpg
    2000 x 891 - 1M
  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited May 2013

    I know I have several barbed wires, the best was from Rendo (a set called Vogel Einz!) Lowres German soldiers. I think there is some also at onTarget3D in the set called Trenches, but I can probably make some if you ask nicely, I now how I can make it simple ;-)

    Post edited by Totte on
  • Alpha01Alpha01 Posts: 160
    edited December 1969

    I have just had a friendly point in the right direction for some poser barbed wire.
    So I can add this to my picture.

    I would love to have some adjustable/ movable barbed wire, so I can wrap around stuff.
    That would be cool and well worth buying, I can think of a few different pictures I would like to do with movable wire.

    If you could make that, I would definitely buy it :)

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969

    Alpha01 said:
    I have just had a friendly point in the right direction for some poser barbed wire.
    So I can add this to my picture.

    great!


    I would love to have some adjustable/ movable barbed wire, so I can wrap around stuff.
    That would be cool and well worth buying, I can think of a few different pictures I would like to do with movable wire.

    If you could make that, I would definitely buy it :)


    I guess that's why no one has done it, that's really really tricky,
  • Alpha01Alpha01 Posts: 160
    edited December 1969

    Would it be possible to turn the Lasso into barbed wire as that can turn twist and stuff.

    Remove the loop and ringed rope at each end, replace the lasso line for barbed wire ?

    I guess it sounds easier then it is to make it.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969

    The problem is that it is a really cumbersome task to add all bones.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969
  • lequeetalequeeta Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hello all,
    I don't know if my lighting is up to par with a lot of others as i am just learning about lighting. I am so pleased you are having this contest. I look forward to learning a great deal of lighting tips and info.
    Thank you
    Lq

    dispair.jpg
    600 x 600 - 80K
  • Alpha01Alpha01 Posts: 160
    edited December 1969

    This is what I have come up with the barbed wire for poser.
    Big thanks to the person who sent me a link.

    Thanks Totte, what do I do with the file where do I put it?

    high_barbed_wire.jpg
    1805 x 892 - 761K
  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969

    Alpha01 said:
    This is what I have come up with the barbed wire for poser.
    Big thanks to the person who sent me a link.

    Thanks Totte, what do I do with the file where do I put it?

    Nice, put things where they should be, depending on OS you can merge it into the MyLibrary different ways.

  • Alpha01Alpha01 Posts: 160
    edited December 1969

    Got it
    That's nice man, I like the run over morph :)

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969

    Alpha01 said:
    Got it
    That's nice man, I like the run over morph :)

    I would have wanted to have that when i did this render, that's why I did it.
  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,258
    edited December 1969

    lequeeta said:
    Hello all,
    I don't know if my lighting is up to par with a lot of others as i am just learning about lighting. I am so pleased you are having this contest. I look forward to learning a great deal of lighting tips and info.
    Thank you
    Lq

    The general lighting is very nice actually, but there's nothing drawing the eye to the point of focus, the character's eyes. I popped up a quick/dirty example of how having a light beam on the main character's face helps direct the viewer's eye. Purposely not great because It's just meant to give you the idea not act as a blueprint.

    dispair.jpg
    200 x 200 - 16K
  • lequeetalequeeta Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thank you Gedd for the tip I will give that a try I would laso like to learn about gels in lighting i thing in a forest it would look neat. : )

  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,258
    edited December 1969

    Yes, that could work well also, for a lot of images :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited May 2013

    lequeeta said:
    Thank you Gedd for the tip I will give that a try I would laso like to learn about gels in lighting i thing in a forest it would look neat. : )
    Do you know anything about the Golden rules of art? Using math and examples from hundreds of years we now understand how to DRAW the eyes to places in a render/picture just by having them in the right place to start with.

    And no it's not a PLUG for the Item I did for DS4.5. Just asking.
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,818
    edited December 1969

    Moment of Thoughts

    Still trying to learn my way around Daz, not to mention this whole mysterium that is lightning, but this is what I've come up with for the contest so far.

    I am a bit unsure if it is within the rules concerning nudity or not, I personally think it is but I am also very aware that I am not a good judge when it comes to how much is ok. So if this picture is breaking that rule I will of course take it down and than either do some changes or start a new one :)

    Oh and a big, big thanks going out to Dreamlight, without his lesson Great Art Now 5_1 Lightning I would never have been able to make this, so a warm hug is sent your way !

    Moment_of_thoughts.png
    800 x 800 - 243K
  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,188
    edited December 1969

    Your image is fine in regards to nudity. Your just not allowed to show bare breast or butts. As far as the lighting goes your off to a good start. May I suggest that you add a light that is pretty dim in front of the face to highlight it a bit.

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,818
    edited December 1969

    May I suggest that you add a light that is pretty dim in front of the face to highlight it a bit.

    Don't think this is what one could call dim... but this is what I came up with for now, only using spotlights so far since I actually haven't been able to figure out htose uber light thingies *sheepish smile* They just refuse to work for me :)

    Added a floor and a wall, and got a oddly shaped shadow on the wall. Any idea why? *curious* (wall is made of a cube, and the floor from a pane)

    /C

    moment_of_thoughts2.png
    901 x 901 - 654K
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    I try and remember that lighting isn't just for illumination. It can sell the scene, it can also help provide focus, add drama and create some really nice special effects. It can also over-power your main subject, wash out your backgrounds or become a distraction. As to the latter, I have plenty of experience! ;-)


    Light reacts with everything. This is important to remember when working with textures/shaders, the 3D space and/or set and whatever atmosphere you have (if your software can simulate atmosphere).


    I like using lighting (or lack of it) to create the illusion of a larger space. I use Carrara, so I also tend to incorporate volumetric clouds and such in conjunction with lighting when I want to give the impression of a large or cavernous space without actually putting together a large and cavernous set. Especially when the focus is on something close-up.


    Here's a couple examples that I did that I think are good examples of simple or non-existent sets that use lighting to sell the space.

    enterprise-in-drydock.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 1M
    The-Guardian.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 853K
    Captured.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 594K
  • kittenwyldekittenwylde Posts: 151
    edited December 1969

    @carola.ottosson: That lighting already looks nice. I'm jealous! ;)
    @evilproducer: That last pic is really creepy and cool.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473
    edited December 1969

    May I suggest that you add a light that is pretty dim in front of the face to highlight it a bit.

    Don't think this is what one could call dim... but this is what I came up with for now, only using spotlights so far since I actually haven't been able to figure out htose uber light thingies *sheepish smile* They just refuse to work for me :)

    Added a floor and a wall, and got a oddly shaped shadow on the wall. Any idea why? *curious* (wall is made of a cube, and the floor from a pane)

    /C

    Hej, (Sorry, noticed you're Swedish too, the name gave you away)

    First, you need a little soft Ambient light I think, just enough to smooth out the wall shadows (cast my the legs from the spotlight that is lighting up the legs. Second, remember to use really soft shadows (girls should always be rendered with softer shadows unless they are real heroines. A second not, try to light the face more than the rest of the body, use the low intensities and soft shadows. UberEnvironment can be tricky until you understand, then it's very simple.

    UE steps:
    (a) Add an UE to the scene.
    (b) Select it, then select a quality preset (as high as possible if you want some good results)
    (c) Then select what kind of HDRI Image (image lights you want)

    Also, for your final renders, go to the advanced render settings tab in the render tab. This is a setting Sedor figured out that works well, I use it. See attached image. I explained about UE in this thread, might be worth reading.

    renset.jpg
    374 x 467 - 39K
  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,818
    edited December 1969

    Totte said:
    May I suggest that you add a light that is pretty dim in front of the face to highlight it a bit.

    Don't think this is what one could call dim... but this is what I came up with for now, only using spotlights so far since I actually haven't been able to figure out htose uber light thingies *sheepish smile* They just refuse to work for me :)

    Added a floor and a wall, and got a oddly shaped shadow on the wall. Any idea why? *curious* (wall is made of a cube, and the floor from a pane)

    /C

    Hej, (Sorry, noticed you're Swedish too, the name gave you away)

    First, you need a little soft Ambient light I think, just enough to smooth out the wall shadows (cast my the legs from the spotlight that is lighting up the legs. Second, remember to use really soft shadows (girls should always be rendered with softer shadows unless they are real heroines. A second not, try to light the face more than the rest of the body, use the low intensities and soft shadows. UberEnvironment can be tricky until you understand, then it's very simple.

    UE steps:
    (a) Add an UE to the scene.
    (b) Select it, then select a quality preset (as high as possible if you want some good results)
    (c) Then select what kind of HDRI Image (image lights you want)

    Also, for your final renders, go to the advanced render settings tab in the render tab. This is a setting Sedor figured out that works well, I use it. See attached image. I explained about UE in this thread, might be worth reading.


    Heh, yeah I'm swedish :)

    As for the shadows, I honestly have no idea how to make them work. I assume UE is Uber enviroment? I've bene trying to get the uber lights and such to work ever since I downloaded Daz, even re-installed. But I must be doing something wrong with ose lights, cause they refuse to work for me. I only get told that I need to have uber something or another targeted, the problem is I still haven't figured out what it is I need and where to find it.

    In the picture so far, I've used 4 spotlight, with different intesnity and so on *sheepish smile* Will read through that thread you linked and see if I can wrap my head around Uber lights

    Thanks .)

    /C

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,006
    edited December 1969

    Rendered for the DAZ, May 7, 2013, weekly member challenge but the lighting came out so good on the pictures I thought I should share it here too.

    "Gallery Opening"

    USED: Bell Flower Garden, Victoria 5 (with AG-Top/Koala Necklace/Earrings, 50s Pants/shoes, Orion Hair), my own gallery walls/floor, AC_RMFrameMirror (with my own Kalidescope Textures of the Bell Flower Garden), Days of Cider Bench, CDS Plant Stands, FCC_W_Lights (on the wall)

    Rendered in Daz3d… postwork (signature only) done in Paint Shop Pro 7

    ENJOY!

    p.s. I will post a lighting diagram of how I set up the lights shortly :)

    GALLERY_DONE_SIGN.jpg
    1024 x 1024 - 436K
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited May 2013

    llolalane said:
    Rendered for the DAZ, May 7, 2013, weekly member challenge but the lighting came out so good on the pictures I thought I should share it here too.

    "Gallery Opening"

    USED: Bell Flower Garden, Victoria 5 (with AG-Top/Koala Necklace/Earrings, 50s Pants/shoes, Orion Hair), my own gallery walls/floor, AC_RMFrameMirror (with my own Kalidescope Textures of the Bell Flower Garden), Days of Cider Bench, CDS Plant Stands, FCC_W_Lights (on the wall)

    Rendered in Daz3d… postwork (signature only) done in Paint Shop Pro 7

    ENJOY!

    p.s. I will post a lighting diagram of how I set up the lights shortly :)

    It is a nice render, but as it has already been posted elsewhere it will only be an NAE for this contest. However if you would share your lighting set up it would be helpful for other users. Thanks.

    I will move the post over into the WIP thread.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,006
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    llolalane said:
    Rendered for the DAZ, May 7, 2013, weekly member challenge but the lighting came out so good on the pictures I thought I should share it here too.

    "Gallery Opening"

    USED: Bell Flower Garden, Victoria 5 (with AG-Top/Koala Necklace/Earrings, 50s Pants/shoes, Orion Hair), my own gallery walls/floor, AC_RMFrameMirror (with my own Kalidescope Textures of the Bell Flower Garden), Days of Cider Bench, CDS Plant Stands, FCC_W_Lights (on the wall)

    Rendered in Daz3d… postwork (signature only) done in Paint Shop Pro 7

    ENJOY!

    p.s. I will post a lighting diagram of how I set up the lights shortly :)

    It is a nice render, but as it has already been posted elsewhere it will only be an NAE for this contest. However if you would share your lighting set up it would be helpful for other users. Thanks.

    That's fine chohole... I mostly posted it to share as an example.. I'll post the diagram in a bit.. :)

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,006
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    llolalane said:
    Rendered for the DAZ, May 7, 2013, weekly member challenge but the lighting came out so good on the pictures I thought I should share it here too.

    "Gallery Opening"

    USED: Bell Flower Garden, Victoria 5 (with AG-Top/Koala Necklace/Earrings, 50s Pants/shoes, Orion Hair), my own gallery walls/floor, AC_RMFrameMirror (with my own Kalidescope Textures of the Bell Flower Garden), Days of Cider Bench, CDS Plant Stands, FCC_W_Lights (on the wall)

    Rendered in Daz3d… postwork (signature only) done in Paint Shop Pro 7

    ENJOY!

    p.s. I will post a lighting diagram of how I set up the lights shortly :)

    It is a nice render, but as it has already been posted elsewhere it will only be an NAE for this contest. However if you would share your lighting set up it would be helpful for other users. Thanks.

    I will move the post over into the WIP thread.

    o.k.. chohole .. thanks :)

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,006
    edited May 2013

    llolalane said:
    Rendered for the DAZ, May 7, 2013, weekly member challenge but the lighting came out so good on the pictures I thought I should share it here too.

    "Gallery Opening"

    USED: Bell Flower Garden, Victoria 5 (with AG-Top/Koala Necklace/Earrings, 50s Pants/shoes, Orion Hair), my own gallery walls/floor, AC_RMFrameMirror (with my own Kalidescope Textures of the Bell Flower Garden), Days of Cider Bench, CDS Plant Stands, FCC_W_Lights (on the wall)

    Rendered in Daz3d… postwork (signature only) done in Paint Shop Pro 7

    ENJOY!

    p.s. I will post a lighting diagram of how I set up the lights shortly :)

    ============================

    "Gallery Opening" lighting set up by Llola Lane (SEE diagram)

    GREEN - 3 Distant lights (1 & 2 aimed at opposite walls and 3rd aimed at girl) = 25.0% intensity
    WHITE - 4 Spot lights over each lamp shade (aiming at artwork) = 200% intensity
    PURPLE - UberEnvironment2 (quality 4XHi) = 50% intensity

    All done in DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro :)

    Hope this helps those who need it. I was pretty happy with outcome. :) ENJOY!!!

    GALLERY_DONE_SIGN.jpg
    1024 x 1024 - 436K
    lighting_setup.jpg
    658 x 644 - 268K
    Post edited by Llola Lane on
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    One of the big time vampires for rendering is Global Illumination, AKA: GI. I've learned over the years that with a little work you can fairly effectively simulate the look.


    The finished image I'm posting is an outdoor scene created in Carrara 7.2 Pro. I use a Realistic Sky which can be used as an Image Based Light model (IBL), similar to an HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image). To do so in Carrara requires partial GI, which is faster than full GI, but can still take a l-o-n-g time to calculate especially with all the trees and clouds.


    What I did was to insert a sphere primitive, a distant light and a surface replicator.


    The light was set to 5% brightness with a pale blue color to complement the sky color.


    I chose the sphere in the surface replicator to be the surface and the light to be replicated across the sphere.


    To control the placement of the lights I created a distribution shader with a black and white color gradient. The white would be where the lights are placed and the black would have no lights. The graduation between the two would have fewer lights. I could probably have just created a vertex half sphere, but I already had the gradient shader so I just did it this for expediency. I hid the sphere by un-checking it's visibility, thus leaving only the replicated lights "visible."


    I replicated the single distant light fifty times, which is about as low as I could get and still get the effect of GI on the shadows. In other words: A soft diffuse light which creates natural soft shadows, similar to an HDRI, but without the long light calculations.


    I added two more lights, a sunlight, which is in essence a distant light tied to the sun's disk in the Realistic Sky, and a distant light pointing straight up and excluding the terrain, and water (not visible from this angle) to simulate reflected light from the ground. The sunlight was set at 125% brightness and the "ground" light was set at 20%.


    I know these are fairly Carrara specific, but I believe I read the newest version of Bryce had some kind of replicator. If this is so, perhaps it could be used to create a light dome.


    The finished image has a collision artifact that was painted out (a foot poking through a stirrup), but otherwise no post-work. No levels adjustments, no color, and contrast adjustments, and no filters applied.

    Jousting_copy.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 2M
    Picture_6.png
    648 x 457 - 84K
    Picture_4.png
    986 x 755 - 97K
    Picture_3.png
    834 x 557 - 135K
    Picture_2.png
    1059 x 532 - 180K
Sign In or Register to comment.