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Simple lights set up help?

RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,365
edited February 2016 in The Commons

Hi,

Trying to get my head around lighting once again.  I really need lighting for promos so can't have shadows on things.  I did a bit of fiddling and made some use of Vittorio for V4... yea remember him?  LOL  Wearing my outdated Bruno textures but still looks OK when I converted the textures to iRay...

So the light set up is using a Distance Light as the Sun so using the Sun-Sky Only option with Dome Mode set to Infinite Sphere w/Ground and have the Draw Dome set to off so I can put a background in there.

SS Sun Disk Intensity: -0.13 seems to removed all traces of shadows but can't seem to get the skin to look a bit brighter and more alive. 

Any suggestions?  I wanna keep it simple and don't want to use a store bought set as they just make things more complicated for my limited knowledge of iRay based lights. 

Thanks!

 

Post edited by RAMWolff on

Comments

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 6,067

    Maybe you come join the new user contest, Light is the topic for this month, so chances are good somebody with more knowlege about IRAY lights comes by and has a look

  • fastbike1fastbike1 Posts: 4,081
    edited February 2016

    Why not just use a simple backdrop and 1 or 2 photometric spotlights? Set geometry on the lights to rectangular or disk and make dimensions at least 100x100.

    Set lumens to whatever you need for brightness. These should act like photo studio softboxes. Bigger and/or closer = softer shadows.

    Post edited by fastbike1 on
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,785

    Try using some fairly large area lights instead - in Iray you can use regualr lights for this, in 3Delight it would have to be actual shder-lighting applied to mesh. That should reduce or avoid shadows while gicing some specular activity.

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,365

    I THINK I have it mostly figured out.  It has to do with the Tone Mapping.....

     

    SunSky - InfSphere - Tone Mapping.jpg
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    RAMS Render Settings 01.jpg
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  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited February 2016

    Have you tried putting an HDRI into the Environment Map for lighting purposes?  It adds ambient lighting and doesn't seem to add much in the way of shadows if you have the a subtly lit HDRI.  I use 20 HDRI images by just-Nate on DeviantArt whenever I need some added ambient lighting with relatively little shadows.  Just make sure to have Draw Dome off if you are just using for lighting.

    edit: grammar fix

    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    Knittingmommy said:

    Have you tried putting an HDRI into the Environment Map for lighting purposes?  It adds ambient lighting and doesn't seem to add much in the way of shadows if you have the a subtly lit HDRI.  I use 20 HDRI images by just-Nate on DeviantArt whenever I need some added ambient lighting with relatively little shadows.  Just make sure to have Draw Dome off if you are just using for lighting.

    edit: grammar fix

    some nice HDRIs that are 'studio' lighting...

    http://trrazor.deviantart.com/art/Redspec-TGX-Official-HDR-Pack-01-453173341

  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,617

    I think you've made it overcomplicated.

    Forget Sun/Sky, just stick to Dome and Scene, leave everything on default. (I have not had to change default tonemapping either.)
    The light wiil be good, then adjustments are only needed in the Iray surfaces.

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,365

    Not what I'm after.  I want it controlled via the render settings... there are way to many surfaces to mess with and once I get them to where I want them I don't relish going in and changing them every time I want a variation.  Render settings are all in one place with one setting creating full on change in the scene itself.  One Distant light set as the sun and go from there. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,925
    edited February 2016

    RAMWolff- this was a Wanna Render? tutorial I did for folks who wanted to tweak lights, I kept it simple and used the default Iray lights but also discussed good Tone Mapping and Environment settings- again, keeping it simple, and a few other tips.  Give it a peek. The lighting discussed was the same as for this one, which as you can see, is well lit, nothing fancy. It also discusses skin settings that help with the sheen of the skin a bit. 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,925

    RAMWolff- getting caught up on all the posts- after reading your last one, you definitely want to look at that tutorial because the Tone Mapping and Environment settings are exactly what you're looking for. I address dome orientation and environment intensity, which sliders impact which sliders, and a workflow order for doing the sliders which make it easy to tweak the results. (Everyone has their own workflow order, but I've found when working with folks who want to tweak lighting easily, that this approach works nicely.) Hope it helps wink

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,365

    Thanks so much.  I'll head on over then and look over what you've offered. Thanks Novica!

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    mjc1016 said:
    Knittingmommy said:

    Have you tried putting an HDRI into the Environment Map for lighting purposes?  It adds ambient lighting and doesn't seem to add much in the way of shadows if you have the a subtly lit HDRI.  I use 20 HDRI images by just-Nate on DeviantArt whenever I need some added ambient lighting with relatively little shadows.  Just make sure to have Draw Dome off if you are just using for lighting.

    edit: grammar fix

    some nice HDRIs that are 'studio' lighting...

    http://trrazor.deviantart.com/art/Redspec-TGX-Official-HDR-Pack-01-453173341

    Thanks for the link.  I hadn't found these yet.  Will have to give them a try.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    Knittingmommy said:
    mjc1016 said:
    Knittingmommy said:

    Have you tried putting an HDRI into the Environment Map for lighting purposes?  It adds ambient lighting and doesn't seem to add much in the way of shadows if you have the a subtly lit HDRI.  I use 20 HDRI images by just-Nate on DeviantArt whenever I need some added ambient lighting with relatively little shadows.  Just make sure to have Draw Dome off if you are just using for lighting.

    edit: grammar fix

    some nice HDRIs that are 'studio' lighting...

    http://trrazor.deviantart.com/art/Redspec-TGX-Official-HDR-Pack-01-453173341

    Thanks for the link.  I hadn't found these yet.  Will have to give them a try.

    Just follow the link in my sig...there are a bunch on that HDRI page I set up.  A few on dA that were made by forum members, just for Iray...I'm not sure I have all those links. 

  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,617

    I wasn't clear, the adjustments to materials are the ones you've already done when converting things to Iray. smiley

    These don't have to be altered for each light, like you would for 3Delight.

    If the default HDR shadows are too strong for your purposes, swap it out in render settings:

     

    changehdr.png
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    sheer.png
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  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,617

    I used the "Winter Forrest" from here:

    http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/archive.html

    with the intensity increased slightly.

    sheer15.png
    400 x 667 - 214K
  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,365

    Thanks so much.  I downloaded a bunch of those freebies and actually ended up using Khory's HDR freebie in the long run.  I can't even remember the thread she posted it on, I think it was "Fiddling with iRay Skin Settings" ....

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