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I've never taken a look at its promo pix. Really stunning. Thank you very much. If you don't mention I will never see it forever. Now it's in my wish list.
I should mention something about iRay Light Manager. I don't know why DAZ Studio has not something like that built-in. It's very very useful and save a lot of time. (just a collection of scripts but believe me it really worths and you guys will use it everyday.)
To this point, it seems that Ghost Light 2 is a must for us. The real winner. If anyone has not paid for it, just do it now :D (I've bouth it for a long time but never tried once. I'll do tonight.
Do you need both Ghost Light kits ? From description it appears GL2 is an advancement over the first one?
They are different. I read it when I purchased GL2. A shame I've never used it till now.
They are both stand alone kits designed to provide extra lighting (ambient, no specular) for situations where the "realistic" lighting options look too dim, too harsh in contrast, or take too long to render. Kit 1 is focused on using flat planes with a defined front and back to provide extra light, and includes a variety of color presets (daylight, sunrise, candlelight, computer monitor light, halogen). Kit 2 has a wider variety of props including domes and spheres, flashlights and hanging light props, but the specialized color options are specifically aimed at LED lights. Both kits include a range of simple color presets measured in kelvins with icons that make it clear what color you're getting in layman's terms, and that's mostly what I use.
My feeling is that Kit 1 is more useful for people who want to set up domestic real-world interiors fairly quickly, while Kit 2 caters to more exotic settings (scifi, fantasy, historical, horror) and to people looking for more fine control and realism in modern settings. I personally feel like Kit 2 suits my needs better, but it seems like people who bought Kit 1 when it first came out and learned how to use it first prefer that one over Kit 2, so maybe it's just a question of what you are familiar with.
I tend to use the first kit more because most of the time what I want to do is add light from windows, glass doors, etc. Kit 2 is more specialized and is great for replacing say light fixtures that were setup for 3Delight with point lights and spots with a mesh light that works better in Iray. I think they do both have their uses although you could probably get by with Kit 2. Kit 1 just seems to be easier to me when all I need is to control the light coming in a kitchen window.
Wow... I need this thread. I've been wanting to tune and sharpen my Studio skills to produce photo-real renders, and lighting is, without a doubt, the main bugbear for me. Worse, I tend to buy lights that look good on the product page, but then never have time to get in there and use them. (I do that with all kinds of things, really. I buy lots of models and stuff, thinking that'll help me make time to use them, but unless it's for a particular client image, I never seem to find the time - but I have reason to hope this should change, soon. Really. No, I really mean it this time... >.>;; )
I wasn't sure if I needed both Ghost Lights sets, but they look like such a great solution, I knew I had to buy them. So thank you particularly for the info on that.
If someone really knew lights and materials in DAZ, I feel like they could build a ten thousand dollar (at least) YouTube channel doing case by case and product by product reviews and tutorials - I could help produce (I mean do the producer job, not "I'll come to your house and help make them." ;) ) and edit them if you're not experienced at that part.
A search in the product library for "light" says I have at least all these:
(along with the "flight attendant suit" and the "starlight updo" hairstyle - I had a lot more time for my own art fifteen years ago ;) )
And I'd have to say I don't really have any real idea what I'm doing with any of them. And it's not that I'm clueless about digital art or 3D, I just haven't had time to do much beyond click the default settings, fumble around for a few minutes, and think "Hell, I need to get back to work." I think someone could get a lot of subscriptions for taking the guesswork out of it - and materials as well.
Val Cameron from Dreamlight is a lighting wiz and also has a Youtube channel (search for Dreamlight3D) that includes reviews of some light products like "iRadiance Pro Series 16k", "ElianeCK HDRI Lights for Iray" and props like some of Stonemason's and Polish's products.
Novica has a popular forum thread where she reviews lots of products as well. This is the thread for Part 11, and you'll find links to her other threads and tutorials in there. Oh, and she is also a lighting wiz, and she has tutorials in the forum on using BOSS Pro Lights and I believe Colm Jackson's "Pro Studio HDR Lighting System."
That's a heck of a good resource, thank you! :) I also very much like Sickleyield's tutorials. The production values are a little rough in the early ones, but her teaching style really works well for me.
Val Cameron's stuff... I'll have to watch some on YouTube, but the ones I've gotten from here and from his website... weren't really well suited to my preferences, is a nice way to put it? I have a very low tolerance for a low signal-to-noise ratio, for one thing, and he spends a lot of time talking about Not The Thing - in many of the videos I've seen, more than he talks about The Thing.
That said - I don't think anyone's existing tutorials would dissuade me too much from creating a channel to make others. Teaching style, production values, content choices, all of these make a difference to viewers, and there's enough room for a few channels on a given subject. I'd do it myself, but while I have skill and experience with planning, producing, creating, editing, instructional videos and so on, I don't know the subject itself.
If you make a tutorial just "how to and where to use these presets" I'll be your first customer. Sell it here in DAZ store.
ISeeThis: I'm sorry I didn't realize anyone replied... you will find "Theory of Light - Energy Flow Iray Lights, HDRIs and Props" over at Renderosity.
Orestes Iray HDRI Abstract Style. I’ve been using it nonstop lately but it’s perfect for portraits
I ADORE DimensionTheory's iRadiance products. I have a TON of them and love them. I also use my own product, Easy Light and Render - Spectrum Studio, a lot (sorry for the self-promotion - I just use that product a lot so thought it was worth mentioning). :)
I still love my Ghost Lights quite a lot, and I do not regret buying them, but after this tutorial, homemade ghost lights are now my favorite.