shader and lights
chris_settlemoir
Posts: 362
Architectural Lighting Rig for Iray what i wanted to know whats the benifits of this vs jm proper emissive lights or can i use themin conjunction?or does studio light pro do all that? im asking so ill know in what order do i need to buy them or if one does the job the others do or what?
now shaders for example i want to know whats the best shader that gives characters and back grounds and funture ect pop or make it super realastic and the hdri i think thats how i put it
- http://www.daz3d.com/iradiance-hdri-variety-pack-one is stuff like this really useful?
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Shaders are what tell the surface it can do. The uberiray is a shader. Presets are created for shaders with the information (colors, maps etc) already in place. Different sets of presets do different things. If you want the textures already on an object to look best then apply the irayuber to the surfaces. It does a fairly good job most of the time but may need minor adjustments depending what the original settings were. Most shader presets add flexibility or are used to change the surface for a new look.
The architectural rig has IES lighting profiles. Those are created to give exact shapes, colors and light levels of real world lighting. Emissive lights don't do that. They can be very good for many situations but if you wanted exacting realism you would want the IES lights. HDRI lights are create to give you the most realistic lighting for the whole environment. If you stand outside at mid day in the middle of a field the light would be different from that at mid day in the middle of a car park for example. Different interiors also would have different lighting levels and colors. HDRI can be good for outdoors especially because they can also include the scenery. For interior scenes they can aid in more realistic lighting and will take less time to set up and render than if you have to locate and apply an emissive light to ever potential light source in a scene. Which would be best would also depend on if those light sources are included in the view that you are rendering.
Khory - how would you use HDR lights for interior scenes in Iray and which ones do you use? This is assuming you're not using an HDRI that includes interior scenery as well as the lighting, of course. Thanks.
* by the way - I'm loving your Cases for Curiosities set. Probably one of the best purchases I've made all year
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You can use the HDRI instead of the modelled interior.
Yeah I know, but I don't like to do that because to me using HDRI as scenery always looks like you've just stuck a model in front of a photograph. I prefer modelled interiors - you can also interact with them a lot more.
Thank you! I'm so pleased you love the cases. They were a personal "want" for a very long time. I am a goof for a good museum.
The one I use the most is the first one in this set: http://www.daz3d.com/apocalyptic-plant-outdoors-set-1-iray-hdris Now if you look at it your going to notice that it is a bit overcast, that the trees are sort of a dark desaturated green and that the ground is sort of a beige and light green. In other words it isn't heavy on the color but it does have enough color to give a realistic cast to the light. I have used that light for the vast majority of promos I have done since we got iray. This one is a good example (these are not plugs for my products. It is just the easiest way to show you a variety of examples of the light) of it through a window into a room http://www.daz3d.com/modern-industrial-floors-for-iray. The only light used in that render is the HDRI and that small emissive light. I am sure I had to adjust the tone mapping but I think the light is really wonderful. I also used it for main promos on both leathers. There is also a girl standing in a gray hall in the floor promos. That hall was open at one end and when I added the HDRI it really improved the the lighting in the space. It just added a more realistic level of depth to the lighting. The promos for the leathers also used that light. Those have a white "room" (floor and three side walls) as the scene, that HDRI and a low level spot to add the shadow where I wanted it.
Another hint about with HDRI. If you look at the environment settings in the render settings tab one of the options is environment intensity. You can increase or decrease the amount of light that the HDRI casts. Sometimes you want just a touch of that natural light as fill light and then to use photometric lights to give you the "pop". You can decrease intensity to a lower setting or increase it for brighter light.
Thanks for the tips Khory. So you use outdoor HDRIs and either a big window or remove a wall... that makes sense.
(Yeah, those cases and props are so easy to use and so versatile - I love them, way more than I thought I would! And they let me use rooms that I never thought I'd find a use for. They really respond well to adding Iray shaders too. FYI I also have the industrial floor shaders and love those too
. I'll be picking up the rest of your shaders when I'm able).
Exatly tl. Another hint is that if you really want to see what a HDRI will do create a sphere primative and render. That will give you a good idea of the light level and the way the HDRI will color your scene. If you do that in the center of the what ever walls etc your going to use you will get an even better idea.
Just last night I was looking at the Salamis' mercinary and thinking "man would that helmet and breast plate look good in a case or what". It always thrills me when someone says they like my work. I really obsess over them when I am doing them. I want them to be as real as possible but also to be things that you can use other ways. Like floors on walls and so on.
what is a primative theres alot about the lights i cant find in the tutorial idk what they do
Primitives are those basic shapes that come with studio. Look for Create (it is at the top left, third choice, for me) and then you will get a drop down list. Sixth down should be new primitive. Your going to then get a box with type: and a drop down that will list several shape options. I have always left origin and primary axis alone so I am not really sure what they do exactly. Then you will have options about size and segments, divisions, sides etc depending on what shape you select. With the sphere as an example you get diameter and then you can select how larger you want it to be by inches, feet, yards and so on. The number of segments you select will tell studio how rounded you want it to be. Start with 24 or so for a fairly smooth round ball.
I should have added.. This isn't a light Chris but built in pre uv mapped shapes that you can use to create things really simply. I stick a primitive in to add a floor all the time. You can also use them to create walls and so forth.