is daz studio prolighting worth it
chris_settlemoir
Posts: 362
in The Commons
can anyone give me any pros and cons on it im thinking about getting it but unsure
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a link is helpful to be sure folks know what you're talking about, and to help em find it. :)
http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-iray-pro-lighting here you go
To be clear, that's not a lighting set. It's a series lessons and tutorials on how to use Iray to create professional lighting.
IMHO, you'll get a lot more knowledge and insight on digital lighting techniques, that can be used in any app, with Digital Lighting and Rendering (3rd Edition), by Jeremy Bim:
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Lighting-Rendering-Voices-Matter/dp/0321928989/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451510449&sr=8-1&keywords=digital+lighting+and+rendering
I would also say to try getting a professional light set from one of the vendors here and totally pick it apart and figure out how they did that. But, I'm more of a hands on type of girl. I like being able to pull up a light set and take a look at all of the settings and see if I can duplicate it or even change settings to see if I can get something different that I like. the Digital Lighting and Rendering is on my Amazon wishlist and I second getting that, too. It seems to be the epitome of lighting textbooks.
I admit that I've bought a few Dreamlight tutorials and they are okay if you like his style. I'm okay with it, but I have heard others on the forums say that he irritates them. He has a lot of samples of his work on Youtube so I would suggest seeing what he has there and see if his style fits with yours. One thing I would suggest is waiting for a better sale on his stuff. IMO, he is way over priced and even at 70% off, he is expensive. And, I'm unsure that you would be able to return it as DAZ has a non return policy with puchcard sales.
Is Birn's book still as relevent in the Iray era? Its treatment of textures and light seems to have more to do with biased engines like 3delight than with PBR engines. I am wondering myself whether I should be recommending the book nowadays.
In some areas, yes, but to your point, for anyone working with PBRs, I recommend Painting With Light, by John Alton:
http://www.amazon.com/Painting-Light-John-Alton/dp/0520275845/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451962880&sr=1-1&keywords=painting+with+light