Hi all

Would there be people interested in setting up a group or thread about lighting in renders. I am thinking about manual use of lighting so not total presets. What positions did you use, what intensity, how many lights etc etc.

As an old model photographer I would like to hear and also share info about making a good render based on manual lighting

Ok i will see resonses or not ahahah

Stephan

I'd be glad to share any info with others that are interested;)

Sure, I'll pitch in if I can help!  Lighting is actually one of my big trouble spots, so this could come in handy.

lighting is one of my weak spots, so would love any info that helps.

Ok let wait a few days till maybe more people arrive and then just start. For now have a great evening or day depending were in the world you are

Would love to, always wanting to help others. Count me in too..

i try to share

To make this image more impressive, I needed to change the models skin 'Specular Glossiness' to around 80%, this reflected the light better and made the skin texture brighter as can be seen in the final image.

I hope this has been of some help to anyone starting out and not familiar with lighting techniques.

Nice, Katanas.

I will post info on my techniques (without UE or LDP) if any are interested?  At the moment, I have WIP's going on with a few Tutorials that I'm working out to get posted elsewhere, but I'd be glad to do a few quick stills.

Dar

Thks kantanas, question I heard that distance lights can not be moved in all 3 directions? Is this true or what are limitations?

How is it possible to attach a light to a distance prop. sample street and lamp post is away from 0,0,0 point were camera starts. To parent the light to the prop is I think step 2. If i think simple i would say look coordinats from prop and use them for light also and then parent but is this right since props can be bigger item.

I mostly work without present light schemas since I want to build up light step by step. In my carrier as normal photographer I use limited light sources and also build light scene.  What is your views on this. Do you use lots of ligthtpoints or try to keep simple also?

BTW I am willing/able to create download section if that is handy for stuff all people here can download? Or willing to mail people when they want. My e-mail is stephan_olieman@zonnet.nl

We have a start and I want to thank als for there perticipation and ideas and other stuff

Distant lights can be moved, but there's no point in doing so (except to get them out of the way) since they actually shine from "outside" the scene - only the direction in which they point matters.

Copying coordinates from a prop can work, but some props are modelled away from the centre (so they are at a distance, but their coordinates are still (0,0,0)). The Align plugin can be a big help here, but you are going to have to fine-tune the placement by hand at the end unless you are very lucky.

Distant lights cannot be moved in or out of a scene, they can be rotated around a scene and will always point back to the centre.

You can rotate or position the distant lights in any of the three dimensions around the scene. If you wish to see the view of the distant lights, you can select them from the viewer as you would a camera view, move or position your lights source, then return to the perspective or default camera view. Makes for easier positioning of the lights.

For street lights I like to use the spotlights as they are directional and have a limited fall-off which makes the light source fade over distance. Distant lights do not do this, they will remain the same brightness.

To position the spotlight onto a streetlamp, move the light to the lamp, then size it down so it will be roughly the same size as the lamp, this will make positioning and rotation easier. Align the spotlight so it is where you want it, then by selecting the spotlight view, you will be able to see if it is facing correctly as to how you want it.

Attaching the spotlight is easy, from the scene option bar you drag the spotlight onto the lamp object, this will make them work as one. If you move or rotate the lamp object, the light will follow.

One important rule to remember.... distant lights render much faster than spotlights. So where possible, try and use distant lights even with shadows. And if you must, use the spotlights to a minimum. I have been able to produce some nice renders with just one spotlight and up to eight distant lights.

If I can I will do with as few lights as possible, just to create the right effect. Sometimes one or two lights sources is more than enough. It all come down to using the glossiness and material menus carefully, as these will make your objects/skins/props look more appealing and with little lights. I will upload another screen-shot (a little later) with some tips on using the material menu bar and show some effects produced from them.

I hope this was helpful in explaining some tips to the use of distant lights.

Great help for me and I hope for others also.

Katanas may I ask if you can upload the other info since you knowledge I think will help a lot of people.

thks stephan

The first thing I always do if using a human character as my model is to check the skins Surfaces Tab and see that the Specular Glossiness is set to around 80%. Also check the General Lighting Model is set to Skin, this will make the model's skin look more realistic and not plastic.

Now create three distant lights to use for your lighting, position them as shown in the image with this post, set one to the left and one to the right, you should have one in front by default. as shown in the image set the light illumination intensity to right = 60%, front = 80%, left = 100%.

I find this is be the best starting point for any of my images and any of these can be moved to create various effects in light-shadows, I will cover that in my next post.

Thks again for this info and we try. I am work on some material also

Remember that the position of the distant lights doesn't matter, only the direction in which they point.

Thankyou RHaseltine, I only positioned the distantlight pointers so everyone can see the direction they face, as by default the pointers are close together under the model sometimes.

I am working on some lighting projects that will be perfect for modeling portaits shot, but need to work out how to save them for others to use simply by selecting icons. Similar to those Poser Injection Icons. Any ideas on how to save them in those formats like Lts and Ppz are welcomed.