Hi there, Some of you might remember that a few months back I was working again on figuring out crisp lighting with all the softness of global shadows. Those test lights were put and are still in FreeStuff. I saw a post today talking about the dork and the P5 renders. I thought "he's not a dork, we just never used good settings and textures on him." So that made me think that Poser lighting couldn't be impossible. All the properties exist to customize the lights to comphensate for the renderer. We just never knew the right settings. From working with magazine photographers it always bothered me that many renderers desaturate with global lighting and shadows. Now I think I know why. I needed a global for the new hair models that are coming. Existing global light desaturate. I think the problem stemmed from to much underlighting, which doesn't exist in the real world, and too many roaming shadows poluting the scene with black. The combination of excess black and too much ambient white was creating grey murkiness. Also the dark shadows suggest the lighting is bright, but if there isn't enough filler light light areas of the maps appear grey because they are not fully lit. Lights will be coming both alone and bundled with products like hair. Regards, Anton anton@daz3d.com Vicki 2.O against white wearing one of the V3 maps(Vannila). No post. Hair WIP

Forgot to check the button. Don't want to offend anyone. :)

Wow, seriously not offended. That is very good lighting. Jack

Wow! I have been seriously fighting with the lights in Poser for the past 2 days - this looks great Anton! How did you do this???? BTW, I like the map :) -Cheryl

Just doing shadow checks. Hands shadowed well. Nails aren't grey.

Those hands are great. Talk about putting the 'real' in realistic! Very impressive work you've been doing there. Jack

The body texture was done by Micah. He did a great job. They had a cool photo shoot with a professional model and photographer. In this image,of grey concrete outside my house,I used the eyedropper to pick up colors and then made them brighter to show the hue they actually cast. White light doesn't really exist in the real world. The sun casts yellow and the sky reflects blue. This is why things in shadows outside are bluish, yellow in the sun, and almost greenish in between. What computer lights fail to recreate the subtle hue cast by the sky at all times and thus what is perceived as neutral outdoor lighting. Artificial lighting casts yellow. That is why I think there are so many yellow textures. It looks right in the photo but off in Poser. This is made worse my over saturation from photography. That is why instant fixes in most photo software shift the hue bluish. Blue neutralizes orange. In fashion photography, blue and pink gels are often used to soften the notorious orange and green hues found in various lighting. Pink neutralizes green. The lighting in the render is white but has minute hints of pale blue to prevent the global shadows from deepening or enhancing green tones that become noticible when magnified through the shadows. In the real world a fire engine in brighter red in bright light. In a renderer it often becomes pink. Hope this helps someone. Ignore the typos. My typing is sloppy. :)

This looks excellent. Very glad to see there`s going to be a Vic 3.0. For a certain P5 perhaps?

Thanks Phonix, very informative.

My... GAWD!!!

Those hands... now THAT looks frickin' REAL...

Wow. Wow. I smell a tutorial needing to be written and I think we see a candidate for writing it... ;)

'In fashion photography, blue and pink gels are often used to soften the notorious orange and green hues found in various lighting' Anton, I've been banging on about this for years, trying to get people to listen. I know you were a make-up artist, so have done a lot of studio work. Well, I AM a fashion photographer and I know how to light skin. Granted, computer lighting isn't the same, but there are several things people can do to improve it. This is my advice to anyone lighting in poser. First of all, my light color is set at RGB 255/240/230. That gives a warmish pink color to the skin, without actually changing it's color dramatically. The best light is afternoon sunlight, which is warm, and kind to the skin. That's why photographers try to simulate it. Secondly, I set my P4's ambient skin color to RGB 54/27/20 to warm up the skin. I HATE grey skin. Black, as an ambient color, sucks! Of course, all this depends a lot on your monitor too. What looks right for me, won't be exactly the same for everyone else. Thirdly, I have my shadow map size set at 1024 and, for most lighting, the shadow size set at 0.100, or soft, with the intensity set to 110%. This improves things dramatically too. Fourthly, I tend to use just 1 light. Straight on the front of the face, just like I do in the studio. Well, not always, of course, but I try to use simple, direct light as much as possible. I keep seeing people use too many lights. If you have 10 lights in poser, you'll never control the shadows. And a fashion photographer would NEVER use 10 lights on a model! At the most, you can throw in a fill light, or 2 if you must, keeping the intensity to around 50%. (In the studio I only ever use white panels for fill, never lights, but we're talking poser here.) Lastly....GET RID OF THE CRAP DEFAULT PISS-GREEN-GREY BACKGROUNDS! Look at Anton's pic! It's CLEAN! And half of that is because it's on a white background. If you use a color, make sure it's a decent one. And avoid yellows for skin shots. Cool colors or autumn colors are good for skin. Poser lighting isn't perfect, but it can be improved. My advice is to start off simple and take it from there. mac PS Looking forward to seeing your lighting, Anton

maclean, Anton: I've gradually reached some of those same conclusions myself, and I've never handled a camera in my life. Well, I've broken a few, but that doesn't count, does it? Now, if only we had omni-lights in Poser, it would make my interior lighting so much easier. Thanks for the tips, both of you.

Ya know, the nipple on her right breast (and the left for that matter too) seems to be too far to the outside. Not exactly where I would expect to find it on a real person. (Not that I notice things like that.) And there's only so much you can do with a morph to correct this. (again, not that I notice things like that) Well, ok, maybe I notice a little.

dam the vicki 3 maps look good. and the lighting is just what Ive been trying to acheive on my own. But I still have so much trouble. :( You'd think after useing poser for over two years Id get it by now. LOL hopeing for a kick ass b-day present from the hubby..been hinting about the poser 5 release. LOL. Gotta wait till nov though. :( good work as allways anton. Dont know what we'd do if you werent so board and curious. :)

Great! Someone else who hates black as an ambiant color. It is great for animating "shooters" in dark corridors (where it covers up all ::cough:: of the corners of the polygons), but ghastley for representing anything alive. I use a dark mauve for skin's ambiant, changing the numbers slightly depending upon the scene and the rest of the lighting. My settings are a bit darker than yours, but not by that much. My "white's" are not white, either. :) I prefer a stronger, more directional light source if the piece is dramatic, but we need these soft lights, too. Creating a series of images is just like planting a perennial bed. If they are all bright and brazon, they will jar. With variety and subtlety, they will all stand out and be appreciated. Nice work up there! Carolly

'but ghastley for representing anything alive' ROTFLMAO mac