Hi all,
I've made a few interior sets that are on sale in the marketplace and I usually create them with only three walls, much like a TV studio set, the fouth wall is not there to allow better viewing by the cameras.

I've downloaded other people's interior sets that do have 4 walls and I found it very difficult to get the right camera angles set up, especially when dealing with a small sized room.

So I was wondering what most people generally prefer. (Because I'm about to start work on another project).  Do you like the three sided sets so you can aim your cameras and lights easier, or do you prefer having all four walls?   Also what about ceilings?  Again, similar to TV studio sets, there are no ceilings to provide easier access for lighting.

I know we can build sets that have "removable walls and ceilings" but besides that option, given the choice of the first two, which would you prefer?

Thanks for your feedback and sorry if this issue has been raised before.

Leee (pzrite)

3 walls, no ceilings for me.  Makes it easier to position cameras and lights since I work from the top a lot in these situations.

Quote - I know we can build sets that have "removable walls and ceilings" but besides that option, given the choice of the first two, which would you prefer?

You've already put the option that I would far rather choose out of consideration in the statement above.  I MUCH prefer the option of 4 separate walls which can be turned on or off at need.  Sometimes a room needs to be viewed from opposite sides in a series of images -- as in a comic.  A set with only three walls can make achieving such differing points of view into a more difficult task than it needs to be.  In such cases, you either have to create your own "fourth wall", or else you have to insert two copies of the room model and then rotate one of the models around to provide you with the back wall that you need.  Otherwise, it looks like one side of the room opens out onto empty space.

Oh, yeah -- I should add that rooms need ceilings, too.  Badly.  Preferably with light fixtures mounted in/on them.

I generally choose sets based on if they are well designed or something I might need.  This is more important to me then number of walls or ceiling.

BUT

I definately find an increasing need for enclosed spaces.  Animation and true reflections are two examples of applications that really benefit from walls and ceilings.

In a perfect world, walls and ceilings would at least have separate material zones so they can be set to tranparent.

If this is not an option, then the size of the room has to be slightly exaggerated to allow for camera and lights.  This is something often done for film sets that are enclosed enviroments.

The way I like them ... and the way I build them for release ... is with
4 separate walls, and a set of pose files, one pose to hide each wall and its
attachments together. (windows, baseboards, etc).

Another question is whether the walls should be set by default to cast
shadows.  I don't think there's an obvious 'best answer'.  Usually it's 
best to have shadows turned off, but there are cases, like a free-standing 
partition or a convex corner, where you need the shadow.

Complete rooms with options to hide what you want. That is how I build mine. The shadow thing is as ockham said. Sometimes you need the shadows and sometimes not. A pose file for that would be good too.

If I HAD to choose from the first two and the room with 4 walls didn't have anything removeable I would have to choose the 3 wall version.

As others have said - I MUCH prefer an option to place and/or hide individual walls myself  - unfortunately there seems to be a serious lack of sets like that.

I'd suggest a MAT pose to make certain walls or cieling invisible, and appropriate groupong so that this can be done, like already suggested by Ockham and Beryl3d.

Of your options, I would choose 3 walls, no ceiling over 4 and a ceiling.

But count me among those who prefer the option to place/hide invididual walls and ceilings. I'd prefer shadows off as the default.

The fact that the Poser ground plane and so many walls and other large props have shadows on by default is really one of the worst problems a Poser newbie can encounter; it certainly bedeviled me. It can mess up lighting very badly, and it can be awhile before one learns to routinely uncheck that.

I also prefer four separate walls which can be turned on or off .

Either wild walls and ceilings, global scaling of base structure to allow the camera plane room to get into the structure with your figure(s), or if the set is of a shape or type that precludes this, camera 'pockets'; set sections like ventilator grills that are one sided polygons with a dead space behind them to allow the camera to tilt and pan (at least within the limits of the opening the view is through) without clipping outside of the room. Hm. I wonder if any of the python masters could create a plugin that would allow you to set a marker, then would create a scaled camera at each marker location? The marker primitive could be scaled so that you would know the camera fustrum is inside the structure, and it would allow you to set cameras -once- in a structure, and then reuse them as needed....

Quote - I've made a few interior sets that are on sale in the marketplace and I usually create them with only three walls, much like a TV studio set, the fouth wall is not there to allow better viewing by the cameras.

... Do you like the three sided sets so you can aim your cameras and lights easier, or do you prefer having all four walls?   Also what about ceilings?  Again, similar to TV studio sets, there are no ceilings to provide easier access for lighting.

I know we can build sets that have "removable walls and ceilings" but besides that option, given the choice of the first two, which would you prefer?

With these options I prefer 4 walls. One has to adjust material settings/zones but a missing wall is more difficult to fix than to remove any unneeded walls.

**Question:**Why won't you consider the option of removable walls and ceiling/floor if you can build them anyways?

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions, I appreciate it!
It seems the non-option of removable walls wins the vote. ; )
Okay...back to the drawing board....LOL!

Thanks again!

I perfer to being able to turn walls and ceilings off and on and in the hierarchy menu. (and stairs and doors and 2nd floors etc).  You can also make pose files that will turn on and off walls.

bB

Make sure all walls and ceilings are seperate so they can be made invisible. That solves teh camera and lighting problems.