I am doing a scene , a dimly lit nightclub. My usual approach is to light the scene so that the render is close to the final picture and do minor postwork. I am however having lots of problems getting the main characters lit and not revealing too much of the surrounding area.

I could render in two passes , one with only the main characters , and one with the rest, composite and blend the two in a paint program.

The other option seems to be to light the scene well, dont worry about trying to do the dim light and correct it all in photoshop.

Which approach do people favor ? 

Which Poser?

Poser 7

Any lights you make inside near a figure to light it well will throw too much light onto the rest of the room because Poser 7 doesn't have inverse square falloff.

You could try using my ISF light shader - posted ages ago. I don't have a link - do a forum search for "Inverse Square Falloff", posts by me, long ago. Or you could try just using the linear falloff that is supported in Poser 7. But prepare for a lot of fiddling around.

Also, without gamma correction, you will have great difficulty getting light to behave the way you expect. I would suggest using gamma correcting shaders in everything.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? That's why Poser 7 is always about fiddling, while Poser Pro 2010 is not.

You're trying to do an interior, not a portrait. Gotta have better tools for that.

Thanks I will give that a try.

I did try the 'distance end' control and it worked but not quite enough. It seemed extremely sensitive.

What I did this time is render in two passes and merged the two in photoshop. It doesnt look 'real' but was good for that scene.

ok, question , the PM Intensity Distance , value 1  is what ?

I have tried this but used a value of 1 , and my render is mostly white . :)

Quote - ok, question , the PM Intensity Distance , value 1  is what ?

I have tried this but used a value of 1 , and my render is mostly white . :)

 

 

the distance the light travels

you have to set the  x,y,z, of your light location to the x,y,z of the invers light material

PM Intensity Distance 0f 1 seems small try 100+

also set poser perf. to inches

You know how you set a light intensity, like 80%? And you know how that looks the same everywhere?

With a falloff light, it will only look the same at one distance. Anywhere close will be brighter. Anywhere farther will be darker.

You get to choose where you would like the specified intensity to be. So, for example, if you set the intensity to 85% and you want it that bright exactly 62 inches from the light source, then you set 62 in the Intensity Distance.

Attached Link: 1 spot with shadows on 1 point no shadows