Greetings!
Welcome to Scifi-Meshes.com! Click one of these buttons to join in on the fun.
Quick Links
Lighting Models in 3DS MAX 8.0
Buckaroohawk2
Posts: 0Member
I've become a bit frustrated lately with lighting my models and I could use a little help. I'm hoping someone here might be able to lend me a hand.
I currently use 3D Studio MAX Version 8.0 for all of my model building and animation. I've been trying to develop a decent lighting system that helps make the models look as realistic as possible for general imaging. I'm not talking about anything scene-specific; just a nice all-around lighting that shows of the model under...for lack of a better word...ideal conditions. You know, for beauty shots that I could post in my album here so viewers might go, "Oooh, that looks really nice!"
I light all of my models with Trageted IES Sun lights, located under the "Photometric" tab in the Lights category. I use these lights because I typically employ the Shadow Map feature to cast shadows in order to speed up rendering time. I realize that other shadow mapping categories (like Ray Tracing) often produce higher quality shadows, but they also take forever to render on my system. With an IES Sun using the Shadow Map feature I can ramp the Shadow Definition on the Key Light up to between 4000 and 5000 without losing rendering speed.
I use four Targeted IES Suns to light my models, two above and two below. The upper lights are usually placed fore and aft of the model, one slightly to port and one slightly to starboard of the model's centerline. The rear light is most often the Key Light, producing the highest amount of illumination and shadow-casting. The lower lights are on the port and starboard, one slightly forward and one slightly aft. The targets for all four lights converge in the main X,Y,Z center of the MAX grid because I like to place my models as close as possible to the center of the grids.
So, like I said, the upper rear light is usually the Key Light, casting the most illumination and the deepest shadows. The other lights are usually used mostly as "Fill Lights," lower illumination and very little to no shadow casting. I've tried dozens of variations on this "lighting rig," moving lights up and down, side to side, closer and further from the model, changing the color, intensity and shadow depth; everything I can think of, yet I've never been entirely satisfied with the results.
I look at the images some of the artists here have created and I'm so envious of how realistic the models look. I'm hoping that someone here might be able to give my some pointers so I can light my models more effectively, anything from "here are the parameters I use" to "ditch the IES Suns and use these lights instead." I know that no single lighting rig will light every model effectively and that what lighting looks good is fairly subjective, but I've reached something of an impasse here, call it "CGI Artist's Block," and I'm looking for assistance to jump this hurdle. Any and all suggestions will be given due consideration and are greatly appreciated. If anyone needs visual examples of what I'm talking about here let me know and I'll post some images.
Thanks in advance for the help. I'm looking forward to reading the suggestions.
Buckaroohawk
I currently use 3D Studio MAX Version 8.0 for all of my model building and animation. I've been trying to develop a decent lighting system that helps make the models look as realistic as possible for general imaging. I'm not talking about anything scene-specific; just a nice all-around lighting that shows of the model under...for lack of a better word...ideal conditions. You know, for beauty shots that I could post in my album here so viewers might go, "Oooh, that looks really nice!"
I light all of my models with Trageted IES Sun lights, located under the "Photometric" tab in the Lights category. I use these lights because I typically employ the Shadow Map feature to cast shadows in order to speed up rendering time. I realize that other shadow mapping categories (like Ray Tracing) often produce higher quality shadows, but they also take forever to render on my system. With an IES Sun using the Shadow Map feature I can ramp the Shadow Definition on the Key Light up to between 4000 and 5000 without losing rendering speed.
I use four Targeted IES Suns to light my models, two above and two below. The upper lights are usually placed fore and aft of the model, one slightly to port and one slightly to starboard of the model's centerline. The rear light is most often the Key Light, producing the highest amount of illumination and shadow-casting. The lower lights are on the port and starboard, one slightly forward and one slightly aft. The targets for all four lights converge in the main X,Y,Z center of the MAX grid because I like to place my models as close as possible to the center of the grids.
So, like I said, the upper rear light is usually the Key Light, casting the most illumination and the deepest shadows. The other lights are usually used mostly as "Fill Lights," lower illumination and very little to no shadow casting. I've tried dozens of variations on this "lighting rig," moving lights up and down, side to side, closer and further from the model, changing the color, intensity and shadow depth; everything I can think of, yet I've never been entirely satisfied with the results.
I look at the images some of the artists here have created and I'm so envious of how realistic the models look. I'm hoping that someone here might be able to give my some pointers so I can light my models more effectively, anything from "here are the parameters I use" to "ditch the IES Suns and use these lights instead." I know that no single lighting rig will light every model effectively and that what lighting looks good is fairly subjective, but I've reached something of an impasse here, call it "CGI Artist's Block," and I'm looking for assistance to jump this hurdle. Any and all suggestions will be given due consideration and are greatly appreciated. If anyone needs visual examples of what I'm talking about here let me know and I'll post some images.
Thanks in advance for the help. I'm looking forward to reading the suggestions.
Buckaroohawk
Post edited by Buckaroohawk on
Additional credits
- Icons from Font-Awesome
- Additional icons by Mickael Bonfill
- Banner background from Toptal Subtle Patterns
© Scifi-Meshes.com 2001-2024
Posts
i don't know if there's any real reason not to use them if you like those lights, but your reason why you do use them makes no sense in that all the point lights ive seen can support mapped shadows. i tend to use a targeted direct light, and very rarely use shadow maps. the most realistic type of shadow is probably an area shadow cast by an area light, though its probably overkill for a 'sun' since the shadow wont spread much cast from a sun unless you're dealing with lots of atmospheric diffusion or you're close to the edge of a shadow cast from something very large, very far away.
personally, i tend to use a raytraced key light, with a skylight and perhaps another light opposing it as a basic setup.
Perhaps your problem here is not your lights, or how you're using them, but more to do with shaders and renderers. You can get great results in stills with max' scanline, but you should really be using a more sophisticated option, of which there are many. worth looking into learning if you're really concerned about how good your renders look.
look at skylighting, GI, ambient occlusion & indirect illumination for a start, also, HDRI. max can do this out of the box with its own advanced lighting, but its **** compared to mental ray, vray etc. Shaders again, no matter what the renderer, the shader makes a huge difference... that said, a "standard" material setup with just a little spec under the right lighting makes an ok clay material but try experimenting with something like the Arch & design shaders that come with mental ray and you'll see a huge difference.