SECRET LIGHTING TECHNIQUES

I think most people know how to do that type of lighting. For some of the pictures of tyson you are talking about I believe he used VRay. It is a third party plugin that has more features then max's scanline. Things such as GI(Global illumination, which means it calculates the light bounce with different means).

Other renderer's also have GI such as Mental ray, Brazil, MAxwell(Based on the real physics of light), Final render etc. If you don't wan't to get VRay or something you can use mental ray that comes with max 6 and up. Max's scanline also has two advanced lighting engines that you can achieve a similar look with, called Lightracer and Radiosity.

Off the topic of GI, Look on google for "3point lighting tutorial" This will give you the basics you need to light scenes. Don't use this as a complete reference everytime because the situation will change wtih each scene.

I suggest you learn how to do good lighting without GI first because you need the basics to make it look good.

Hey g3org3....uuuh....I think that was the purpose of his thread ...and the point of this thread is "tips and tricks"....not "how to set up a 3 point scheme"

Also...the "white planes and area lights" can be done with the scanline renderer too...so it's not like you need VRay magic to get the same look

Good thread idea dami! ...and welcome to the forums!

O ya. I kinda got sidetracked(I was going to do the tips and stuff after i explained the GI look that he asked how, just that having no sleep for the past few days have mad me go crazy). I do know that you can get the white planes and area lights withought vray, because i don't even use it, which is why i stated the other render engines

For tips on lighting the only thing i do is place the lights accordingly make sure they have the same colour as they would in the place that they would be found and change the multiplier to the situation. So don't have an overbright light in a scene that is supposed to be dark.

O and one last thing is to never throw a skylight in and turn on GI and call that lighting.

That's basically all the knowledge of lighting I have to offer.

thanx doods,much help!
would it b too much if i asked for screenshots??

haaahaaa(ridestowe) i do it too

basically thats why i asked cuz i WANT to do good light setups without shortcuts(AND long render times)

i kno there are many people who want to TESTRENDER with a good light setup that doesnt take 2 minutes!!!

hope other people can participate too

i love the vray lights personally. so many options u can make them whatever you want

here is the longest most detailed, and well researched information on lighting, http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/light.htm

enjoy a good long read, its very good

the first step in getting away from standard light domes and 3 point setups is to understand what makes a good photo before a good cg image

Weeeeell...I read through his article, and he's got some great tips...but I still feel that knowing a good 3-point lighting setup is still very important.

That being said....of course in a proper lighting setup you'd NEVER use only 3 lights ....but understanding the basics behind spot lighting, rim lighting and fill lighting is fundamental to creating focus in a scene (ie...avoiding flat lighting).

i've got a whole book on lighting and rendering, and for some reason i skipped the three-point lighting part. i've never done 3 point lighting, not sure why.

i know nothing of max so i cant give any explanation of method but using white planes is a nod to studio photography setups,

a standard studio light setup is a 3 point system, key, fill (or bounce) and back (or rim)

the fill or back is often done with either a reflector or diffuse light box, (looks a little like a tent fitted over a light,) these give a large soft light that is spread over a large area, they gently 'fill' in very dark areas, without casting sharp shadows, (thats wwhy they are often used for the back lighting aswell)

the 3 point lighting system comes directly from studio setups, and is very important to understand, its certainly possible to get photorealistic renders from 3 point lighting, but not necesarily realistic lighting. we accept the white card reflector look because we are used to seeing it in product shots all the time, but its not something you see outsite the studio setup.

one reason the white card reflectors work well in cg is because they replace specular highlights. (which dont exist in real life) everything is reflected light, diffuse surfaces such as lambertare a fake for extremly blurred reflections, the specular highlights in phongs etc are simply fakes for very bright reflections, and as such should take on the shape of what is reflected. HDRI reflection maps are a good way to get these highlights without using obvious specular effects.

of course i'm not suggesting you use hdri reflections on everything, matte surfaces would still take an age to render if you tried to do it realisticly. but this why white cards or hdri reflection maps make sence on glossy objects

thanx alot anthony
you are a great help.love ur short btw.really inspiring!
i'm gonna play around doing evrything u guys mentioned.

sweet

thanx alot anthony
you are a great help.love ur short btw.really inspiring!
i'm gonna play around doing evrything u guys mentioned.

sweet