BOSS Pro Light Set for Portraits & Promos [commercial]

classicZ

Is it possible to change the background to a different image?

SF-Design

Zoot said:

Is it possible to change the background to a different image?

Do you mean of the seamless backdrop? Yes, just select it and choose from the lots of material presets in folder "STEP 3 - Backdrop Mats". There are 15.
You can also fill it with your own shader presets or from other products.
You do not see it I guess in the texture based preview but in Iray Mode

Gogger

I have been using BOSS Pro lights for a while now and get consistently AWESOME results. I have tons of light sets, but this is hands down my go-to lighting!

Kharma

Artini said:

Also would like to hide the mesh light (on the right), but have it still provide the light to the scene.

 

PA_ThePhilosopher said:

The delay in render time may be due to using G8, as it requires about four times as much time to render. This light set is should be a fast rendering light set.

Also note, you can hide the lights by setting their opacity to .00001. However, you will not benefit from the reflections if you do this. The resultant render will not look as nice. 

-P

I bought these lights a while ago, and tried them but couldn't figure out wht I was doing, so reading this thread to get some insight and the above quote is one of  my issues.   How do I get the other lights and cameras to not show in my render depending on the angle?  This answer above seems to be counter productive.. you want the light in the scene but not the geometry so you say turn down the opacity but then you don't get the reflection..I don't understand the reasoning behind this ...the light doesn't work as it should unless you have this geometry in your scene?

Also, once I have everything loaded I don't get which camera angel I am supposed to choose to be the best cmaera angle as the visual aid shows

fastbike1

@Kharma "How do I get the other lights and cameras to not show in my render depending on the angle?  "

You do what every photographer does: Don't get the lights in the scene.

The best camera angle is the one you like the best. The product isn't going to read your mind.

barbult

Kharma said:

Artini said:

Also would like to hide the mesh light (on the right), but have it still provide the light to the scene.

 

PA_ThePhilosopher said:

The delay in render time may be due to using G8, as it requires about four times as much time to render. This light set is should be a fast rendering light set.

Also note, you can hide the lights by setting their opacity to .00001. However, you will not benefit from the reflections if you do this. The resultant render will not look as nice. 

-P

I bought these lights a while ago, and tried them but couldn't figure out wht I was doing, so reading this thread to get some insight and the above quote is one of  my issues.   How do I get the other lights and cameras to not show in my render depending on the angle?  This answer above seems to be counter productive.. you want the light in the scene but not the geometry so you say turn down the opacity but then you don't get the reflection..I don't understand the reasoning behind this ...the light doesn't work as it should unless you have this geometry in your scene?

Also, once I have everything loaded I don't get which camera angel I am supposed to choose to be the best cmaera angle as the visual aid shows

The product comes with cameras that are setup to provide the "right" view for the corresponding light set. The cameras are loaded into the scene with the lights. You can try each one to see which view looks best, if you want to. There are portrait cameras and full body cameras.

Kharma

Is it a must that you keep the figure at the default load position and have your render size always set at the default because when I use those cameras that are loaded into the scene with the lights I get some strange views like the face is right up against the camera or the infinity cove background is off to one side, things like that.

barbult

Kharma said:

Is it a must that you keep the figure at the default load position and have your render size always set at the default because when I use those cameras that are loaded into the scene with the lights I get some strange views like the face is right up against the camera or the infinity cove background is off to one side, things like that.

I don't think render size (number of pixels) matters. Aspect ratio would matter, because a wide frame could include some of the side lighting fixtures. I think it is important to have the figure at the world origin and facing forward for the included cameras. Remember that they are pre-aimed and setup to render that area. (The place the red mannequin loads is where the camera will aim) Of course you can move the figure and the lights and the cameras, but that just makes it harder on you. These are designed for and advertised as portrait lights, so the expectation is that you have one figure that is the subject you are trying to light. The best camera angle triangle on the floor is there to help you position a camera manually or check that the camera you have loaded is looking the right direction for the lights you have loaded. Select your render camera in the scene pane and then view the scene through the Perspective view. Position the Perspective view high up looking down so you can see that triangle. You should be able to see whether the camera that you selected in the Scene pane is pointing the  way the best camera angle triangle points. If not, you may see "wrong" stuff when rendering from that camera. You can turn off the visibility of that best camera angle triangle before rendering, if you are doing a full length shot and it gets into the field of view. In my opinion, that triangle should have been set to Visible in Render OFF by default. Same goes for the color reference plane.

Kharma

@barbult thanks so much for that explanation, helps alot!  I did mean the aspect ratio, not render size which explains why I was seeing "wrong stuff" in my render. I think PA's including what the aspect ratio  in the promos would help to understand the lighting a bit more.  I really appreciate the help, I get it now!!  :)

barbult

Kharma said:

@barbult thanks so much for that explanation, helps alot!  I did mean the aspect ratio, not render size which explains why I was seeing "wrong stuff" in my render. I think PA's including what the aspect ratio  in the promos would help to understand the lighting a bit more.  I really appreciate the help, I get it now!!  :)

I'm glad I could help. Did you see the PDF guide that comes with it? If not, you might find some useful information there, too.

Comets

I've tried loading the lights, setting the preset, and then parenting the lights to the mannequin. I then move the manequin to wherever I have my figure and overlay the mannequin head over the head of the figure I'm lighting up, then hide the mannequin. Works decently well though there are probably better ways of doing it.

DigitalSteam

Wow.  I tend to grab light sets with the intention of reverse-engineering them a bit to learn more about lighting, so I have a few - like 15 or 20, I'd guess? - and, at an initial test render I'd have to say this is the best one I've used so far.

I just plopped in a figure, posed it, and opened the BOSS lights in the content directory... And _then_ went to RTFM >.>;; ...Then made a new scene, loaded the dramatic lights, plopped in and posed a figure, and hit render, and... Just wow.  I keep looking at it, and thinking "I think that's the best damned lighting I've seen in a render yet."

I'd show you, but... It was a test. I just plopped in figure and posed it. I didn't bother dressing it.  >.>;;

Anyway... Awesome. Thank you. :)

3dOutlaw

Been wanting to get this a while, and finally did!  :)  Now the questions start  :(

I typically load my character first, and then lights...in this case, I am right-clicking the main icon for the light set and merging it.  Then I go to the props folder and apply the render settings, seems to work. (I assume the subset is there so I dont have to merge)  Is that process OK? 

I cannot get any of the light presets (the DSA's) to change the lights.  Trying to apply BOSS PLS 1-FF-D, and using the Face Front camera, but no change to get that dramatic look of darkness on the right.  Thoughts?  (DS4.12)

3dOutlaw

Never mind, I figured it out...this has an absolute path the the script, so you can't put them in a relative place in the content lib of your choosing, without the links breaking.  :(

vwrangler

3dOutlaw said:

Never mind, I figured it out...this has an absolute path the the script, so you can't put them in a relative place in the content lib of your choosing, without the links breaking.  :(

I'm glad you figured it out; I had no idea why they didn't work the way I thought they would. I've been handling them manually, sort of.

I wonder why they're set up that way? Do DSAs require an absolute path?

The good -- sort of -- news is, if you have a text editor that can do global edits, you can change the path in all the DSA files from "Light Presets/BOSS Portrait Light Set" to whatever you need, and the presets will then work as expected.

The bad -- sort of -- news is, if they ever get updated for any reason, you'll need to remember to do it again.

Artini

Does anybody figured it out, how to get rid of these ugly rectangle reflection, while using

https://www.daz3d.com/boss-pro-light-set-for-portraits-promos

I have adjusted the position of Babina 8 HD exactly as the mannequin place

and still could not get rid of these reflections.

Artini

Has switched to another camera ( 3-Face Half Left ), but these rectangular are still here.

Very frustrating...

fastbike1

@Artini "Has switched to another camera ( 3-Face Half Left ), but these rectangular are still here."

Those are the reflection of the lights. That is a natural phenomena of a light source shining in the eyes and is modeled by Iray. You can see that in real life photos as well. Without that kind of reflection, eyes look dull and dead. One can even see window reflections on natural light photographs.

If you don't like the rectangles, you need to replace the rectangular lights with round or oval ones. If you remove those lights completely, your portrait will be vastly worse.

Artini

fastbike1 said:

@Artini "Has switched to another camera ( 3-Face Half Left ), but these rectangular are still here."

Those are the reflection of the lights. That is a natural phenomena of a light source shining in the eyes and is modeled by Iray. You can see that in real life photos as well. Without that kind of reflection, eyes look dull and dead. One can even see window reflections on natural light photographs.

If you don't like the rectangles, you need to replace the rectangular lights with round or oval ones. If you remove those lights completely, your portrait will be vastly worse.

 Thanks a lot. I am not so good at postwork and this light system gives very nice renders.

I will try to change the settings for these mesh lights.

 

RiverSoft Art

Artini said:

fastbike1 said:

@Artini "Has switched to another camera ( 3-Face Half Left ), but these rectangular are still here."

Those are the reflection of the lights. That is a natural phenomena of a light source shining in the eyes and is modeled by Iray. You can see that in real life photos as well. Without that kind of reflection, eyes look dull and dead. One can even see window reflections on natural light photographs.

If you don't like the rectangles, you need to replace the rectangular lights with round or oval ones. If you remove those lights completely, your portrait will be vastly worse.

 Thanks a lot. I am not so good at postwork and this light system gives very nice renders.

I will try to change the settings for these mesh lights.

You can also change the lights to "ghost" lights by turning down the Cutoff Opacity to something like 0.00005.

fastbike1

@RiverSoftArt "You can also change the lights to "ghost" lights by turning down the Cutoff Opacity to something like 0.00005."

The you'll either lose the reflections in the eyes (dead eyes), or still have rectangular reflections. 

RiverSoft Art

fastbike1 said:

@RiverSoftArt "You can also change the lights to "ghost" lights by turning down the Cutoff Opacity to something like 0.00005."

The you'll either lose the reflections in the eyes (dead eyes), or still have rectangular reflections. 

Yes, but since he doesn't want the reflections, that is what I would do.  Of course, I want reflections so I don't do ghost lights unless the light would be on-camera

Artini

Actually, I would like to have reflections in the eyes, that looks more appealing to me.

I do not know, how to explain it better.

I am a visual guy and the default reflections in BOSS Pro Light Set just looks ugly to me.

 

Artini

One more try.

Noemi in default Genesis 8 Female pose with skin of Babina 8 and Monica hair.

Only has changed her expression, just to test, if her look depends on the pose applied.

https://www.daz3d.com/noemi-hd--smile-hd-expression-for-genesis-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/monica-hair-for-genesis-8-females

https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-soccer-mom-outfit-for-genesis-8-females

Knittingmommy

I love this light set. I've been using it since it first came out. One thing I wished was in the tip was what to do when you have really short characters. It took me forever to figure out the best way to do things was group all the lights together so I could drop them down in the scene (screenshot attached).

Finished render:

Artini

I think, I will do mostly close up renders with Boss Pro Light Set,

so I just move the short characters up and align their head with the mannequin head.

No need to move the lights, because the rest of the body is not visible in the renders, anyway.

Artini

I think, one just need practice, practice and practice...

Below is a render of Asher - https://www.daz3d.com/asher-hd-for-genesis-8-male

Artini

One more render of Asher. His look, at least for me, is good for testing different cameras / light sets...

Artini

Another render with more details.

Artini

Now, I am getting closer, to what I want - the smaller reflections.