Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8
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Good to hear your mother didn't break anything:) Best wishes for her recovery.
Thanks so much for all the well wishes. I've got to get some sleep then head back to the hospital, but I did manage to finish up the tweaks I was doing and get a render finished for the Ghost Light 2 product. Here's what you can do for portraits using just that set. (And if you combine it with the first Ghost Lights, you'd be able to add more "planes" (ghost lights) and rotate them around. This was an overhead ceiling light and a round ball (both found in the second set only.)
If you're wondering if you need the first set to use the second one, that answers that- NO. Does the first set add to the second? Yes, because it's the flat planes. The second one gives you a square cube (with different zones for each side, top, and bottom) and has lamps, a flashlight, etc. Be sure and read what props are in the second one.
For Cailin, she was much too ruddy, so I changed her skin tone and also fiddled with the White Point. (Try 255/222/216) Remember it's complementary colors, so I used peach to get rid of the red- NOT BLUE- because the reds/oranges are complementary and will change to a more bluish color.
TIP: You may want to increase the glossiness .reflectivity of the skin slightly when using the Ghost Lights. (I did.)
So I am headed to get some sleep then back to the hospital- poor mom, there for Mother's Day!!! Happy Mother's Day to all moms and grandmas! My son made me a card and sent it to me via text- he used his video game characters. How adorable!!!!
Anyway, if you have any questions about the Ghost Lights, ask over on the Commercial thread in Commons. And did you read that Yur DIgital is closing? It was posted on the sale thread. I haven't shopped there, but in case you do or had, thought I'd mention it here too- you need to get your downloads before IIRC May 28th.
Hi Novica, sorry i'm a bit late to the events here. My very best wishes to your mom, i really hope she makes a swift recovery! Thank you so much for all your help too, it's very much appreciated!
Novica, I'm so relieved to hear your mother didn't break anything. Hospital may not be the best place to celebrate Mother's Day, but I'm sure you'll make it better by being there. And I hope she's back in her own place soon. as well as back on her feet. Hugs. For you and your mom.
Sorry about your mom, Novica. I hope she has a speedy recovery.
Good news, Novica. A hip break can be difficult to overcome. Glad she doesn't have to deal with it.
Glad to hear there were no broken bones, Novica. Those are usually hard to bounce back from as you get older. Best wishes!
So, has anyone picked up the Pose Randomizer? If so, any thoughts on how well it works? Ease of use?
Glad to hear things were not as bad as you feared for your mother - hope she's back out soon.
Nice Ghost Light Kit 2 renders - I shall be picking that up soon, I expect. (I gather there's a KindredArts and Joe Quick sale coming soon so maybe I'll be grabbing even more tomorrow)
Very good news! Very happy for you and your mom. So glad her hip is intact.
And wishing the Ghost Light Kit 2 had a better discount. :/
Was traveling since yesterday so I just saw the bad then better news about your mom. Hope she recovers quickly and best wishes to her and you for Mother's Day!
Very glad to hear nothing was broken-speedy recovery for Mom!
So glad that she will be okay!
Wanted to throw in another recommendation for the Iray Ghost Lights 2 set. Not only are the lamps, flashlight and lantern very easy to use and make lighting a closed room a breeze, there is a mod cube where you can put a different colored light on each side. This was my favorite feature and I am going to be using it a lot. This cave is lit entirely by one cube and a tiny spotlight in front of her face. ( I helped beta test as well)
Nice image. I have GL #1 these lights woujld be a good addition as well.
I like the alien cave render. I find I cannot use many emissive lights in my scenes, so I have to pass on ghost lights and other light sets which rely on thist tech... Because they render pretty slow for me.
It was nice seeing the Summer Means Michael 4 & Victoria 4 BLOWOUTS sale today. So I added the GL#2 set and
as Andrey Pestryakov is part of the featured artist sale, was able to get the "Tropical Bundle" and "Forest Bundle for 7.19 each. I must say that there are lots of nice props included.
The original ghost lights have actually cut my render time considerably. Not quite as much with the second set but still faster than when I try and create the stuff myself. I know several other people have mentioned a reduction in render time as well.
Someone with more experience than I explained it a long time ago. Iray has to do light calculations for every polygon on an emissive surface. the more polygons, the longer it takes to render. The original Ghost Lights consist of single-poly planes, so they render very fast, especially as they are one sided. I expect to purchase IGLK2 later today, so I'm making an educated guess based on what has been stated here and in the thread in The Commons... The IGLK2 props are a bit more complicated than single-poly plans. With a few extra polys, they will render slower than the original IGLK, but still much faster than your typical object/material zone turned emissive.
You don't have to purchase either kit to take advantage of Ghost Lights. KA did a nice tutorial on how to create your own before he packaged up the idea for sale: Ghost Lights: Interior lighting Tutorial
I think you might be surprised how fast an image will render with one or two ghost lights creating ambient light.
I do own ghost lights. I haven't experienced much of a render speed boost to be honest. I've heard others mention this, but haven't experienced it. I Do wish it were true for me.
Iray Ghost Lights 2 Portrait Tutorial In 13 Steps
For those of you starting out, or who want a portrait quick setup, here's a tutorial to achieve this look It will give you a different color cascading onto the bust and shoulders from above. Il love the slight red on her cheek, tip of the ear, upper forehead, and outlining her neck. If you use a different pose, you'll get some fun results near all these areas.
I'm going to give you the EXACT SETTINGS. Keep in mind Brianna is an African American so you'll need to darken the lights for lighter skinned folks. (I use the Surface pane, not the Ghost Light presets. Sliding sliders gets more specific as the increments of change are much less, aka, not 100)
My render time: 3 minutes 47 seconds.
Items used in addition to the Ghost Lights 2 (and that is THE ONLY LIGHTS USED) are FW Brianna, Eliot Hair (Gen3M/F), Gothic Lolita
Here we go.
1. Load your figure World Center and dress him/her. Keep in mind bushy and tall hair will affect how your lights hit the face, mine has tall hair. Shorter hair will put more of the top lighting onto the face. For this tutorial, pick a bushy, tall hair.
2. Apply Fashion Model Pose #9 or something similar. Y Rotate your figure 130.80 and use Front View, shift it slightly so the white "X" on the cube is pointing slightly to your left. (In other words, we're not using dead center for the view, but you can.)
3. Content Library>Light Presets>Iray Ghost Lights Kit 2>Utility Props>Light Ball. DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER INTO THAT MENU. This is so easy, it's clearly marked- the rest of those options are for the Mod BOX only. We're using two Light Balls. So just click and make two balls, don't move them.
4. While we're there in Props, load a Light Dome.
5. Go to Ceiling Lights and load "C"
6. For ALL of these you'd go to GLK Materials. Your two choices are:
a.) Artificial Light Presets (which is Emission Temperature in Surface pane) (the color of your lights.)
b.) Intensity Presets (which is Luminance in Surface pane.) (the brightness of the lights).
Now, first notice when you click on GLK presets, you will see the Apply Before Presets! Neither the color of your lights or the brightness will take effect until you click this-BUT- I like to position my red planes (the ghost lights) before I make them disappear. So at this point, you'd be simply loading your lamps, light balls, whatever and putting them where you want them to go. Then click the Apply Before Presets. Let's wait on that so you can see where we're putting our props.
TIP: Once you make them go "poof" you simply select them in Scene and white brackets will show you exactly where they are. Then, click on them with the Surface Selection tool and you'll get a handy gold outline! So then you can move them around easily without having to Debug them to get them to show again!
6. In Scene, right click and rename the first Light Ball "Light Ball Right." In Parameters, with Light Ball Right still selected in the Scene pane, the XYZ coordinates are: -113 / 142 / 112 You'll notice I put this near the front, to the right. Keep the scale the same.
7. In Scene, right click and rename the other one "Light Ball Front." Keep it selected and in Parameters, the XYZ coordinates for that one are -5.50 / 195 / 135. Keep the scale the same.
8. In Scene, select Light Dome and those coordinates are Y translation 275.
9. In Scene, pay attention- this is slightly different: select the Ceiling Light and the XYZ coordinates in Parameters are -5.57 / 195.15 / -19.60
NOW- click on Ceiling Light in Scene pane and open it up to the submenu and select Ghost Light. I move that up to touch the lamp, by default it loads further down. To get my results, that light has to be the same distance! For Ghost Light, the Y translation is 17.13
10. So now that we have them all in position (yes, we're lighting with a dome, ceiling light, and two light balls!) it's time for you to click them in Scene (hold CTRL and you can do as a group, all at once) then go to the GLK Materials option and Apply Before Presets! to make the red planes disappear. At this point you can use the GLK Materials options to set the color of the light and brightness, I use those as quick click testers then fine tune in Surfaces.
11. Using Artificial Light Presets, you select each of your lights in Scene pane, then apply your choice. (I didn't test the CNTRL click to do as a group) I used 6000K (white) for all except the Light Ball Right. Use 1000K for that one (red.) So you have all the light color done.
12. To do the light intensity, you will click on each one in Scene pane, then go to Surfaces pane and put these numbers in Luminance. Normally you would still be in the GLK Materials Options and test using Intensity Presets, then fine tune in Surfaces pane.
Light Ball Right: 571.92
Light Ball Front: 1107.66
Light Dome: 193.20
Click GHOST LIGHT under Ceiling Light in Surface Pane: (If you forget and select Ceiling Light, you'd just select LIGHT in the list under Ceiing Light in Surfaces) : 6858.78
13. Now in Render Settings Pane>Tone Mapping- Change the Film ISO first, so it doesn't move the Exposure Value-
Film ISO 158.95, but darker down into the 130's gives dramatic lighting. For white skinned people, start with around 135.
Exposure Value: 13.60
If you want her lighter, you'd LOWER this number. The Burn Highlights and Crush Blacks are both .17 (due to the white striped clothing, to avoid glare I kept the Burn Highlights lower. If you have darker clothes, put that up to .30 to .40 and lower Crush Blacks to about .15)
EDIT: Use Scene Only. If you use the Dome and Scene, lower the Environment Intensity (in small increments, such as 1.0 down to .95, down to .90 A little does a lot!
Headed back to the hospital, mom will be there through Thursday. She's sitting in a chair, off the IVs (pain meds by mouth) and relaxing much more than if she were back at the residence. They have levels of care there but mom couldn't go back to her apartment, and unfortunately right now the specialized care is two people in a room- so the hospital, with large private rooms, is perfect! TTYL, hope the tutorial is fun for you. I didn't proofread it, but I went step by step and "did" it as I typed (took all afternoon) so I think it's fine. Any questions, we have a couple of the beta testers as contributors here, so Ice Dragon Art and RGcincy know their stuff and can assist. (and others as well of course.) TTYL!
Yes I will be around off and on all evening.
Glad your mom's doing ok!
@tabascojack Thanks so much! I swung by the barn on the way home and Stetson was like, "Where's my carrots?" so I "borrowed" some from Flash's human (since Flash always gets half the bag every time I feed Stetson. They are usually the only two horses that are inside in the afternoons during the summer, and it's neat because they are stalls right next to each other. They're still going out all day right now, but summer heat's coming!)
Please note- I forgot to mention to use Scene Only for the tutorial, and the backdrop is from our Free Backgrounds that is linked in my signature. I think that is one of SereneNights.
That's a great lighting job, really shows her off. Thanks for the detailed steps! You should capture this in your tips section if you haven't already (but knowing you, you've already have).
I'm catching up on the favorite renders/gallery renders thread, and here's one you really need to see/comment on. It's amazing. If you haven't pointed out your favorite renders in your gallery or in your Art Studio thread, tell us about them so we can pop in and Like/comment.
Catching up! Sorry I'm late, LOL. Glad to hear your mom is okay, Novica.
@Sonja That mod cube render is awesome! I love all the colors!
The most recent version of Daz-Deal's addon lists gallery and forum references. I checked out a few products and many have references back to Novica reviews threads. This looks like it will make finding prior reviews easier (or at least faster) than searching on Google.