Please help me about the !uber area lighting !

13

Comments

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    Agreed Richard. Points I never thought of or never used myself but I can why some would wnat to scale negatively. So not so Stupid but incomplete..hows that?

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited January 2013

    Here's the sphere...

    http://www.sharecg.com/v/66946/view/5/3D-Model/Sphere

    The problem is that there are a number of products, some freebies and some in the store (mostly older ones, I think) that used negative scaling to make the R/L pairs...jewellery being the most common, but I think it was done with some shoes, too.


    Szark said:
    Oh well what a stupid thing to do. :)

    As noted earlier, it helps if people want to use negative scale to make a mirror image of an item. There are competing desires here, so what we really need is some kind of property - perhaps at the object level, perhaps a material setting - that lets the user pick which way the mesh, or a material zone on the mesh, behaves.

    Probably the best place to put it would be a check box on the Create primitive dialog...something like "Create with reversed normals"...that way no negative scaling would need to be used. Although a 'flip normals' by material sounds nice, too.

    Post edited by mjc1016 on
  • wancowwancow Posts: 2,708
    edited December 1969

    Got it to work! MJC, I couldn't get yours to work, so I figured out what I did wrong in HEX and made it work... it has to do with the UVMap on your sphere...

    hdritest.jpg
    600 x 600 - 228K
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 99,954
    edited December 1969

    Shader Mixer does, as I recall, have the tools to reverse normals - I think, though, that it requires showing the Advanced options for some bricks.

  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    wancow said:
    Got it to work! MJC, I couldn't get yours to work, so I figured out what I did wrong in HEX and made it work... it has to do with the UVMap on your sphere...

    hmm any advantage to upgrading from 4.5.1.6 as I don't have any problems with it.. (other than V4 shoes not autofitting) ..

  • edited January 2013

    wancow said:
    Got it to work! MJC, I couldn't get yours to work, so I figured out what I did wrong in HEX and made it work... it has to do with the UVMap on your sphere...

    HI...
    Can you tell me the different what your process of this work from that IBL tutorial video?
    thank you a lot

    And where i can buy mirror shader? like that material in supersuit in the video...
    and ur figure

    Post edited by b9502032_f6fbea2931 on
  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    I fixed the sphere I uploaded, so it works right now...

    Basically, if you use that sphere, all you need to do is apply the UberAreaLight to it and size it up...then the rest of the video is the same...as to placing the image and all of that.

  • edited January 2013

    mjc1016 said:
    I fixed the sphere I uploaded, so it works right now...

    Basically, if you use that sphere, all you need to do is apply the UberAreaLight to it and size it up...then the rest of the video is the same...as to placing the image and all of that.

    oh thank you!

    how can i cange and find the shader of figure to mirror the atmosphere image
    i am sorry i am real new

    Post edited by b9502032_f6fbea2931 on
  • cipher_Xcipher_X Posts: 121
    edited December 1969

    b9502032 said:
    how can i cange and find the shader of figure to mirror the atmosphere image
    i am sorry i am real new

    You can use the DS default shader. Select your whole figure in the surface tab. Set the diffuse color to black. Set the reflection color to white and strength to 100%. Set lighting model to Glossy Plastic. Now your model will be a mirror and reflect whatever is in the scene.

  • edited December 1969

    cipher_X said:
    b9502032 said:
    how can i cange and find the shader of figure to mirror the atmosphere image
    i am sorry i am real new

    You can use the DS default shader. Select your whole figure in the surface tab. Set the diffuse color to black. Set the reflection color to white and strength to 100%. Set lighting model to Glossy Plastic. Now your model will be a mirror and reflect whatever is in the scene.


    NO
    Its not working beacuse its just whole black!

  • edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:
    I fixed the sphere I uploaded, so it works right now...

    Basically, if you use that sphere, all you need to do is apply the UberAreaLight to it and size it up...then the rest of the video is the same...as to placing the image and all of that.

    its something wrong here...

    i already set the sample to 128 (video just 50)
    but the bump still really much
    and the whole pic is not clean as the video's performance

    01.jpg
    1440 x 900 - 378K
  • cipher_Xcipher_X Posts: 121
    edited December 1969

    b9502032 said:
    NO
    Its not working beacuse its just whole black!

    Here are the steps that I use [it is DS3 but should work similar in DS4.5]

    • Create a new primitive sphere, 24 segments and 8 sides [I noticed that the more sides that you have the longer rendering time as the geometry is more complicated]

    • I name the sphere Light Sphere in the Scene Tab

    • In the Parameters tab I set the Light Sphere to Cast Shadows Off. I don't know if you really need to do this but I am use to doing it when using skydome's so it is a habit.

    • Select the sphere in the scene tab and surface tab and then apply the Uber Area Base to it.

    • Go to the surface tab and apply your lat/long map to the Light Sphere in the diffuse channel and ambient channel. Turn on the ambient channel and set ambient color to white and strength to 100%. Set the Light Intensity to 300% and the Samples to 200 as well [more if you render and artifacts show up].

    • I then scale the Light Sphere to whatever size I need but for the example set it to 600%. I will bypass the X negative scaling [though I have to do it in DS3 to -100 on the X Scale].

    • Create another primitive sphere, 24 segments and 24 sides. Scale and position it within the Light Sphere.

    • In the surface tab change the new sphere to Diffuse color Black, turn the Ambient Off, Set Specular to Glossy 75% and Strength 30% Specular color a light grey, Reflection color is White and Strength 100%. Lighting Model set to Glossy Plastic.

    • You can use this same setting for V4, V5, Genesis, I would assume. Make sure to remove all the texture maps from the diffuse channels, if you are wanting a mirror effect.

    [One other note. When I first started using this Light Sphere technique I did notice that the larger your sphere and the further the sides are away from the main objects the less lighting you get but that makes sense as that would happen with real world lighting. Your last post where you are not getting a lot of light to the figure may mean that the sphere's sides are too far away from the object or you need to ramp up the intensity]

    reflection-sphere.jpg
    517 x 600 - 294K
  • edited January 2013

    cipher_X said:
    b9502032 said:
    NO
    Its not working beacuse its just whole black!

    Here are the steps that I use [it is DS3 but should work similar in DS4.5]

    • Create a new primitive sphere, 24 segments and 8 sides [I noticed that the more sides that you have the longer rendering time as the geometry is more complicated]

    • I name the sphere Light Sphere in the Scene Tab

    • In the Parameters tab I set the Light Sphere to Cast Shadows Off. I don't know if you really need to do this but I am use to doing it when using skydome's so it is a habit.

    • Select the sphere in the scene tab and surface tab and then apply the Uber Area Base to it.

    • Go to the surface tab and apply your lat/long map to the Light Sphere in the diffuse channel and ambient channel. Turn on the ambient channel and set ambient color to white and strength to 100%. Set the Light Intensity to 300% and the Samples to 200 as well [more if you render and artifacts show up].

    • I then scale the Light Sphere to whatever size I need but for the example set it to 600%. I will bypass the X negative scaling [though I have to do it in DS3 to -100 on the X Scale].

    • Create another primitive sphere, 24 segments and 24 sides. Scale and position it within the Light Sphere.

    • In the surface tab change the new sphere to Diffuse color Black, turn the Ambient Off, Set Specular to Glossy 75% and Strength 30% Specular color a light grey, Reflection color is White and Strength 100%. Lighting Model set to Glossy Plastic.

    • You can use this same setting for V4, V5, Genesis, I would assume. Make sure to remove all the texture maps from the diffuse channels, if you are wanting a mirror effect.

    [One other note. When I first started using this Light Sphere technique I did notice that the larger your sphere and the further the sides are away from the main objects the less lighting you get but that makes sense as that would happen with real world lighting. Your last post where you are not getting a lot of light to the figure may mean that the sphere's sides are too far away from the object or you need to ramp up the intensity]

    i try to reduce the scale of sphere
    but there still so many bump in my skin


    Image removed by mod for nudity. Please review this thread http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/3279_4/

    Post edited by frank0314 on
  • cipher_Xcipher_X Posts: 121
    edited December 1969

    b9502032 said:
    i try to reduce the scale of sphere
    but there still so many bump in my skin

    What do you have the Samples set at? With some area light setups I have gone up as high as 800 samples to get the render clean, with no noticeable noise/artifacts.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    The Uber Area lighting Samples work better with a low Advanced Render Settings "Shading Rate" value. Lowering to 0.20 even down to 0.01 can have a big impact on quality even when the Uber Area light smaples are at 128.

    b9502032 when you say bump do you mean noise, grainy render? Or do you mean the skin is too bumpy as in the Bump Map settings are too high?

  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    ok upgraded to 4.5.1.56

    and yes if you follow the tutorial exactly the scene doesn't light up..

    however when I removed the "Area Light Headlamp Blocker" from the scene (and I am not sure what it does)
    everything works.

    headlamp-blocker.jpg
    596 x 736 - 42K
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited January 2013

    Area Light Headlamp Blocker was designed to tell 3Delight that there is a light in the scene. Unlike the usual lights that trigger what the Area Light Headlamp Blocker does and Uber Area Lighting being a surface related light source.

    Funny it should render the light without it though, very weird happenings.

    Post edited by Szark on
  • cipher_Xcipher_X Posts: 121
    edited December 1969

    Rareth said:
    ok upgraded to 4.5.1.56

    and yes if you follow the tutorial exactly the scene doesn't light up..

    however when I removed the "Area Light Headlamp Blocker" from the scene (and I am not sure what it does)
    everything works.

    There has to be a bug. Here is the explanation of the HeadLamp from omnifreakers site:

    "Since AreaLights are not true lights in the scene, but rather light emitting surfaces, if there is only an UberAreaLight light source in the scene, DAZStudio will not detect any lights and automatically add a HeadLamp light for you. By creating a dummy light, we prevent this from happening. If you have other lights in your scene, you may delete the dummy light. You never need more than one dummy light in the scene."

    When I delete the HeadLamp in DS3, with no other lights in the scene, the whole scene goes black.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited January 2013

    cipher_X said:

    When I delete the HeadLamp in DS3, with no other lights in the scene, the whole scene goes black.

    Exactly this is why I find this whole thing strange.

    and thx for grabbing omnifreakers explanation

    Post edited by Szark on
  • cipher_Xcipher_X Posts: 121
    edited December 1969

    Szark said:
    Exactly this is why I find this whole thing strange.

    Same here.

    Szark you have used the Area Lights probably more than I have and I do not have DS4.5 to make any tests. I know when one of the DS4 builds came out there was a problem with area lights not being seen or something to that affect but then an update was issued correcting the problem. Maybe that update also made it so DS does see a mesh light as a light emitter so there is no reason for the HeadLamp anymore? :ohh:

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    It wouldn't surprise me cipher_X

    Since using Daz Studio every now and then I find something new. Example at one stage we need a Headlamp for every Area Light, I tested this in early DS3A when I removed all but one haedlamp bloacker and all but one light source rendered. The with the last version of DS3A I could remove all but one headlamp and all Area lightings rendered.

    Yes I think DS4.5.0.49 or .90 had an Area light bug your are right.

    I do look at the change logs for Daz Studio but to be honest they don't give much info, just the highlights so to speak so it is hard to say what is happening.

  • edited December 1969

    Szark said:
    The Uber Area lighting Samples work better with a low Advanced Render Settings "Shading Rate" value. Lowering to 0.20 even down to 0.01 can have a big impact on quality even when the Uber Area light smaples are at 128.

    b9502032 when you say bump do you mean noise, grainy render? Or do you mean the skin is too bumpy as in the Bump Map settings are too high?

    i am in my company now so i cant use daz studio.
    and my image is deleted by adnministrator
    so i will render a new image when i am get off work
    thank you a lot.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Some very important fact to keep in mind.

    1.Since 4.5.1.49 turning the sphere inside out DOES NOT invert the normals...that is a purposeful change and is even stated the ChageLog. (version 4.5.1.43 was the specific version for that change).

    2. In some earlier builds Arealights were broken. This was a 3Delight problem and was fixed by an update to the 3Delight engine (I believe the same update also fixed the 'stuck' raytrace depth problem, too).

    3. Without the Blocker in place, you are rendering the scene with the 'camera' light...as what you would get without any other lights in the scene (not lights added and turned off...no lights at all). With the blocker removed and the image in the Diffuse, Ambient and Light Color channels, it will appear as if it were doing something, but the primary light is actually coming from the 'Headlamp'.

    4. Intensity/samples/shading rate are NOT fixed things when dealing with arealights...they MUST be changed to get the desired results. The image used also has a huge impact...not only how it is mapped to the sphere, but it's initial size/quality and 'dynamic range'. Also how the image sphere is oriented. I can render an image with an insanely high sample rate and shading rate of 4 and get it to come out noise free, or I can lower the samples and shading rate to do the same thing.

    5. In 3Delight, there aren't any 'real' emmiters...there are lights, surfaces and volumes...and tricks to make one into the other. If you look at the DZArealight SDK example, you will see that it adds light like functions to a surface...it doesn't actually change the surface into a light. The Headlamp blocker is a 'light' with no input and no output...but it fills the actual requirement for the scene to have a light. At least from the DS side of things, if there isn't another light in the scene (as in NOT THERE...not 'off'), it will create a distant light at the same position, pointing in the same direction as the camera...it has no shadows and no intensity control...in essence it's a 'constant light'. This type of light, in the world of video cameras (at least is the headlamp). Without the blocker, even with an arealight, this light will be created.

    To render a scene in 3Delight (or any other Renderman renderer...and most other types of renderers, too), you need three things...a surface (can be attached to geometry, but doesn't have to be), a light (otherwise you won't have anything to see, unless you enjoy blackness) and a camera (in it's simplest form something saying that this is the 'look from' direction). DS will attempt to fill those requirements, if something is missing...or just refuse to pass the scene on to the renderer.

  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    About windows 7 64bit 4.5.1.56 and Uber Area light concluded in newest genesis startar essential kits)
    there seems no problem about AreaLight - HeadLamp Blocker.:roll:

    (mjc1016 told) HeadLamp Blocker is dammy light of Area light to recognize daz sutdio "there is scene light ",and turn off DAZ camera light.

    (DS can not recognize " area light(mesh light)" is kind of light without dummy head lump)

    so that when I use two area light, I only need one of HeadLamp Blocker.

    I render two pic, one pic with one HeadLamp Blocker, with two arealight.
    one pic with two HeadLamp Blocker, with two arealight. there is no difrenence about render pic.

    But when I change blocker as "invisible", it work in 3d view as if, Block light turned off.

    summarize,,,

    Every scene with some area lights(mesh lights) need only one HeadLamp Blocker .(dummy light) in ds 4.5.1 current
    product version. (windows ^^;)

    and visible or invsible of "HeadLamp Blocker" in 3d view , it work as if these blocker are actual head Lamp.
    but make no difference about picture of render.

  • edited January 2013

    here is my render i set smaple to 146
    and theres many bump
    but its seems got work because use MJC'S sphere thank you a lot
    but whats different about the sphere? so i can creat a sphere by any three D software and filp its normal vector?
    then export obj file to daz studio then done this ?

    and why theres bumps?
    do i need to set sample to more the now
    but that video just set it 50

    01.jpg
    1440 x 900 - 308K
    Post edited by b9502032_f6fbea2931 on
  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    you may need more quality of shading rate.
    I do not understand about so many setting,

    but I tested with many shading rate, and sample combineation, then saved the pic .
    when I first tried uber area lights.

    most of the dot,, bump can be remove by shading rate quality. it is more clearly work than adjust smaple I think.
    how you set your shading rate in 3delight?
    Of course these pic keep same sample value.

    these 4 pic is renderd with shading rate "0.5", "0.3","0.1"
    and 0.05( I remember it take so long times,,TT)

    I think there is clear difference between 0.05 and 0.1.
    (under the 0.2 there seems not many difference I heared before,,, but it is clear I think,)

    03_def_shRate0_0_5.jpg
    400 x 500 - 153K
    03_def_shRate0_1.jpg
    400 x 500 - 156K
    03_def_shRate0_3.jpg
    400 x 500 - 161K
    03_def_shRate0_5.jpg
    400 x 500 - 162K
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    b9502032 said:

    and why theres bumps?
    do i need to set sample to more the now
    but that video just set it 50

    Here was my answer from page 5, very last post
    The Uber Area lighting Samples work better with a low Advanced Render Settings "Shading Rate" value. Lowering to 0.20 even down to 0.01 can have a big impact on quality even when the Uber Area light smaples are at 128.

    b9502032 when you say bump do you mean noise, grainy render? Or do you mean the skin is too bumpy as in the Bump Map settings are too high?

  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    Ah,, Szark said already,, sorry.

    I relieve me,, because sometimes I feel if it is better to set 0.01. with uber area lights,,
    now Szark said it may work better.

    (actually I tested it and felt so, but I could not believe at that time ^^; )

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    No need to be sorry. It is great to see you testing things and learning and learning fast too.

  • edited December 1969

    Szark said:
    b9502032 said:

    and why theres bumps?
    do i need to set sample to more the now
    but that video just set it 50

    Here was my answer from page 5, very last post
    The Uber Area lighting Samples work better with a low Advanced Render Settings "Shading Rate" value. Lowering to 0.20 even down to 0.01 can have a big impact on quality even when the Uber Area light smaples are at 128.

    b9502032 when you say bump do you mean noise, grainy render? Or do you mean the skin is too bumpy as in the Bump Map settings are too high?

    oh iam sorry i think i just have dim eyesight

Sign In or Register to comment.