February, 2020 - DAZ 3D New User Challenge - Lighting and Light Effects

Sisyphus1977

Kismet2012 said:

Sisyphus1977 said:

Here is my go at the intermediate challenge.  I just posed CJ8 with a multiple light set up.  I used something similar to a gobo for one of the lights.  My attempt was to create a diffuser in front of the emissive plane, that would mimic a honeycomb grid you may see in a light box.  Instead of creating a hexagon pattern, I used the voronoi noise in Affinity Photo to create the grid and apply the black and white image to the opacity parameter of the surface settings.

For those that are interested, I have included a second image of my scene setup.  The main emissive plane is set to a luminance value of 20,000, with watts as the luminance units, 30 for the value of the luminous efficiency and emission temperature of 6,500 K.  In front of that plane is another plane, just black for the base color and glossy color, with glossy weight to 0.  The black plane blocked most of the white light, but allowed some light to reach the subject.

For the neon tube, it is a cylinder with an emissive applied.  The luminance value is 1,000, with watts as the luminance units, 30 for the luminous efficiency and the emission temperature 0 K.  I placed the grid in front of another emissive plane (luminance 500, watts as luminance value, 30 for the luminous efficiency and emission temperature of 6,500 K).  The fill light is a spotlight with a spread angle of 20, light geometry set to disc, luminous flux set to 250 and temperature is default 6,500 K.

In the Render settings, tone mapping, ISO is 200, shutter speed is 1/200, f/stop is 4 and both burn highlights and crush blacks are set to 0.

 

Thank you for showing your setup.  You have achieved some really nice highlights and rim lights that help separate CJ 8 from the background.  Well done.

Thanks @Kismet2012 for the comment.  One thing people might pick up on is the overall framing and why I did not make it larger to have the complete figure in frame.  The main reason was the number of times I needed to adjust the size of the back planes to cast the amount of rim lighting that I liked based on the camera frame.  I ended up with this one.

 

LaPartita said:

@Sisyphus1977 - what a great image! And thank you so much for including the picture of your set up. I have zero background in photography, and I'm facinated by how people use such small studio-style vignettes in Daz. It's something I'd really like to learn how to do - both because of how success the technique is and because I think it would be much better for my computer than my current try-to-recreate-the-real-world style approach.

If you do a second version, I'd suggest tweaking her pose. The top half of her body seems oddly static when compared to the rest of her image. I think part of the problem is that her torso is over-rotated. I think you could untwist her by 5-10 degrees and get a much more natural looking pose without losing any of the muscular definition that your lighting shows off. Rotating her bottom half might actually work better than rotating her top half. That way you can keep the framing of her face and shoulders. I suspect it would also make the lighting on her rear end a little less noticable. Right now, I find the bright rim lighting on the lower half of her lower half (I hope that's a forum-appropriate way to say it!) a bit distracting, although that may just be personal taste. But I do think your lighting makes her abs the star of the image - so if I were you, I'd let that be the focal point of the composition.

Thanks for the comment and recommendations.  If I have time, I may do another version with a different pose.  Given the light setup (back planes rim lighting), I am not sure how much of the lower body illumination and backlight can be reduced.  The only way I can think of would be to add a floor plane to cut off the bottom portion of the back planes, but I don't know if that would reduce the overall effect too much.  I did do two other images (gallery link with all three) with different color grading (used Davinci Resolve 16.1.2) with blonde and red hair.  I may end up with one of those as final as the hair stands out a bit more.

Kismet2012

alex86fire said:

Kismet2012 said:

alex86fire said:

You guys are achieving some really amazing renders here.

Here is my first try at this, as I am pretty bad at lighting.

Would appreciate any advice to improve upon this.

 

Welcome to the New User Challenge @alex86fire. 

First thing I noticed is her foot and the tips of the feathers on the left wing is intersecting the floor.  You need to either raise your figure, which is throw off your lighting, or you can lower the background set. 

Are you using a single spotlight over the figure as your lighting source?  Are you using Iray or 3Delight?

The overhead spotlight is giving some really nice rim lighting and helping to separate her from the background.  Perhaps a soft spotlight coming from our right focused on her face will help to reveal her features.  Just enough light to help soften the shadows but not lose them completely.

 

 

Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated!

Regardng her foot and tip of the feathers, it was by design that way. She is in a sewer and that is sewer water she is in. Maybe I need to add something to the water to make it more believable, I just loaded it from https://www.daz3d.com/the-murky-sewer .

I am using Iray and have added a spotlight above the figure. It is meant to be representing the open sewer grate above her, bringing in light from the outside world.

I have added the spotlight to the right, focusing on her face. I have toyed with the lumens to get a nice result but I didn't touch the intensity or beam xponent at all as I didn't really understand what they do. I also didn't touch the two sided feature.

 

I missed the fact it was sewer water.  That makes sense.  The additional light is subtle but works.  Her face is light up just enough to bring out some details without losing all the other wonderful shadows.

I hope she doesn't have to stay down there for long.

Kismet2012

AndyMerzTV said:

Beginner Challenge: "Lighting"

Image title: He thinks he is a pop star!

Software used: Daz Studio 4.12
Photoshop for PNG -> JPG conversion

Never entered a competition on the forum before.

Welcome to the New User Challenge @AndyMertzTV.

Wonderful start.  His pose looks natural.  Love the undone shoe laces.

The lights in the bulding in the background works really well.

Is that light on the ground a fixed light?  Or is it some kind of portable light?  If portable have you tried placing it on the wall?  Or is it too distracting in that location?

 

bastian2560

Hi. I'm getting close to what i wont. No post work.

Image: Magic.

Edit:opss challenge two...

Shinji Ikari 9th

Had this idea hit me last weekend, so did what I could do with the time I had until the latest update to ESO went live Monday and it is basically a reinstall do to the changes made and it is not going to be done anytime soon with my Internet speed as it is.

0996ps

Challenge - Lighting
Title - Inept Lapse
Software Used - DAZ Studio 4.12 Pro, Clip Studio Paint EX 1.6.2, GIMP 2.10.



First Entry for Lighting.

Note: The only postwork was adding a watermark and applying denoise and sharpen filter to the image.

Rendering took more than 12 hours with 25000 Iterations in 1080-pixels. I believe turning the ceiling into emission surface inside the home to increase light is the culprit to the massive increase in rendering time because before I turned ceiling into emission surface, I rendered a 4320-pixel image within 4 hours which was of 2500 iterations. That 4320-pixels image has very little noise even when fully zoomed.

For now, I do not wish to go back and try creating point lights and rendering the image again but instead, I might work on other entries.

0996ps

Challenge - Light Effects
Title - Crimson Vedette
Software Used - DAZ Studio 4.12 Pro, Clip Studio Paint EX 1.6.2, GIMP 2.10.

First Entry for Light Effects.

Note: Rendered in 4320-pixels and resized to 1440-pixels. This render took less than one hour owing to the minimal use of props and lighting in the scene. The only postwork was adding a watermark and applying denoise and sharpen filter to the image. This scene includes:

1. Single Genesis 8 model with a variety of mixed morphs, clothing, and materials. 
2. A single spotlight with Heart Pattern Gobo and Clothing Gobo.
3. Two simple planes with custom shaders to create Background and Floor.

I wanted to try gel light as well but adding more lights diminished the Gobo Clothing around the model so I dropped the idea of gel lights in this render.

Kismet2012

bastian2560 said:

Hi. I'm getting close to what i wont. No post work.

Image: Magic.

Edit:opss challenge two...

Yes.  You have believable shadows and the source of light looks to be coming from the bulb being powered by the boy.

Kismet2012

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Had this idea hit me last weekend, so did what I could do with the time I had until the latest update to ESO went live Monday and it is basically a reinstall do to the changes made and it is not going to be done anytime soon with my Internet speed as it is.

That is a different image for you.  It really works.  I like the camera perspective.

AZDigitalArtist

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

Kismet2012

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

Very clever turning the underside of the umbrella into an emissive light. 

0996ps

Kismet2012 said:

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

Very clever turning the underside of the umbrella into an emissive light. 

It comes with umbrella product, I used same umbrella in my "Inept Lapse" entry. How do you feel about my two entries?

eligodesign

My second entry for the Beginners Challenge

Title: Teien no midori ryu (Garden of the Green Dragon)

Software: Daz Studio 4.12, iblm

0996ps

eligodesign said:

My second entry for the Beginners Challenge

Title: Teien no midori ryu (Garden of the Green Dragon)

Software: Daz Studio 4.12, iblm

 

Great render but Leaves are going through her arm and dragons head. There is probably some way to get collision between two but I have no idea how.

AZDigitalArtist

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

 

Kismet2012 said:

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

 

Very clever turning the underside of the umbrella into an emissive light. 

Yes, Tristan is correct, it comes with that product.  I've had this idea in my head for a while, and finally picked that umbrella up during the Valentines sales.  I definitely hit the limit with my poor little graphics card, though.  Time to get Nvidia.

sueya

Beginners Challenge Final Image: Man and Dog in Park

I added some daisies to the grass

eligodesign

TristanQEverett said:

eligodesign said:

My second entry for the Beginners Challenge

Title: Teien no midori ryu (Garden of the Green Dragon)

Software: Daz Studio 4.12, iblm

 

Great render but Leaves are going through her arm and dragons head. There is probably some way to get collision between two but I have no idea how.

Hello,

thank you for your reply. Yes, it is actually one leaf going through her arm (between chest and elbow). I don't know how to fix that. Perhaps in the scene tab, if there are some nodes in the prop that can be hidden.

Dragon is actually not affected, which isn't visible well from this angle.

wmiller314

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

This is beautiful. And that dress is super cute! What product is it? You did a really good job here. Hope I'm as good one day. 

Gordig

wmiller314 said:

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

This is beautiful. And that dress is super cute! What product is it? You did a really good job here. Hope I'm as good one day. 

https://www.daz3d.com/7th-ave-dforce-hanoi-fashion-for-genesis-8-females

Kismet2012

TristanQEverett said:

Kismet2012 said:

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

Very clever turning the underside of the umbrella into an emissive light. 

 

It comes with umbrella product, I used same umbrella in my "Inept Lapse" entry. How do you feel about my two entries?

Your images look great. 

alex86fire

I've tinkered with my image a little more. Reduced the top spotlight area of effect and added multiple zones of emittance on the water to seem to reflect the spotlight.

Please let me know if you think it is better and if there is anything else you think I could do to improve it.

Kismet2012

eligodesign said:

My second entry for the Beginners Challenge

Title: Teien no midori ryu (Garden of the Green Dragon)

Software: Daz Studio 4.12, iblm

This is a really tranquil image.  I really like your colour palette. 

Kismet2012

alex86fire said:

I've tinkered with my image a little more. Reduced the top spotlight area of effect and added multiple zones of emittance on the water to seem to reflect the spotlight.

Please let me know if you think it is better and if there is anything else you think I could do to improve it.

This is better.  I went back and compared this version to the previous images you posted and this is the best one.  The spotlight is tighter which really helps to see the idea of a man hole above her head.

Kismet2012

sueya said:

Beginners Challenge Final Image: Man and Dog in Park

I added some daisies to the grass

Looks good sueya. 

0996ps

Created this scene for 2nd Light Effects entry but I am not sure if I can even render it with so many models, clothing and lights. I hope I can before the challenge closes.

eligodesign

Kismet2012 said:

eligodesign said:

My second entry for the Beginners Challenge

Title: Teien no midori ryu (Garden of the Green Dragon)

Software: Daz Studio 4.12, iblm

This is a really tranquil image.  I really like your colour palette. 

thank you very much :) i'm glad you like it.

eligodesign

Kaye Kaye said:

Thanks, @Olo_Ordinaire and @TrisValentine.

This is the finished piece, with post work. I do like it when there's not that much to do because I got it mostly how I wanted it in Daz. :)

And on to the next render!

(No, no, I should be writing... Oops?)

excellent work! i like the composition and the sources of light :)

eligodesign

TristanQEverett said:

Challenge - Lighting
Title - Inept Lapse
Software Used - DAZ Studio 4.12 Pro, Clip Studio Paint EX 1.6.2, GIMP 2.10.



First Entry for Lighting.

Note: The only postwork was adding a watermark and applying denoise and sharpen filter to the image.

Rendering took more than 12 hours with 25000 Iterations in 1080-pixels. I believe turning the ceiling into emission surface inside the home to increase light is the culprit to the massive increase in rendering time because before I turned ceiling into emission surface, I rendered a 4320-pixel image within 4 hours which was of 2500 iterations. That 4320-pixels image has very little noise even when fully zoomed.

For now, I do not wish to go back and try creating point lights and rendering the image again but instead, I might work on other entries.

well done render :) i like the story and the compostion. looking forward to see also your last entry.

AZDigitalArtist

wmiller314 said:

AZDigitalArtist said:

Challenge:  Lighting

"Nonconformity".  Sometimes, you just have to go your own way.  

This is beautiful. And that dress is super cute! What product is it? You did a really good job here. Hope I'm as good one day. 

Gordig beat me to it, lol.  Yes, Hanoi, with one of the textures:  https://www.daz3d.com/7th-ave-dforce-hanoi-fashion-for-genesis-8-females

Thank you for the lovely compliment!  I've been doing digital art for three years, but just started rendering in DAZ last July.

Kismet2012

TristanQEverett said:

Created this scene for 2nd Light Effects entry but I am not sure if I can even render it with so many models, clothing and lights. I hope I can before the challenge closes.

Ambitious scene.  Good luck.