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Because it's a spotlight. If you want the rest of the scene to be lit, you need other lights, too.
Will,
I thought this might be the case, despite the fact the the PDF admonishes you to turn off all other lights. I'm about to run out of weekend but I'll have another wrestle with this next weekend.
Thanks again for your help.
Alex.
Make sure your gamma is at the default level of 2.2. Anything lower than 2.2 and your scene will appear dark with a higher contrast.
Also, to reduce the light-saturation of an object without having to reduce the light itself, you can simply turn down the BASE COLOR of the object's material from #FFFFFF to a medium grey. I do this trick a lot when working with light and it helps dial in a scene quickly.
-P
I can, for the love of God, not find the pdf manual.
Not in C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\Props\Epic Godrays & Volumetric Light
Not in C:\Program Files (x86)\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio3\content\ReadMe's
Not in C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4
Why does it have to be so hard to find manuals? Just put it online and link it in the wiki please: http://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/files/prod/32459/
@IamUman
I believe the manual is in the Readme's folder (Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\ReadMe's\32459_epic-props-godrays-and-volumetric-lights-for-iray-user-guide). I had originally placed it in the Props folder, since I was still new as a PA and wasn't familar with protocol in this regard. But on release, it was moved to the Readme folder.
Sorry for the mixup about that,
-P
Found it
C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\ReadMe's\32459_epic-props-godrays-and-volumetric-lights-for-iray-user-guide.pdf
Thanks!
My render: http://iamuman.deviantart.com/art/Godrays-test-646136226
I think you can achieve some really cool effects with this prop and it is also quite easy to use. An issue for me is that I need other lights to make my subject textures (like skin) look realistic. If I switch off all lights except the Godray light (like you suggest in the tutorial) I lose a lot of the "realistic quality" that I look for in my renders. It is in fact possible to use the Godray with other lights but the rendertimes become exponentially high (way too high for my patience). Maybe the solution could be to render twice and blend the 2 renders in Photoshop but I have yet to experiment with this.
All in all a very cool prop with loads of possibilities.
@IamUman,
Yes, the intensity of light in iRay can add to render times.
You might try using the "self-illuminated" Godrays instead of the "light responsive" option. This way you don't need any lights at all--- since the rays will be self-illuminated. Then you can use your own light setup, and it will not add to render times because you can simply switch off the Godrays light source.
-P
Just a question about getting a more subtle look. I've been using the Dispersive prop, no self illumination, lowest settings on dust. But, I get a very high contrast bright light on my subject that wasn't there without the Godrays. It looks pretty cool. But, I'd like to soften the contrast. The high contrast areas are so hot as to blow out entirely.
Any tips?
Thanks.
@cdpro_2831bbd990
Yes, you just need to adjust the light source of the prop (it is the only spotlight in the tree). The default light "lumens" value is set very high, to help pick up the Godrays. But you can decrease this value if you'd like.
(note, you may need to increase the opacity of your Godrays to compensate for the less intense light).
-P
I am using the Dispersive prop without self illumination. Is there still a light source?
@cdpro_2831bbd990
Every prop has a spotlight light source, which you can turn-off or adjust as desired (see attached image).
Although this light source is not technically necessary to see the Godrays (if you have other lights in the scene, or are using the self-illumination option), I included it as default for the added versatility (and it serves as a good null node for the prop).
Ah...that helps. I found the illums set to 7million. I dropped that to 400K. That makes a big difference. Thanks.
Can I get a copy of the UserGuide for this? It is not where previous posters have listed. I copied the title and ran a search which finds nothing. This product is a little too advanced to learn by experimenting. The video tutorial is a nice intro, but is hardly comprehensive.
@Connatic,
Here is a link to the PDF manual. Also, if you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask them here in this thread (PM is ok too). I am usually near my computer during the day, so I generally can answer a question same-day.
-P
Thank you. I really like this product.
Hey Philospher, I do a bunch of animation and I purchased your animated water system as well as the god rays. I was wandering if you might be able to make a dust option for the epic god rays that can be controlled seperatly from the god ray itself. I want to slowiy rotate the dust within the god rays so that they don't look so static in an animated scene. Most god rays are static but your eyes usually catch dust particle movement whenever you see a god ray. The lack of movement that the mind relates to godrays stands out in an animated scene.
Another product I would like to see is animatable clouds. That way I can have clouds cast a shadow on the ground and god rays peak through the breaks in the clouds. Something like your water system but for clouds in the sky would be totally cool. Just thought I would mention it. Thanks for these great tools.
@sextino,
I am currently working on animated dust particles. I don't have an ETA at the moment, but it is coming along fairly smoothly.
As for the clouds, I would tackle them, but there are some other PA's whose main niche is cloud products, and I don't want to step on their toes---seeing as it is a main source of income for them.
-P
Thanks for the update. Thats great news about the animated dust particles. I'm looking forward to it.
I am still kind of new here. I have seen many HDR sky products but I wasn't aware that there were products that offer actual volumetric clouds that can be animated and interact with the sun light in real time. Could you drop a link to one please?
A couple other ideas I would like to purchase:
- An animated water product similar to your animated ocean system but it has a round shape instead of square so that you can use it with rounded backdrops and ponds. It would be cool if you had water patterns that match rivers and ponds. I would buy that package in a heartbeat.
- Another one that would be cool is freckles and moles that can be placed on any part of the body and of any color that you choose. Something you could quickly just select from the menu and double click on to your character in a fast and easy way so that you don't have to create a custom skin with the freckles built in.
Happy holidays everyone!
Also looking forward to the dusty particles!
@sextino , there is already a freckles and moles LIE preset product in the store, which I use all the time. It's called "Extreme Closeup: Freckles" and is for Genesis 3. There is a male and female version.
Thanks for the heads up. I found it and picked it up today.
sorry, wrong topic.
Picked these up the other day and really enjoying them! Of course my first thought was heat vision. They work well, except for an elliptical artifact where the light exists (even when rendering in photoreal mode). Not a big deal though. I'll probably hide it with another figure or cover it up in photoshop.
Overall, excellent product and thanks for making it!!
@havsm,
Nice application of the product. :) I never thought about heat vision. Jet exhaust, yes. But not heat vision.
-P
So. I've tried using this many times.
I've always been quite frustated and never felt like I was successful. So I have some questions. If I am using an HDRI for lighting, what should I know? Because this is very often the case, and I think the root of my problems. Do I need to avoid this? What about other lights? Am I supposed to be depending on the prop and its included lights to be my only or primary light source?
I tend to end up with nothing other than a lot of noise.
They key to making the most of the Godrays is to reduce secondary lighting as much as possible, so that the Godrays will appear more visible. This is why I recommend removing the default Sun-Sky or the use of a skydome. Skydomes will add too much light to a scene, which will drown out the light from the Godrays.
Another trick to help makes the Godray lights pop is to reduce the gamma in enviromental setting from 2.2 down to something like 1.5 or even 1. This will add much more contrast, thus make the light stand out from the dark areas.
-P