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Problems with lighting

alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
edited December 1969 in New Users

Guys,

I've only just started with DAZ studio and I'm currently working on my first test scene, which is five figures on the Greek Rotunda from the DAZ shop. My current problem is that I'm really struggling with lights and lighting. I'm planning a series of scenes set in a cave, in the future, so getting the light levels right is crucial to what I want to achieve, Specifically, I need to be able to do two things:

1) Control the light levels, varying them from broad daylight to night.

2) Control the depth of shadows.

Number 1) is the most important.

I've tried the lighting presets bundled with Genesis 4.5 and I've also downloaded Serene Scene DS4, which boasts 8 sunset and 9 moonlit nights. No matter how much I fiddle with the various parameters, however, I always seem to end up with broad daylight. when I do the render.

Needless to say, the manual that DAZ supply is no help at all on account of the fact that there isn't one. I'm probably making a beginners mistake but, since I'm a beginner I can't figure out what it is. Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Alex.

Comments

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,960
    edited December 1969

    - Does the prop come with a lightset?
    - What are your rendersettings? Are you rendering with 3Delight or hardware?

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the quick response. This is the prop I'm using

    http://www.daz3d.com/shop/greek-rotunda

    There is a mention of poser lights on the web page but no mention of DAZ ones. I've just checked a clean version of the scene, from before I started adding light presets, and there's no mention of any other lights in the drop down list of the major elements in the scene. All it lists are the five Genesis figures, two sets of hair and the rotunda base. This strongly suggests that a conflict between two sets of lighting presets isn't the problem

    I'm using the standard 3delight rendering engine.

    Thanks,

    Alex.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,960
    edited December 1969

    From where do you load the item? From Smart Content or from the Content Library browser?
    Some items come preloaded with light, try the "Delete all Lights" menuy item under Edit->Delete

    I don't think I have that Item so I cannot test it.

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    The "Delete all lights" option is greyed out. The only delete option that is available is "Delete selected item".

    I loaded the item from the content library browser on the right hand side of the screen. I couldn't find it on the smart content pane, on the left.

    Thanks,

    Alex.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,960
    edited December 1969

    alexhcowley said:
    The "Delete all lights" option is greyed out. The only delete option that is available is "Delete selected item".

    I loaded the item from the content library browser on the right hand side of the screen. I couldn't find it on the smart content pane, on the left.

    Thanks,

    Alex.

    OK, then no lights. Did you set materials on is "from Pose", so you got DS materials? (I'm guessing but as I don't have it I cant say where they are but the readme say where you can find DS mateirals. Poser materials sometimes renders VERY light.

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    I think that the materials have come from Poser. If you are right, how can I get them to render darker?

    Thanks,

    Alex.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,960
    edited December 1969

    alexhcowley said:
    I think that the materials have come from Poser. If you are right, how can I get them to render darker?

    Thanks,

    Alex.

    Firstm look in the readme where the MAT Poses are, if there are in the [Posercontent]->Runtime->Pose or if there are DS Materials in for example [DSContent]->Props->Exterior or [DSContent]->Environment->Architectural , That way you will find materials correctly setup for DS. The product page suggests the DS materials are in the Pose together with the Poser mats. So look in the readme in what folder the Mat poses are, and if the icons has a little script in the corner or is tagged material they are for DS.

    Select a piece, apply material, repeat

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    I've spent the last three evenings googling DAZ lights and reading up on the subject. I've also been running a series of tests, as documented in the attached jpegs.

    The Greek Rotunda read me has the following to say on the subject of mat settings: You will no longer need to go to a separate DAZ Studio folder to apply the DAZ Studio Material Presets. Simply apply the MAT Pose from the Poser Pose->Gordana->Greek_Rotunda directory.

    the first jpeg shows a render done with the DAZ default, diffused lights.

    The second set shows the material presets directory, the picture before the render and the results of the render. This set was done with one of the light presets.

    The last jpeg shows a new scene I did with the Alchemy Cavern scene that comes bundled with DAZ 4.5. This is illuminated with a single custom light, again dialed right back, and has come out exactly how I expected.

    Any further insights you can offer would be most appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Alex.

    Lights004SingleLight.jpg
    1000 x 1000 - 172K
    Lights002Render.jpg
    599 x 996 - 106K
    Lights002PreRender.jpg
    744 x 1071 - 141K
    Lights002Material.jpg
    1024 x 1085 - 130K
    Lights001.jpg
    616 x 999 - 101K
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    Your surfaces are ok for now.

    Lighting: There is no one easy answer. We get this all the time and there is no way to condense 3 years, in my case, of experience in to a single forum post.

    When I was starting out I used light presets and adjusted the Lights intensity myself

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    Many thanks for the comments, to both of you. I've just invested in a book from Amazon which purports to be the official guide to DAZ so I'm going to read that and then do lots of experimenting. I have about two weeks or so experience with DAZ so I expect there will be a lot more trial and error in the future.

    Thanks, again, guys,

    Alex.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    I have to first edition of that book and for me, as a newcomer, I found it helpful. I also wrote this out recently http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/10835/ which may help with Learning CG in general.

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    This Thread has loads of useful Tips on Lighting.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/1201/
    Just read through it and see if it has any tips you can use.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,960
    edited December 1969

    This just came in a mail and on FB from Dreamlight: http://basic3dtraining.com/best-kept-secret-to-great-3d-lighting/

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for all the helpful pointers, guys. Having thought about it a little bit more, I suspect the problem may be the high reflectivity of marble. Whoever created the Rotunda has possibly been a little too faithful in replicating this.

    Cheers,

    Alex.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    Well you can adjust the amount of reflection....are you sure it has reflection applied?

  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,386
    edited December 1969

    See the attached jpeg for the reflection settings on the surface tab. Everything seems to be dialed down to zero to me.

    Thanks,

    Alex.

    Greek-Rotunda-Reflection-Settings.jpg
    1920 x 1200 - 597K
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