anything glows shadows

WendyLuvsCatz

odd stuff
first 224 bulbs never mind the OTT cross-screen
second flames as anything glows mesh
odd solid shadows
I made all the flames one mesh called flame
named anything glows reference object flame too
it casts light from each surface but has major shadow issues through the wrought iron candle stands etc

tbwoq

Hi Wendy.

In the screen shots, the AG light seems to be blocked. The AG light is based off of the mesh setup, so it can illuminate its own mesh or block its own lighting without the correct standoff/minimum distance settings.

Since there is no representation or display of the standoff/minimum distances in the scene, it could take a while to get lighting to look right. You may even have to separate or detach a related mesh if objects are to close to the source of the AG light(etc.).

My suggestion would be to avoid AG or EL(environment lights) lights in Carrara when possible. The 'Master Light' and regular lighting objects are usually much easier to setup and render faster in most cases to get similar lighting results.

Eric Winemiller

Anything Glows picks the closest point on the surface and calculates illumination from there. That means the shadow calculation is also done there. Using the a single mesh for all the flames is what causes the funny shadows. The floor is frequently blocked by the stand underneath the the closest point on the flame. There are no other light rays coming from the candles around the room. A mesh and Anything Glows light for each flame would give much better results.

Having said all that, I agree with tbwoq and your first render shows, this scene works much better with bulbs. You don't really need Anything Glows.

Glows works really good for odd shaped lights that are hard to emulate with the built in lights (e.g. neon letter signs), but these days you can often get as good or better results using global illumination. I built Anything Glows and Environmental Lighting before Carrara had GI.

Regards,

WendyLuvsCatz

thx
I was really just trying to figure out the effects of it and would just go with the bulbs.
it could prove useful if I were to animate each single flame mesh by morphs and/or shading but might just be overkill for a 224 light scene!

evilproducer

wendy♥catz said:

thx
I was really just trying to figure out the effects of it and would just go with the bulbs.
it could prove useful if I were to animate each single flame mesh by morphs and/or shading but might just be overkill for a 224 light scene!

If you are talking animating the fire, you're probably better off using a fire primitive in conjunction with the light bulbs. It will take some tweaking, but I have had good luck with making candle flames with the fire primitive.

But of course I don't think the fire primitive will transfer to iClone. ;-)

If you really want to use a morphing geometry for the flames, just set them to not cast or receive shadows and place the bulb within the geometry, enable the 3D light sphere and set its diameter so that it extends a bit beyond the geometry of the fire to sell the brightness of the flame. If you want the lens flare, you could either place the bulb just in front of the flame, relative to the camera, or maybe keep the bulb within the geometry and play around with reducing the alpha in the flame's shader.

No matter what you do, set the flame to not cast or receive shadows- Even the fire primitive.

Dartanbeck

Digital Carvers Guild said:

I built Anything Glows and Environmental Lighting before Carrara had GI.

Regards,

Wow. Welcome home, Eric! It's been, what... forever? ;)

Okay, all that aside, I was actually thinking the same thing in regards to the single mesh for all thing. Glad to have seen you comment the same thing before I finished wrapping my head around it.

Wendy, Love that first shot!