bloom settings for beginners?

jardine

i'm gettting ready to start experimenting with bloom.  any suggestions for a beginner?

i'd love to hear from more experienced bloom users (bloom masters, even!) so i'm not completely clueless when i start.  suggested settings for different ligting conditions and effects?

also wondering how the direction of the light (with straight HDRI lighting, especially) affects bloom. 

and how bloom affects reflectance on shiny things.  or visa versa.  :)

thanks!

j

 

nonesuch00

I can tell you that Bloom starts very blurry but then gets clearer & clearer as the render has more iterations. You can set it somewhat high. If you use it together with Depth of Field on the camera you're using, it can even create pretty decent bokeh effects (since that's how bokeh backgrounds are naturally done anyway).

• Ultra Genesis Bokeh Vol 1 - Natural
• Ultra Genesis Studio Vol 2 - Ring Flash
• UltraGenesis Bokeh 2: Into the Night

All have 3 bloom settings presets and one bloom off preset. I think it's the same 3 settings for all three of the products. I can't give you the numbers though. 

Try some you make up at first at HD (1280x720) resolution to about 300 iterations and that should tell you if you like it for the lighting & camera & models in a particular scene. You'll likely want different settings for different scenes.

 

pds

Take a look at the Daz documentation page:

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/new_features/4_8/start

Scroll down a ways and you'll find a handy graphic chart showing various bloom settings and outcomes.

kyoto kid

...interesting, all three links just take me to my product library 

nonesuch00

kyoto kid said:

...interesting, all three links just take me to my product library 

Well just search for the product names in the DAZ Store.

jardine

thanks, y'all!

nonesuch00, i've got those ultra genesis studio packages.  i'll try those settings as startingpoints and see what happens.  :)

pds, that chart is just what i was looking for. 

i really appreciate your help.  thanks again!

j

 

 

SlimerJSpud

I saw a handy chart somewhere that showed the relative effects of the bloom params. I don't have it handy. I'll look for it.

What I don't like about bloom is that it overpowers most of the surfaces in the scene, even on low settings. Because it's a render setting in Iray, not a setting on the surfaces, it affects everything. It would be nice if there was a parameter that told the engine, beyond a certain distance from the emitter, ignore bloom. I had a scene with fluorescent tubes along one wall, next to a mirror. If I turned the bloom up enough to make the lilght tube look like a glowing light tube, then all the surface characteristics changed, even several feet away from the light.

In another case, I had a character from Rendo (Syndra) with some great details in the face texture. If I set the eyes to the green glowing MAT and turned up bloom, all the detail on her face was washed out. I ended up rendering the scene twice, with and without bloom, then layering in the eyes with a little of the surrounding area.

In another thread, it was noted that often the best way to create bloom is in postwork with a Gaussian Blur. I haven't tried that.

SlimerJSpud

More:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/256271/how-can-i-make-a-bloom-effect

Oh, Duh, the chart is actually IN the documentation:

http://docs.daz3d.com/lib/exe/fetch.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/new_features/4_8/bloomsettings2.png

Use this on Google:

site:www.daz3d.com/forums bloom settings

 

Silent Winter

SlimerJSpud said:

What I don't like about bloom is that it overpowers most of the surfaces in the scene, even on low settings. Because it's a render setting in Iray, not a setting on the surfaces, it affects everything. It would be nice if there was a parameter that told the engine, beyond a certain distance from the emitter, ignore bloom.

This can be alleviated somewhat with the Threshold setting - but it'd be awesome if we could tell it to apply only to emitters or on a per-surface basis.

I've only used bloom on occasion as I find I need to fiddle with all the settings to get the look I want.

 

Thanks for finding that chart - makes finding the settings more of an educated guess than a wild stab in the dark brightness

pds

Take a look at the Daz documentation page:

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/new_features/4_8/start

Scroll down a ways and you'll find a handy graphic chart showing various bloom settings and outcomes.

jardine said:

thanks, y'all!

nonesuch00, i've got those ultra genesis studio packages.  i'll try those settings as startingpoints and see what happens.  :)

pds, that chart is just what i was looking for. 

i really appreciate your help.  thanks again!

j

 

 

You're most welcome! Glad I could help!

fastbike1

@nonesuch00 "(since that's how bokeh backgrounds are naturally done anyway)"

Really? I've been a photographer for over 30 years and have never had a camera that had a bloom setting. Also never needed anything beyond shallow DOF to produce Bokeh.

vonHobo

There is a really nice Bloom ON / OFF in this product and it works really well:

You don't have to use any of the lights in the product, you can just turn bloom on, but the lights are excellent as well.

I find that bloom works best when there are strong lights or highlights in the scene.

https://www.daz3d.com/rim-light-rig-iray

 

 

Hylas

I find that applying bloom in post is quicker and much more precise.

vonHobo

Hylas said:

I find that applying bloom in post is quicker and much more precise.

Can I do that in Photoshop Elements?  

plasma_ring

von Hobo said:

Hylas said:

I find that applying bloom in post is quicker and much more precise.

Can I do that in Photoshop Elements?  

You should be able to, I think! This is the technique I use (around 7:30):