HDRI vs Ghost Lights

OminousAutumn

Hi all. Currently I use Dreamlight HDRI environment maps to light my scenes bc its an easy and good looking one click for a slow computer. I used to use Ghost Lights but thost results werent as good as the HDRI, even if it allowed more precision. My question is; for proper, "less complicated" interior lighting , what can ya'll recommend? The Dreamlight HDRIs dont light interior scenes well enough to rely on. 

Is there a way to get the HDRI map to collapse or shrink so that the map would just literally be within the walls of a closed set?

I already render my characters seperately with no walls so the HDRI will light them nicely, then i'll do another with the walls and characters to get their shadows, but the lighting will be weak if all the walls are in. How do you get good light to powerfully come in through windwos and cast shadows etc? I cranked up the exposure on the current HDRI's but that didnt seem to help. 

Thank you in advance!

pbaddhan

You can use spotlights to act as the sun to send light through the windows or you can use the sun-sky and rotate the dome and do the same. If you need help with lighting checkout my YouTube Tutorials at https://www.youtube.com/mydart

OminousAutumn

pbaddhan said:

You can use spotlights to act as the sun to send light through the windows or you can use the sun-sky and rotate the dome and do the same. If you need help with lighting checkout my YouTube Tutorials at https://www.youtube.com/mydart

Thank you I will check that out!

OminousAutumn

pbaddhan said:

You can use spotlights to act as the sun to send light through the windows or you can use the sun-sky and rotate the dome and do the same. If you need help with lighting checkout my YouTube Tutorials at https://www.youtube.com/mydart

I got a great new ghost light kit but the volumetric lights dont seem to work in scene only, and I cant get the sun to turn off, so im able to light my scene with just my own lights starting from darkness. How do I do that? How do I turn off the sun which seems to be default when there is no environment map selected? Thanks!

OminousAutumn

Vanishot said:

pbaddhan said:

You can use spotlights to act as the sun to send light through the windows or you can use the sun-sky and rotate the dome and do the same. If you need help with lighting checkout my YouTube Tutorials at https://www.youtube.com/mydart

I got a great new ghost light kit but the volumetric lights dont seem to work in scene only, and I cant get the sun to turn off, so im able to light my scene with just my own lights starting from darkness. How do I do that? How do I turn off the sun which seems to be default when there is no environment map selected? Thanks!

Scratch that question I change the time duh. 

 

OminousAutumn

I bought a Ghost Light kit with Volumetric lights. These lights make the scene look great but doesnt light the characters as well as an HDRI. I use PS to composite my characters with my background already only using the HDRi but now with the Volumetric lights I need to rethink what gets what and when. How does one get their characters to have a flawless looking render (using HDRI) with a dynamic looking scene (using ghost/volumetric lights) and have the light on the character come close to matching the light in the scene? Between these two types of lights that both yeild great results, Im a bit lost what the process is for rendering what layers and with what parameters... Please help!

mavante

Vanishot said:

How does one get their characters to have a flawless looking render (using HDRI) with a dynamic looking scene (using ghost/volumetric lights) and have the light on the character come close to matching the light in the scene?

I cannot recommend too strongly this exceptional series of Daz Studio 101 video tutorials:

DAZ Studio 101 playlist

The specific tutorials that I believe will address your immediate questions are:

DAZ Studio 114: Introduction to Lighting

DAZ Studio 115: Parametric Light Objects in Iray

DAZ Studio 116: How to use Mesh Lights

DAZ Studio 117 - Global Illumination, Environment Lighting, IBL and HDRI explained

That series does not specifically cover the Ghost Light kit with volumetric lights, but I believe it will give you a very solid grasp on how all types of light interact in Studio, iRay, and from there you should be able to work out how to get the effect you want.

One caveat that it took me forever to understand, which he covers pretty well in that series, is that you sometimes have to crank the lumens of a mesh light or parametric light in your scene way, way, way up if you're also using global illumination—in which case you have to be sure that your Render Settings are set to "Dome and Scene."

Hope that helps.

 

Novica

Get the HDRI lighting with Xray Cameras. That lets the lights "come through the walls" so to speak, and they are HDRI.  Google Paper Tiger Precision HDRI Lighting sold elsewhere. (There's more than one Xray Camera lighting set, that's just one)