How to create a low-light environment on a nightclub scene?

Magic Dragon 3D

Hey guys! I want to create a scene that takes place inside a nightclub, but instead of the nightclub being fully lit, I want it to have as little light as possible and to be in a dark environment but with the lighting facing the dance floor and the DJ booth, similar to this video on Instagram. I bought last month at Daz Shop the FG Nightclub and although it's exactly what I wanted, it looks too bright and I don't want that for my scene! What type of lighting would you guys recommend I use for a scene like the Instagram video? How can I recreate this similar lighting? Thanks to everyone who can help me!

Fishtales

If it is something like this all I did was make the decor bulbs emissive and added a spotlight shining on the singer.

Click on image for full size.

Richard Haseltine

Don't forget that you an leave the lighting alone, if it's overall too bright but the relative levels within that are OK, and use Tone Mapping to adjust the result. That is controlled one you have a Tone mapping Settings node in the scene (after a render, or from the Create menu) in the Editor tab of render Settings or in the parameters pane with the settings node selected.

Magic Dragon 3D

Fishtales said:

If it is something like this all I did was make the decor bulbs emissive and added a spotlight shining on the singer.

Click on image for full size.

Got it. Can the lamps in a scene be controlled then? Sorry, I'm somewhat inexperienced in Daz, but what would it mean to "make emissive" the lamps? It's possible to control the colors of a spotlight too, right? I was thinking about putting a purple light on the DJ booth, while a red light would be responsible for softly illuminating the dance floor.

Magic Dragon 3D

Richard Haseltine said:

Don't forget that you an leave the lighting alone, if it's overall too bright but the relative levels within that are OK, and use Tone Mapping to adjust the result. That is controlled one you have a Tone mapping Settings node in the scene (after a render, or from the Create menu) in the Editor tab of render Settings or in the parameters pane with the settings node selected.

Thanks for the tip!

kpr

You can get the effect you are after, but it will take quite some practice. Might be better/easier to start with a simple scene (like just a figure) and try out the different lights and their settings..Richard's tip is also a good - easy - way to start seeing how overall lighting can be affected.

The environment you bought lists that it's pre-lit and details four lights. Find those in the "Lights" tab and alter some settings (or "hide" some if you don't want them all). If the scene uses HDRI then you can alter the settings of that in the render tab (brightness etc).

You can add more/different lights too - spot-lights (and/or emmissives) and point-lights will get you some of the effects you seem to be looking to do.

There's plenty of youtube videos on Daz lighting, and tutorials (videos) you can buy from the Daz store.

Getting good at lighting takes "a while" but if you do it will do more to improve your renders than any other "technique".

Masterstroke

I think, Ghost lights can help here:
Iray Ghost Light Kit One | Daz 3D

Magic Dragon 3D

kpr said:

You can get the effect you are after, but it will take quite some practice. Might be better/easier to start with a simple scene (like just a figure) and try out the different lights and their settings..Richard's tip is also a good - easy - way to start seeing how overall lighting can be affected.

The environment you bought lists that it's pre-lit and details four lights. Find those in the "Lights" tab and alter some settings (or "hide" some if you don't want them all). If the scene uses HDRI then you can alter the settings of that in the render tab (brightness etc).

You can add more/different lights too - spot-lights (and/or emmissives) and point-lights will get you some of the effects you seem to be looking to do.

There's plenty of youtube videos on Daz lighting, and tutorials (videos) you can buy from the Daz store.

Getting good at lighting takes "a while" but if you do it will do more to improve your renders than any other "technique".

Alright, thanks for the tips! I'll tweak this scene tonight when I get back from work, to adjust the lighting and see how it works in this scene. 

Magic Dragon 3D

Masterstroke said:

I think, Ghost lights can help here:
Iray Ghost Light Kit One | Daz 3D

I'll take a look about this asset. Thanks for the recommendation! 

Ninefold

luan.yang said:

Masterstroke said:

I think, Ghost lights can help here:
Iray Ghost Light Kit One | Daz 3D

I'll take a look about this asset. Thanks for the recommendation! 

Careful; I think this product is obsolete in current versions of DAZ Studio. I'm kind of vague about the timeline, but I think it was released after an update that broke the old method of making ghost lights, but before the update that allows you to make your own ghost lights from any primitive.