Carrara Challenge #25: Light and Shadow - WIP THREAD

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Comments

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    diomede said:

    And de3an, that is excellent, so glad you posted it.

    Thanks, I wasn't sure about posting, since it didn't actually fulfill the contest requirements.
    I probably should have put it in the general render thread.

     

    diomede said:

    Here is an update by me.

    Note, the basic layout was inspired by the exorcist.  One image is supposd to convey something ominous coming from one particular room with the figure feeling like a target.


    Your first image is approaching the original Exorcist image. Very nice!
    If you don't mind a suggestion, I think the window needs to be brighter, almost blown out to white. And the light cone could be a little brighter/denser with a more abrupt fall-off. The light looks too gentle to be ominous.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    My critique/suggestions... don't be offended but take cover. :)

    de3an,  very nice looking...good use of shadows to tell a story. As long as it is (previously unpublished) and (1) object is created in Carrara I can see it working. I would use the first image, large one, and then drop the lighting and give it backlighting... perhaps a full moon or/effect from behind showing their un-mad sillouette, not the shadow on the wall.

    pnewhook,  good start. What I see lacking is Stars. Also do you have soft shadows enabled?... may not be realistic from the original at NASA but IMO may look better.

    diomede,  very nice especially compared to your first renders. I do wonder about one thing... why does the mortar not line up in the 2nd render, Exorsist entry 1b,? It appears to be progressively worse to right of characture, 1st floor, and also noticable at the 2nd floor, inner corner.

    All look great regardless... just me being picky.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    de3an said:
    diomede said:

    And de3an, that is excellent, so glad you posted it.

    Thanks, I wasn't sure about posting, since it didn't actually fulfill the contest requirements.
    I probably should have put it in the general render thread.

     

    @de3an - I really like this image and as the "host" of this month's challenge, I am perfectly happy having it in the thread.  It doesn't meet the requirements for an entry but it definitely shows off how lighting can tell a story! 

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,964
    MDO2010 said:
    de3an said:
    diomede said:

    And de3an, that is excellent, so glad you posted it.

    Thanks, I wasn't sure about posting, since it didn't actually fulfill the contest requirements.
    I probably should have put it in the general render thread.

     

    @de3an - I really like this image and as the "host" of this month's challenge, I am perfectly happy having it in the thread.  It doesn't meet the requirements for an entry but it definitely shows off how lighting can tell a story! 

    looks great de3an, nice work

     

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915

    Thanks folks!

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125

    Thanks for the suggestions, wgdjohn and de3an.  Agree with both assessments.   Unfortunately, I am on the road without computers for at least another week, maybe even longer. Checking in on my phone. I hope a few more people consider some WIPs. I think this theme is one of the best ideas we have had. 

  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496

    The ENTRY THREAD is now open if you have a completed entry you want to post!

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/93441/carrara-challenge-25-light-and-shadow-entry-thread

    Dates to Remember

    Entry Thread Opens: Saturday, 11 June 2016
    Entry Thread Closes/Voting Begins: Saturday, 18 June 2016 23:59:59 CST (GMT-6)
    Voting Ends: Saturday, 25 June 2016 23:59:59 CST (GMT-6)

  • a thing i made, after passover, but had not posted.

    becuse the celling looks too grey for no reason,

    and also i wanted to put a caption in post on that grey area.

    but had not got around to it.

    the object made in carrara is the volumetric fog.

    so for the chalenge i renderd with a diffrent light source.

    using: robogenII, mad nurse and textures, and a lot of west park stuff.

     

    mad nurse1.jpg
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    mad nurse1a.jpg
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  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    shlomi, cool. I'm guessing that the ceiling is white?? I experimented with a white ceiling which turned out grey, opposite of white is black and greyscale inbetween... what I did is add a few "bulb" lights that were set to affect the ceiling only. I used the same lighting with a yellow ceiling and decressing their in intensity down from 100 to 29 for each bulb which turned the yellow in to a dull yellow. Hopefully that helps you.

    Just noticed that you posted your entry... I'm not sure but thing that you can change it before voting starts. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong... here... anywhere... anytime.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584
    edited June 2016

    Not sure how much chance I'll get to improve these, but they're a start.

    I took the G2F and Millenium cat from an Iray promo I'd done for this set, and brought them into the Carrara version of the scene.

    The first setup was inspired by Diomede's Exorcist render. I set the scene up with one of the Realistic Sky presets - "Nice Afternoon" I think, and arranged for sunlight at 200% to be shining through the arched windows Then I set up spotlights at the same angle, and with a very narrow beam spread, and positioned one outside each window and about 40 feet back. Light cone was set to 5% with a litte noise and 3D shadows. I think it still needs tweaking, cos it looks a bit rough. I also added about 5% of ambient, just to give the interior a little more definition. Looking at it though, I think I want the whole room to be much brighter.

    Second image: Turned off Realistic sky and replaced the sunlight with a low intensity distant. Set the colour to pale blue to simulate moonlight and changed the angle. The lanterns all have bulbs inside at 30%, and yellow light. I also tool the opacity/dirt map for the glass and added it to the glow channel, mixed with some yellow. An orange bulb in the fireplace gave the firelight glow.

    I think they both need a fair bit of work still, but at least they give an idea of what I'm aiming for.

    Everything is modelled in Carrara by me, except for Victoria 6 and the Mil Cat.

    light1.jpg
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    light2.jpg
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    Post edited by TangoAlpha on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    edited June 2016

    @TangoAlpha - the version of your scene with the light cone might be a really good candidate for the technique Mark Bremmer describes here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVqvx0gCkQc - he shows how to use a cube with a shader on it to fake volumetrics in Carrara for an indoor scene.  With a little playing around it might look a little better than the light cone, plus you'd get a little bit of glow by the back and side windows.  In my experience the effect renders pretty quickly too.

    Post edited by MarkIsSleepy on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125

    Shlomi and Tango - really like your approaches. However, the second image in each case is too dark and no detail can be seen. Or, that might just be me trying to view on my phone.  Something to consider. 

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    TangoAlpha, Very nice modeling. Is V6 just moving in or moving out... oh she's waiting for the movers to arrive with some furniture. :)

    diomede, Look dark on my small tilted flatscreen but better when I either tilt the screen or rise a bit from this chair to get the correct angle.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496

    I just recalibrated the color and birghtness on my monitor a few days ago and they both look fine on my screen.  Dark, but it looks intentional as opposed to underlit.

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125

    I'm sure it is me trying to view on my phone, then. I better stop commenting, but being on the road can get boring. 

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Most, if not all, benefits from comments.

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    It's a valid comment - I think both of mine are too dark. It's something you often don't really notice until the image is freed from the confines of the render environment. A degree of separation, i suppose.

     

    Anyhow, here's something else I was playing with. I took the same lighting setup as in my second picture, and moved the camera outside. It gives an interesting, almost movie "day for night" effect. (BTW it was a loooong render!)

    Night.jpg
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  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945

    As I can see, there is not so much wip's this time.

    I have an idea and I hope to finish the second image for the deadline, that should be easy because the scene is done, only switch off the light lamp and wait for the daylight...

     

     

    Lumière artificielle.jpg
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  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    Yes where are the WIPs??  Hopefully like mine they are being worked on.

    The render below is what I'm working on, the screen grabs are the Carrara view and the terrain I designed. I'd been hesitant to post this since I'm still tweeking the Terrain's Shaders... happy with the darker look to the exposed rock, mountains,... trying to get the Land, medium brown, shader to something I'm satisfied with... it currently looks too painted onto the exposed rock.

    The scene only uses only Sunlight at the moment. I'm wanting to either use full Moonlight or or a different Sunlight coming from the opposite direction. The latter I have already quickly setup but want to double check it for accuracy and look before posting a shadow render... back to the Shader room for now.

    Objects used... Airplane is default 757 which comes with Carrara. Tree are called Dead Trees?? and likely are from DAZ.

    NOTE: In the Terrain Editor pick ignore settings of World Size and Rescale Terrain To being the same... that is unessary.. Thanks Dartanbeck for pointing that out in his Building CarraraTerraings Intro at the top of page 4.

    RMountX2_r01.png
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    RMount_setup01.png
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    RoundMts.png
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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    This should look a bit better. The full sunlight version has only one change... both Land and Grass, the sandy color, have "distribution/bump" added... different values in each. I then deleted sunlight and added moonlight instead... the latter has different placement. Only objects added were a 2 more trees... one has "bend" added.

    [hour later after posting] Rendered a different moonlit version with the moon repositioned casting much better shadows... saving that one for my entry.

    [next day - additional info]  The terrain shaders are based on the ones I used last challenge... however these have a quite a few changes to make them work better. The dead trees are from Through the Woods by Stonemason.

    RMountX2_6lite.png
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    RMountX2_6drk.png
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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496

    Just a reminder that there are only three more days to get your entries finished and posted into the Entry thread!  There are some great entries already - don't forget to post yours if you have something you've been working on. :) 

    MDO2010 said:

    The ENTRY THREAD is now open if you have a completed entry you want to post!

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/93441/carrara-challenge-25-light-and-shadow-entry-thread

    Dates to Remember

    Entry Thread Opens: Saturday, 11 June 2016
    Entry Thread Closes/Voting Begins: Saturday, 18 June 2016 23:59:59 CST (GMT-6)
    Voting Ends: Saturday, 25 June 2016 23:59:59 CST (GMT-6)

     

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,989

    She is holding a big stick... strategically placed surprise

     

    DUDU said:

    As I can see, there is not so much wip's this time.

    I have an idea and I hope to finish the second image for the deadline, that should be easy because the scene is done, only switch off the light lamp and wait for the daylight...

     

     

     

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited June 2016
    Stezza said:

    She is holding a big stick... strategically placed surprise

     

     

    It is to make react the hypocrites intolerants and badly thinking who killed fifty people the last days…

    They must know that there is a big stick behind (and perhaps a gun) !

    Post edited by DUDU on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Did some more work on my "light" scene. Brightened it up considerably, added some trees outside the opposite windows to break up the obvious horizon line, and tweaked the light cone.

    I tried Dartanbeck's illuminated cloud technique, but the results were distincly meh. It probably works better in dark spaces. Same with Mark Bremmer's box trick - too much interference from the general brightness in the room made for just so much fog. I may have got it better with more fiddling around, but the full size pic is a long render, and I didn't have a lot of time (excuses, I know!)

    The "dark" version is . . . rendering!

    GirlInRoom1b.jpg
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    Capture.PNG
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  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Dark. I didn't make it "lighter" even though I doubled the intensity of pretty much every light. The lanterns are much brighter, but the throw of the light is shorter, so it barely reaches the walls. The fire went the other way - increased the range so it casts a glow on the opposite wall. The outside moonlight is at 400%.

    Dark.jpg
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  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    Very nice looking... both the sunliglit and moonlit versions... too bad the light cone isn't a bit more apparent... oh well.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Yeah I dialed it right back cos it seems the more intense it is, the more fake it looks, especially with 3d shadows enabled - like a lumpy porridge spray!

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,964

    this would be my wip, sorry I havent been  around, I havent even been asquare , one light in both scenes, extensive use of caustics

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    good.jpg
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    grab.jpg
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  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125
    edited June 2016

    Believe it or not, I have a second entry.  Obviously rushed, but got back last night and started playing with a fantasy scene.  Here are two lighting settings for Pumpkin Jack the Eagle Rider.

    Items used include  Daz Character Jack Pumpkin, Daz Animal Eagle, Fantasy Castle, and Country Cottage.

    Customized items include the terrain and its shader, the trees and leaves, and the river.

    eagle assemble room.JPG
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    eagle pumpkin 1a.jpg
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    eagle pumpkin 1b.jpg
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    edited June 2016

    ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED!


    VOTING

    I am going to try something new this time in an effort to avoid the ties that always come up.  Instead of just voting for your top three or four, please vote for a 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and honorable mention.  Only total votes will be counted for purposes or the final rankings, but the specific places will be used to break ties.  For example, if entry #30 and entry #75 are tied for 1st place, the one with the most 1st place votes would win.  If they both had the same number of 1st place votes then the number of 2nd place votes each received would break the tie and so on down the line.

    Please list your votes using the following format (or something similar that includes the same information):

    1. First Place - Entry # - Artist - Title
    2. Second Place - Entry # - Artist - Title
    3. Third Place - Entry # - Artist - Title
    4. Honorable Mention - Entry # - Artist - Title

    Vote here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1296446/#Comment_1296446

    Anonymous voting is allowed if you feel you have a good reason (e.g. forum moderators who don't want to give an impression of favoritism). Please PM me your votes if that is the case. 

     


     

    Please note that I fell asleep watching a YouTube plalist of every episode of QI ever and consequently opened the voting late, so I have moved the voting close date back by the same amount to allow a full week for voting. laugh

    Voting Begins: Sunday, 19 June 2016 08:00 CST (GMT-6)
    Voting Ends: Sunday, 25 June 2016 08:00 CST (GMT-6)

     

    Post edited by MarkIsSleepy on
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