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Ambient Lighting in Small Room Interior Help

GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
edited February 2015 in New Users

I imported a small room I made in Sketchup for an interior scene. I'm used to using render engines based on physics where we get light bouncing in the scene like in real life giving good ambient lighting and caustics. What is the closest we can get to this in 3DLight? I'm trying to fake it by setting lights all around the place but it just feels and look wrong. Light is only effecting from the direction of light sources with no bounce leaving very dark shadows. I want some accurate lighting in my scenes.

I read that there's Uberenvironment built in to Daz for this purpose but I don't see it anywhere in my library (4.7). Where can I find it? If I were to get it, would it help in this case or would the light be confined outside the room?

I'm open to any suggestions.

Post edited by GeneralDee on

Comments

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    I read that there’s Uberenvironment built in to Daz for this purpose but I don’t see it anywhere in my library (4.7). Where can I find it? If I were to get it, would it help in this case or would the light be confined outside the room?


    If you go to the Content Library pane, DAZ Studio Formats > My DAZ 3D Library > Light Presets > omnifreaker, you will find Uberenvironment2 in there.

    There is also an icon in that folder called '!UberEnvironment2 Help.dsa' and if you double click on that, it will take you to

    http://www.omnifreaker.com/index.php?title=UberEnvironment2

    which is a help page on UE lighting in general.

    The other option for realistic lighting, would be to use the Reality or Luxus plugin for DS which both use the Luxrender engine.

  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited December 1969

    Thanks. I looked in that directory and I do not see Uberenvironments. Using the search yields no results either. I went to the link for omnifreaker but see no download. How do I get it?

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited February 2015

    You need to download and install the 'Default Lights and Shaders for DAZ Studio' from your Product library page under DAZ Studio 4.7 Pro.

    That will install all of the free uber lights.

    Post edited by JimmyC_2009 on
  • alexhcowleyalexhcowley Posts: 2,392
    edited December 1969

    Once you have installed it, there's a very useful total beginners guide to UE2 here:

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/26122/

    Cheers,

    Alex.

  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited December 1969

    JimmyC_2009 said:
    You need to download and install the 'Default Lights and Shaders for DAZ Studio' from your Product library page under DAZ Studio 4.7 Pro.

    That will install all of the free uber lights.

    I don't see it in my products page either. Is it supposed to be in everyone's product page?
  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    The key here is 'under DAZ Studio 4.7 Pro'

    On your Product Page, type in 'DAZ Studio' and click on the Filter, then select the latest version of DAZ Studio that you downloaded. On the right hand side you will see a page like shown below. That is where you will find it, it comes as part of the DS4.7 product.

    Do you use DIM (DAZ Install Manager) or are you installing yourself?

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  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited December 1969

    Yes Jimmy, that's the first place I looked. It's not in my list. Perhaps I have to contact someone.

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    edited December 1969

    If you have not tried yet, go to the store and make sure you are logged in. Then sort by price low-high and add everything to your cart that is free. My guess is that since you can't find that in your product page, then you haven't "purchased" all the necessities.

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    GeneralDee said:
    Yes Jimmy, that's the first place I looked. It's not in my list. Perhaps I have to contact someone.


    How did you get DAZ Studio? Did you use the DIM (DAZ Install Manager)? If so, Default Lights and Shaders should be available in DIM for download.

    Does DAZ Studio 4.7 Pro appear in your Product Library? Did you go to My Account > Product Library to check?

    I don't see why you wouldn't have it, as it is a part of the standard free package.
  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited February 2015

    I downloaded it from the shop back in December but I did a manual install. DAZ studio Pro does appear in the Library. Just double checked again and It's just not there. I put in a ticket for help. I don't understand why it cannot be downloaded independently through the shop.

    Post edited by GeneralDee on
  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited February 2015

    I got a response to the ticket. Turns out I was looking in the wrong place. It's actually on the Daz Studio 4.X "product page. My confusion was looking in the library list and not paying close attention to the helpful screenshot above. Thanks Jimmy.

    So I got it installed and when I loaded the Uberenvironment I got a huge ball and don't know how it works in a closed interior scene. I will be doing some reading.

    Post edited by GeneralDee on
  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    edited December 1969

    Sounds like you used the uber area light sphere (which does exactly that, creates a sphere that emits light) you can scale it down and place it inside a lamp for the light bulb as an example.

    There is also the light bars which are good for florescent lights.

    You can also make objects emit light by selecting the object, then using the uber light shader base. This ads properties in the material section for that item to control strength and color of the light as well as casting shadows.

    Just a few things I can remember off the top of my head.

  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,590
    edited December 1969

    If you don't have any windows or openings into your interior then you can switch off the Sphere (in the scene tab) as the light it supplies will never get in.

    UberEnvironment still works without it.

    If you want to keep the sphere then you can make it invisible in the preview but active in the render or just make it much bigger.

  • AndySAndyS Posts: 1,438
    edited December 1969

    Hi,

    I treat the Uberenvironment sphere in a different way.
    Simply go to the "Parameter" Tab. Here in the "Display" section I set all 4 parameters to "off".

    The advantages of the Uberenvironment are still working.

    Andy

  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited December 1969

    I used the area light preset on 2 materials to make them emitters. Sampling is at 8 by default. I notice a little more render time when the camera is facing them. Should the samples be treated like in the render settings where lower is higher quality or would setting a lower number make a difference? Also the dials seem weird and best to dial in values directly and not use the slider. When playing with falloff what are some good values to dial?

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    edited December 1969

    I've not messed with the sampling in the light settings yet so I don't know on that one, but as far as the falloff
    That's pretty much user discretion.

    Some things to keep in mind when setting falloff though:
    The light is always at it's strongest up to the falloff start.
    The falloff start is where the light begins to fade out.
    The falloff end is where the light no longer produces any light.

    So everything between the start and end is a gradual fade-off of all light from that source until there is none at the end.

  • GeneralDeeGeneralDee Posts: 132
    edited December 1969

    Thanks kaotkbliss. My issue with the ambient light on the material is the fact I cannot see where the falloff begins or ends. It's not like the linear point light where I have a visual reference. How do we measure the falloff of the ambient light on surfaces in relation to the space in the room? For example if I dial in 2.5 for falloff start, how far does the emission go?

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    edited December 1969

    I thought there was a visual reference for it, but it was a while ago when I did.
    You can always place a linear point light in the same position as your ambient lighting, set the falloff where you would like it, copy the values over to your ambient light, then delete the linear point light.

    It was mentioned in the forums somewhere what unit of measure the values represent which might help a little.

  • Steven-VSteven-V Posts: 727
    edited December 1969

    GeneralDee said:
    I used the area light preset on 2 materials to make them emitters. Sampling is at 8 by default. I notice a little more render time when the camera is facing them. Should the samples be treated like in the render settings where lower is higher quality or would setting a lower number make a difference? Also the dials seem weird and best to dial in values directly and not use the slider. When playing with falloff what are some good values to dial?

    Falloff is in tiny units, I think cm, maybe even mm... I don't use it much. But if you do, you will need big numbers or the falloff will happen much faster than you expect.

    As for sampling, 8 is pretty rough, IMO. I usually use 8 for testing and then dial up to at least 32, and often 128, to do production work.

    In fact I just used two light planes, one key and one fill, this morning for an indoor shot and got good results with them... again using 128 samples. And in this case I did not engage the fall-off.

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  • AndySAndyS Posts: 1,438
    edited February 2015

    Hi,

    topic falloff:
    My interior rooms are not that small as the shown example of steven. I usually use ranges between 10 to 20 meters (1000 - 2000).

    topic samples:
    A value of 128 is minimum for good quality. But if the Uberlights are partially shaded and if you have some of them it would be necessary to set the sampling to 256 and up to avoid gray freckles.
    OK that terribly prolongs rendertimes, but it is worth the result.

    Examples:
    http://andysanderson.deviantart.com/art/Dead-End-456857226
    The striplights are UALs plus additional UE2. You see the freckles although using 128 sample-rate.

    Daylight scene:
    http://andysanderson.deviantart.com/art/West-Park-Lobby-455934709
    There are UALs in the windows to create the diffuse daylight entering the room + IDL(70% indirect UE2).

    All with falloff at 20 meters.

    Andy

    Post edited by AndyS on
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