When using Uber Area Lights, is there a way to duplicate a light without creating a new one and manually adjusting all the settings?
For example, I am working on a scene in a room that has 8 wall sconces. I have been following Szark's tutorial, and had to go through quite a few steps to get everything set just for 1 light. I would like to copy that Uber Area Light, or perhaps its settings, and paste them to the other 7 lights without going through the tedious process of manually setting everything up for each one.
Anyone know if this is possible?
Thanks!
"D"
Are you referring to the light settings or the location or both?
You can copy/paste the light settings from the first UE2 light to any additional lights you add but you would need to place the lights manually.
EDIT to say that I figured this part out. Thanks Kismet! Woohoo!
Anyway, about the lights...how do you copy the settings from one UE2 light to another? Can it be done all at once, or do we have to do it 1 at a time?
Oh, and btw, I was asking about the Uber AREA light settings, not the UberEnvironment2 lights.
.Thanks Kismet
There is no way to copy the location/rotation settings. If anyone knows how I would love to hear it.
As for the other settings first load your lights and once you have the settings the way you want on the first light go into the Surfaces Tab; highlight the light; right click and choose "Copy Selected Surface(s)" - Image 2
Then select the light you want to change; go into the Surfaces Tab; highlight and right click; Choose "Paste to Selected Surface(s)" - Image 3
Repeat the pasting process until all lights have the same settings
Editted to Add: Yes you can do all the lights at once. You just highlight them all and then follow the above steps.
I really don't know enough about the uber lights, but could you not save them as a light preset and then just open up instances of new lights with those settings and put it where they are needed? or does this not work with the uber lights?
Might be a good idea, Knittingmommy. Hadn't thought of that. I guess I could delete everything out of the scene except the light I want to duplicate, then save it as a preset or maybe even a scene file. Then I could load it or merge it for repeated instances.
Have to look into that...
Thx!
: )
Before you start deleting stuff, see if you can save the preseet and then just select your light. Most of the preset options have where you can pick and choose what is part of the preset. I haven't saved a light preset, yet, though, so I'm not sure if it is the same with those.
I did notice that it looks like she has something glowing in her mouth. I thought at first she was a vampire because her teeth were glowing. It caught my attention when I looked at the full size image.
Here's my first go at this month's contest. I want to make her look more like she's on a nightclub stage. Right now she's a little washed out. Suggestions?
Which program are you using?
The first thing I noticed is slight pokethrough around her left shoulder/armpit. Her pose looks quite good otherwise.
I'm using Daz 4.9. I noticed the poke through too and I'm working on that. This dress is giving me troubles but it fits the mood I'm looking for.
That does seem to be the way it works with outfits. Is this Iray or 3Delight?
Sorry - Iray.
Are you using Deco Club as the set? What are you using for lights? Spotlights, point lights, mesh lights?
Can you provide a screen shot of your lights? ( I should have thought to ask for that sooner )
I did notice that it looks like she has something glowing in her mouth. I thought at first she was a vampire because her teeth were glowing. It caught my attention when I looked at the full size image.
Daz Studio 4.9 & Reality/Lux render...still working on the "fog" lights.
Did this not render all the way? Cause her leg looks like it has a bunch of scratches on it and there is a lot of noise still in the render itself but other than that great work Gallows
Daz Studio 4.9 & Reality/Lux render...still working on the "fog" lights.
Did this not render all the way? Cause her leg looks like it has a bunch of scratches on it and there is a lot of noise still in the render itself but other than that great work Gallows
hmmm...if she's a vamp, and that's a beam of sunlight, her leg should be extra crispy, right?
Here's my first go at this month's contest. I want to make her look more like she's on a nightclub stage. Right now she's a little washed out. Suggestions?
Which program are you using?
The first thing I noticed is slight pokethrough around her left shoulder/armpit. Her pose looks quite good otherwise.
I'm using Daz 4.9. I noticed the poke through too and I'm working on that. This dress is giving me troubles but it fits the mood I'm looking for.
That does seem to be the way it works with outfits. Is this Iray or 3Delight?
Sorry - Iray.
Are you using Deco Club as the set? What are you using for lights? Spotlights, point lights, mesh lights?
Can you provide a screen shot of your lights? ( I should have thought to ask for that sooner )
I'm using a set I bought from Renderosity called "Shades of Romance" but I took away the props that cam with it and just kept the curtains. The lights are from the Club Noir Photometric Lights package but I moved them around a bit. You can see the placement in the attached screen shots. I'm afraid I'm a real novice when it comes to lighting.
Here's my first go at this month's contest. I want to make her look more like she's on a nightclub stage. Right now she's a little washed out. Suggestions?
Which program are you using?
The first thing I noticed is slight pokethrough around her left shoulder/armpit. Her pose looks quite good otherwise.
I'm using Daz 4.9. I noticed the poke through too and I'm working on that. This dress is giving me troubles but it fits the mood I'm looking for.
That does seem to be the way it works with outfits. Is this Iray or 3Delight?
Sorry - Iray.
Are you using Deco Club as the set? What are you using for lights? Spotlights, point lights, mesh lights?
Can you provide a screen shot of your lights? ( I should have thought to ask for that sooner )
I'm using a set I bought from Renderosity called "Shades of Romance" but I took away the props that cam with it and just kept the curtains. The lights are from the Club Noir Photometric Lights package but I moved them around a bit. You can see the placement in the attached screen shots. I'm afraid I'm a real novice when it comes to lighting.
The first thing I would like to suggest is to make a second copy if you have not already done so. I usually add Alt to the file name of the one I am working on. I have known some people who will have 4 versions that they rotate through. This gives you a version you can go back to if you do something you regret or just want to go back to an earlier versionf or whatever reason. Or if the file becomes corrupted for any reason you have a backup and do not need to start all over from scratch.
Lighting can be one of the hardest things to learn in 3D. I am certainly no master of lighting.
You have a good 3 point light system set up around your figure. I am guessing you are trying to develop an intimate, small club type feel? As opposed to the big stage, full of pyrotenics?
One thing I always do is to look up reference images. It wasn't easy finding images that were not the big stage rock band type images but I think I found a few. One common theme I notice when looking at the lights is that they tend to use colour...very few of the lights are white.
I would keep the 3 point light system you have on your singer but tone down the intesity. They are washing her out a bit. If you find she is not illuminated enough after turning down the intesity you could add either some spotlights or mesh light at the stage level pointing up and towards the singer. You can see examples of this type of light in a couple of the images I have linked.
Try adding additional lights in the background. Perhaps some spotlights shining down the curtain behind the singer. This would give you the opportunity to add some colour through these lights.
One last thing that is missing is a microphone. I am sure there is a free one around if you do not have one. I am just having some trouble tracking one down. I will post a link if/when I find one.
Like most of us, lighting is still something I struggle with. I've been working on this image and I thought I'd share a couple of things I've been doing to help address the lighting. This is an indoor image and I'm using Iray.
1. Use the real lights in the scene. Since Iray is supposed to mimick real light (over simplified, but makes sense in my head) I try to use the lights that naturally occur in the scene as my first pass at lighting. In the image below, the actor is on her bed in her room. There is an overhead light fixture (unseen, but implicit), so there I've added a point light. I've tried to set the lumens like you might see in a bedroom - just enough to read by but not enough wash out the image. The benefits I see here - especially during the initial lighting of the image - is that I get a good idea of where all the shadows "should" go. The next 100+ passes I can use to get all the actors, props, etc. in the right place with good shadow usage. (Shadows and Lights - can't have one without the other)
2. Fill lights. Sometimes there is just too much shadow and you need to brighten up a spot or an actor to make them stand out. In the second image, I've added a fill light to help soften the shadows on the actor and better hightlight her face where I want the attention to be drawn. As I've done here, I'll often shut off all the other lights and do some test renders with just the fill (or others as needed) to see what the impact really is. Sometimes it's hard to see with the other lights on. (Kind of a cool image that I'm going to have to try in the future.) For now, we can see that the additional light has added some focus to the actor and should reduce some of the shadows we get from just the overhead light. I've also changed the color of the light to have a slight pink tint to it. I believe this softens the image a little and especially since she's crying, adds a touch of red to her skin. Also, note that I have only allowed the light to go a certain distance. I don't want it to cast a shadow since there is no "natural" light source coming from that direction. Does it work? Not sure yet.... Still debating.
3. In the third image, I've added a rim light. This is very subtle, but I want the actor to stand out from the background. While the DOF I'm using certainly helps with that, a rim light can add just a little bit of brightness to the edges from behind and really make a distinction between the object being lit and the stuff behind. Do I need another light? Is this one effective? Again I'm still not sure.
4. Finally, all lights are on. There's something I'm still not too happy about, but I haven't been able to put my finger on it. (The render also cut out after two hours, so I need to update that and let it run longer - it's not quite finished.)
I hope this helps a little. I find doing test renders with the lights on individually helps me with their placement and use. I get to see where the shadows are going and which ones are causing trouble. Gold luck with your renders this month! Any ideas on my lighting might also make for an interesting discussion.
Here's my first go at this month's contest. I want to make her look more like she's on a nightclub stage. Right now she's a little washed out. Suggestions?
Which program are you using?
The first thing I noticed is slight pokethrough around her left shoulder/armpit. Her pose looks quite good otherwise.
I'm using Daz 4.9. I noticed the poke through too and I'm working on that. This dress is giving me troubles but it fits the mood I'm looking for.
That does seem to be the way it works with outfits. Is this Iray or 3Delight?
Sorry - Iray.
Are you using Deco Club as the set? What are you using for lights? Spotlights, point lights, mesh lights?
Can you provide a screen shot of your lights? ( I should have thought to ask for that sooner )
I'm using a set I bought from Renderosity called "Shades of Romance" but I took away the props that cam with it and just kept the curtains. The lights are from the Club Noir Photometric Lights package but I moved them around a bit. You can see the placement in the attached screen shots. I'm afraid I'm a real novice when it comes to lighting.
The first thing I would like to suggest is to make a second copy if you have not already done so. I usually add Alt to the file name of the one I am working on. I have known some people who will have 4 versions that they rotate through. This gives you a version you can go back to if you do something you regret or just want to go back to an earlier versionf or whatever reason. Or if the file becomes corrupted for any reason you have a backup and do not need to start all over from scratch.
Lighting can be one of the hardest things to learn in 3D. I am certainly no master of lighting.
You have a good 3 point light system set up around your figure. I am guessing you are trying to develop an intimate, small club type feel? As opposed to the big stage, full of pyrotenics?
One thing I always do is to look up reference images. It wasn't easy finding images that were not the big stage rock band type images but I think I found a few. One common theme I notice when looking at the lights is that they tend to use colour...very few of the lights are white.
I would keep the 3 point light system you have on your singer but tone down the intesity. They are washing her out a bit. If you find she is not illuminated enough after turning down the intesity you could add either some spotlights or mesh light at the stage level pointing up and towards the singer. You can see examples of this type of light in a couple of the images I have linked.
Try adding additional lights in the background. Perhaps some spotlights shining down the curtain behind the singer. This would give you the opportunity to add some colour through these lights.
One last thing that is missing is a microphone. I am sure there is a free one around if you do not have one. I am just having some trouble tracking one down. I will post a link if/when I find one.
Microphone #9 scrolling down the page I hope this helps!!
Here's my latest attempt. Think it may be to bright for the mood now. Want to work on making the robot seem more menacing and trying to strike a balance between to dark and to light next.
Infiltrator - Rendered in DAZ 4.9, in IRay
Lighting: Key Spotlight on David main character, 5 Emissive IRay Lanterns. Going for a gaslight look.
They say to learn from the masters, so I am going for an Alex Ross look here...I need to add some bloom (and some hair). Not sold on the colors for the uniform, but I like the materials.
They say to learn from the masters, so I am going for an Alex Ross look here...I need to add some bloom (and some hair). Not sold on the colors for the uniform, but I like the materials.
I like this superhero - and I really like the scene. Yeah, he better get some hair soon before he gets an awful sunburn!
It appears to me that he is levitating slowly... very slowly - by the draping of his cape. You might want to consider pulling the cape away from his legs a little to give some sense of movement. Blowing hair (whoops, where's the hair?) will also add to the effect.
May I also suggest that you arch his back and twist his waist, and bend one arm - this will add a heroic tension to the pose. Think "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," one of my favorite drawing books by the way.
You're off to a great start with this... but better get him some hair before he goes into a hairy situation.
OK so I tried Deformers to pose the coat, but they are symmetrical (or I have no idea what I'm doing), and when I tried to spread the coat open one way, the other side just followed.
So, next step was Hexagon. I had picked it up a long time ago but never got around to using it. So after going through a few YouTube tutorials, I loaded the Pirate coat, goofed up, cussed at it, then finally found that the Tweak Tool with Soft Selection worked best for me. This won't be a morph I will reuse, as it is designed for the Captain's extreme pose.
I saved the Captain out as a scene subset, and when I sent the coat back to Daz Studio, the morph automatically loaded into his coat. Back and forth between Hexagon and Daz Studio because I need the fully morphed and posed Captain to see what I'm doing and I can't bring in a morphed character into Hexagon.
Here's a so-far pic of the completed morph on the left side. I'm pretty darn proud of myself since this is the first time I've ever used Hexagon.
You will notice a floating button. The buttons didn't automatically move with the coat morph. So I'm thinking that all I need to do now is move the buttons. Tweak Tool again, then playing around and found the rotate tool... except when I try to rotate the button, the whole coat rotates as one unit. Darned if I can find a way to disassociate the buttons from the coat so I can rotate them. I can move them individually, but... g.r.r.r.r.r.
OK so I asked the question in the Hexagon thread. The adventures of Dracorn trying to rotate the buttons will be continued...
OK so I tried Deformers to pose the coat, but they are symmetrical (or I have no idea what I'm doing), and when I tried to spread the coat open one way, the other side just followed.
So, next step was Hexagon. I had picked it up a long time ago but never got around to using it. So after going through a few YouTube tutorials, I loaded the Pirate coat, goofed up, cussed at it, then finally found that the Tweak Tool with Soft Selection worked best for me. This won't be a morph I will reuse, as it is designed for the Captain's extreme pose.
I saved the Captain out as a scene subset, and when I sent the coat back to Daz Studio, the morph automatically loaded into his coat. Back and forth between Hexagon and Daz Studio because I need the fully morphed and posed Captain to see what I'm doing and I can't bring in a morphed character into Hexagon.
Here's a so-far pic of the completed morph on the left side. I'm pretty darn proud of myself since this is the first time I've ever used Hexagon.
You will notice a floating button. The buttons didn't automatically move with the coat morph. So I'm thinking that all I need to do now is move the buttons. Tweak Tool again, then playing around and found the rotate tool... except when I try to rotate the button, the whole coat rotates as one unit. Darned if I can find a way to disassociate the buttons from the coat so I can rotate them. I can move them individually, but... g.r.r.r.r.r.
OK so I asked the question in the Hexagon thread. The adventures of Dracorn trying to rotate the buttons will be continued...
I am not sure if this will help with your button issue Dracorn but the Geometry Editor Tool might come in handy. There is a tutorial thread here.
Or perhaps this tutorial on the Poly Group Editor might be more appropriate.
This isn't something I have tried so I am not sure which is more appropriate or if even either of them will help you move those buttons.
OK so I tried Deformers to pose the coat, but they are symmetrical (or I have no idea what I'm doing), and when I tried to spread the coat open one way, the other side just followed.
So, next step was Hexagon. I had picked it up a long time ago but never got around to using it. So after going through a few YouTube tutorials, I loaded the Pirate coat, goofed up, cussed at it, then finally found that the Tweak Tool with Soft Selection worked best for me. This won't be a morph I will reuse, as it is designed for the Captain's extreme pose.
I saved the Captain out as a scene subset, and when I sent the coat back to Daz Studio, the morph automatically loaded into his coat. Back and forth between Hexagon and Daz Studio because I need the fully morphed and posed Captain to see what I'm doing and I can't bring in a morphed character into Hexagon.
Here's a so-far pic of the completed morph on the left side. I'm pretty darn proud of myself since this is the first time I've ever used Hexagon.
You will notice a floating button. The buttons didn't automatically move with the coat morph. So I'm thinking that all I need to do now is move the buttons. Tweak Tool again, then playing around and found the rotate tool... except when I try to rotate the button, the whole coat rotates as one unit. Darned if I can find a way to disassociate the buttons from the coat so I can rotate them. I can move them individually, but... g.r.r.r.r.r.
OK so I asked the question in the Hexagon thread. The adventures of Dracorn trying to rotate the buttons will be continued...
I am not sure if this will help with your button issue Dracorn but the Geometry Editor Tool might come in handy. There is a tutorial thread here.
Or perhaps this tutorial on the Poly Group Editor might be more appropriate.
This isn't something I have tried so I am not sure which is more appropriate or if even either of them will help you move those buttons.
Thanks for the links. Even though these links may not work for my problem, they are very useful information, thank you.
I can't even select the buttons within Daz Studio, so this may be a Hexagon only issue. I have a question on the Hexagon thread and am hoping for a solution there. I wanted to work it out in Hexagon, because now that I know how to create morphs for clothing, I will be using this more often. Who knows, the solution may need to come from a combination of Daz Studio and Hexagon!
I havent figure the title yet, It's Iray render, one spot light, Iray Leather Shader for the backdrop and the chair.
I'm still in doupt about the color of the backdrop, I think it's too bright....
Maybe if you used a sandy background it would be more suited to her bathing in the sun on a beach?? it also may help if you turned dow the intencity down a bit on the lighting your using???
OK so I tried Deformers to pose the coat, but they are symmetrical (or I have no idea what I'm doing), and when I tried to spread the coat open one way, the other side just followed.
So, next step was Hexagon. I had picked it up a long time ago but never got around to using it. So after going through a few YouTube tutorials, I loaded the Pirate coat, goofed up, cussed at it, then finally found that the Tweak Tool with Soft Selection worked best for me. This won't be a morph I will reuse, as it is designed for the Captain's extreme pose.
I saved the Captain out as a scene subset, and when I sent the coat back to Daz Studio, the morph automatically loaded into his coat. Back and forth between Hexagon and Daz Studio because I need the fully morphed and posed Captain to see what I'm doing and I can't bring in a morphed character into Hexagon.
Here's a so-far pic of the completed morph on the left side. I'm pretty darn proud of myself since this is the first time I've ever used Hexagon.
You will notice a floating button. The buttons didn't automatically move with the coat morph. So I'm thinking that all I need to do now is move the buttons. Tweak Tool again, then playing around and found the rotate tool... except when I try to rotate the button, the whole coat rotates as one unit. Darned if I can find a way to disassociate the buttons from the coat so I can rotate them. I can move them individually, but... g.r.r.r.r.r.
OK so I asked the question in the Hexagon thread. The adventures of Dracorn trying to rotate the buttons will be continued...
Hello everyone,
Nice morph ;)
I think you need a separate button and coat ... with hexagon, since you seem to begin to master;).
Copy the button and create a new object by pasting.
For you to see what will be the easiest ... reveir in DAZ with coat and button or just send button ... and you aparentera the mantle in DAZ.
This is what seems to me the simplest.
But it is surprising that the D-dormer act on both sides ... you had may be poorly settle the action sphere.
I find that I prefer the fine control with Hexagon over the D-Formers.
Looks like from the Hexagon forum that the coat and buttons are one object, so I won't be able to rotate them separately - which makes it strange that the buttons wouldn't follow the coat when I morphed it. I am currently asking for a way to copy the button to make a new object - thanks for the suggestion, Siotrad, I was thinking along those lines myself. I can hide the original buttons via the Surfaces tab.
Making new buttons and learning how to texture them was a bit more work than I anticipated, but considering that I have a mind to make custom objects in the future, it is a skill I want to learn anyway.
I find that I prefer the fine control with Hexagon over the D-Formers.
Looks like from the Hexagon forum that the coat and buttons are one object, so I won't be able to rotate them separately - which makes it strange that the buttons wouldn't follow the coat when I morphed it. I am currently asking for a way to copy the button to make a new object - thanks for the suggestion, Siotrad, I was thinking along those lines myself. I can hide the original buttons via the Surfaces tab.
Making new buttons and learning how to texture them was a bit more work than I anticipated, but considering that I have a mind to make custom objects in the future, it is a skill I want to learn anyway.
You "just" have to select his faces ... if it's à button you take the two of the middle and ctrl +
If you want play with the surface tab to hide it ... you can load an onther coat, hide all the caot except the button ;) ... a very boring thing :)
Comments
Before you start deleting stuff, see if you can save the preseet and then just select your light. Most of the preset options have where you can pick and choose what is part of the preset. I haven't saved a light preset, yet, though, so I'm not sure if it is the same with those.
Thanks for all the tips. I think this will be it more or less.
@ Lucasdestoop
This looks great!
I did notice that it looks like she has something glowing in her mouth. I thought at first she was a vampire because her teeth were glowing. It caught my attention when I looked at the full size image.
If that's the look you were going for..great!
Are you using Deco Club as the set? What are you using for lights? Spotlights, point lights, mesh lights?
Can you provide a screen shot of your lights? ( I should have thought to ask for that sooner )
I just came out that way. :).
Vamp
Daz Studio 4.9 & Reality/Lux render...still working on the "fog" lights.
Did this not render all the way? Cause her leg looks like it has a bunch of scratches on it and there is a lot of noise still in the render itself but other than that great work Gallows
hmmm...if she's a vamp, and that's a beam of sunlight, her leg should be extra crispy, right?
Looks like it's getting there...
I'm using a set I bought from Renderosity called "Shades of Romance" but I took away the props that cam with it and just kept the curtains. The lights are from the Club Noir Photometric Lights package but I moved them around a bit. You can see the placement in the attached screen shots. I'm afraid I'm a real novice when it comes to lighting.
The first thing I would like to suggest is to make a second copy if you have not already done so. I usually add Alt to the file name of the one I am working on. I have known some people who will have 4 versions that they rotate through. This gives you a version you can go back to if you do something you regret or just want to go back to an earlier versionf or whatever reason. Or if the file becomes corrupted for any reason you have a backup and do not need to start all over from scratch.
Lighting can be one of the hardest things to learn in 3D. I am certainly no master of lighting.
You have a good 3 point light system set up around your figure. I am guessing you are trying to develop an intimate, small club type feel? As opposed to the big stage, full of pyrotenics?
One thing I always do is to look up reference images. It wasn't easy finding images that were not the big stage rock band type images but I think I found a few. One common theme I notice when looking at the lights is that they tend to use colour...very few of the lights are white.
I would keep the 3 point light system you have on your singer but tone down the intesity. They are washing her out a bit. If you find she is not illuminated enough after turning down the intesity you could add either some spotlights or mesh light at the stage level pointing up and towards the singer. You can see examples of this type of light in a couple of the images I have linked.
Try adding additional lights in the background. Perhaps some spotlights shining down the curtain behind the singer. This would give you the opportunity to add some colour through these lights.
One last thing that is missing is a microphone. I am sure there is a free one around if you do not have one. I am just having some trouble tracking one down. I will post a link if/when I find one.
I found a free microphone and stand here: - 9th from the top
Deco Club also has an old style microphone and stand prop.
Like most of us, lighting is still something I struggle with. I've been working on this image and I thought I'd share a couple of things I've been doing to help address the lighting. This is an indoor image and I'm using Iray.
1. Use the real lights in the scene. Since Iray is supposed to mimick real light (over simplified, but makes sense in my head) I try to use the lights that naturally occur in the scene as my first pass at lighting. In the image below, the actor is on her bed in her room. There is an overhead light fixture (unseen, but implicit), so there I've added a point light. I've tried to set the lumens like you might see in a bedroom - just enough to read by but not enough wash out the image. The benefits I see here - especially during the initial lighting of the image - is that I get a good idea of where all the shadows "should" go. The next 100+ passes I can use to get all the actors, props, etc. in the right place with good shadow usage. (Shadows and Lights - can't have one without the other)
2. Fill lights. Sometimes there is just too much shadow and you need to brighten up a spot or an actor to make them stand out. In the second image, I've added a fill light to help soften the shadows on the actor and better hightlight her face where I want the attention to be drawn. As I've done here, I'll often shut off all the other lights and do some test renders with just the fill (or others as needed) to see what the impact really is. Sometimes it's hard to see with the other lights on. (Kind of a cool image that I'm going to have to try in the future.) For now, we can see that the additional light has added some focus to the actor and should reduce some of the shadows we get from just the overhead light. I've also changed the color of the light to have a slight pink tint to it. I believe this softens the image a little and especially since she's crying, adds a touch of red to her skin. Also, note that I have only allowed the light to go a certain distance. I don't want it to cast a shadow since there is no "natural" light source coming from that direction. Does it work? Not sure yet.... Still debating.
3. In the third image, I've added a rim light. This is very subtle, but I want the actor to stand out from the background. While the DOF I'm using certainly helps with that, a rim light can add just a little bit of brightness to the edges from behind and really make a distinction between the object being lit and the stuff behind. Do I need another light? Is this one effective? Again I'm still not sure.
4. Finally, all lights are on. There's something I'm still not too happy about, but I haven't been able to put my finger on it. (The render also cut out after two hours, so I need to update that and let it run longer - it's not quite finished.)
I hope this helps a little. I find doing test renders with the lights on individually helps me with their placement and use. I get to see where the shadows are going and which ones are causing trouble. Gold luck with your renders this month! Any ideas on my lighting might also make for an interesting discussion.
Best Regards,
Eric
Microphone #9 scrolling down the page I hope this helps!!
Here's my latest attempt. Think it may be to bright for the mood now. Want to work on making the robot seem more menacing and trying to strike a balance between to dark and to light next.
Infiltrator - Rendered in DAZ 4.9, in IRay
Lighting: Key Spotlight on David main character, 5 Emissive IRay Lanterns. Going for a gaslight look.
They say to learn from the masters, so I am going for an Alex Ross look here...I need to add some bloom (and some hair). Not sold on the colors for the uniform, but I like the materials.
I like this superhero - and I really like the scene. Yeah, he better get some hair soon before he gets an awful sunburn!
It appears to me that he is levitating slowly... very slowly - by the draping of his cape. You might want to consider pulling the cape away from his legs a little to give some sense of movement. Blowing hair (whoops, where's the hair?) will also add to the effect.
May I also suggest that you arch his back and twist his waist, and bend one arm - this will add a heroic tension to the pose. Think "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," one of my favorite drawing books by the way.
You're off to a great start with this... but better get him some hair before he goes into a hairy situation.
Dracorn's Adventures in Morphing:
OK so I tried Deformers to pose the coat, but they are symmetrical (or I have no idea what I'm doing), and when I tried to spread the coat open one way, the other side just followed.
So, next step was Hexagon. I had picked it up a long time ago but never got around to using it. So after going through a few YouTube tutorials, I loaded the Pirate coat, goofed up, cussed at it, then finally found that the Tweak Tool with Soft Selection worked best for me. This won't be a morph I will reuse, as it is designed for the Captain's extreme pose.
I saved the Captain out as a scene subset, and when I sent the coat back to Daz Studio, the morph automatically loaded into his coat. Back and forth between Hexagon and Daz Studio because I need the fully morphed and posed Captain to see what I'm doing and I can't bring in a morphed character into Hexagon.
Here's a so-far pic of the completed morph on the left side. I'm pretty darn proud of myself since this is the first time I've ever used Hexagon.
You will notice a floating button. The buttons didn't automatically move with the coat morph. So I'm thinking that all I need to do now is move the buttons. Tweak Tool again, then playing around and found the rotate tool... except when I try to rotate the button, the whole coat rotates as one unit. Darned if I can find a way to disassociate the buttons from the coat so I can rotate them. I can move them individually, but... g.r.r.r.r.r.
OK so I asked the question in the Hexagon thread. The adventures of Dracorn trying to rotate the buttons will be continued...
Vamp
tweaked the lighting...btw...how do you add the "big picture" to the comment?
Hi! I wasn't quite satisfied with my prior render; it looked too much of a portrait. So, I am trying a slightly different approach.
I am not sure if this will help with your button issue Dracorn but the Geometry Editor Tool might come in handy. There is a tutorial thread here.
Or perhaps this tutorial on the Poly Group Editor might be more appropriate.
This isn't something I have tried so I am not sure which is more appropriate or if even either of them will help you move those buttons.
You first want to attach a file image and post your comment.
Edit the comment.
Then you right click on your image and choose "copy link location"
Then click on the icon of a little mountain with sun.
In the URL box past the link. Press tab.
Adjust the largest size to 800 if necessary
Save post
You are allowed 2 entries in the contest. You could enter both if you wished.
This 2nd image tells a more complete story of what is happening but the first image allows us to see her determination in facing this foe.
Thanks Kismet, now I know how to do this, I've tried several time before to do it in just copy/past with no success.
Thanks for the links. Even though these links may not work for my problem, they are very useful information, thank you.
I can't even select the buttons within Daz Studio, so this may be a Hexagon only issue. I have a question on the Hexagon thread and am hoping for a solution there. I wanted to work it out in Hexagon, because now that I know how to create morphs for clothing, I will be using this more often. Who knows, the solution may need to come from a combination of Daz Studio and Hexagon!
Here is my 2nd entry "I guess".
I havent figure the title yet, It's Iray render, one spot light, Iray Leather Shader for the backdrop and the chair.
I'm still in doupt about the color of the backdrop, I think it's too bright....
Maybe if you used a sandy background it would be more suited to her bathing in the sun on a beach?? it also may help if you turned dow the intencity down a bit on the lighting your using???
Hello everyone,
Nice morph ;)
I think you need a separate button and coat ... with hexagon, since you seem to begin to master;).
Copy the button and create a new object by pasting.
For you to see what will be the easiest ... reveir in DAZ with coat and button or just send button ... and you aparentera the mantle in DAZ.
This is what seems to me the simplest.
But it is surprising that the D-dormer act on both sides ... you had may be poorly settle the action sphere.
@dracorn look at you go with the morphing... that's awesome.
Siotrad and evilded777:
Thanks guys!
I find that I prefer the fine control with Hexagon over the D-Formers.
Looks like from the Hexagon forum that the coat and buttons are one object, so I won't be able to rotate them separately - which makes it strange that the buttons wouldn't follow the coat when I morphed it. I am currently asking for a way to copy the button to make a new object - thanks for the suggestion, Siotrad, I was thinking along those lines myself. I can hide the original buttons via the Surfaces tab.
Making new buttons and learning how to texture them was a bit more work than I anticipated, but considering that I have a mind to make custom objects in the future, it is a skill I want to learn anyway.
You "just" have to select his faces ... if it's à button you take the two of the middle and ctrl +
If you want play with the surface tab to hide it ... you can load an onther coat, hide all the caot except the button ;) ... a very boring thing :)