"Standardized surfaces" setup?

[T4D]

Originally posted by apex
My question to be is how do you set up your surfaces/shaders. Do you utilize a standard light set-up and adjust it in that or do you find yourself tweaking each surface on a "per-scene" basis? Most of my renders have similar lighting output, but done with different techniques ie;Bkgrd GI, Monte, HDR, Spinning areas and even 3point set-ups but taking a model from one lighting set-up into another yields unnacceptable results thus the tweaking on a per-scene basis.
Thank you
kenrem

Don't know how everyone else works But I edit by a per scene basis

I personall save all surfaces to the preset shelf and load up when needed if a object is in 2 scenes one in sunlight one in a dark room and the surface didn't work ( Doesn't happen much )
i would save another version of the object and edit the surfaces.

[angus1965]

Originally posted by apex
Ok, not sure if the title is as clear as I hoped, but I am looking for input and opinions.
In the "real" world, when we see materials, surfaces etc... we immediately accept them as correct for that particular object(s), regardless of what lighting conditions they may be under ie; sunlight, overcast, incandescent etc... however in the world of LW (and CG in general for that matter) it seems that the surfaces react much different going from one lighting enviroment to another than they would in the"real" world.

I think there may be some issues with your surfaces and/or the lighting setups; possibly a combination of both - maybe even something else as well. I know that sounds vague, but it is hard to make judgements without examples.

My question to be is how do you set up your surfaces/shaders. Do you utilize a standard light set-up and adjust it in that

Yes. A standard three point light setup is usually sufficient to do the job.

or do you find yourself tweaking each surface on a "per-scene" basis?

No. Hardly ever. A well surfaced model will not, general speaking, require tweaking because the lighting conditions have changed.

Most of my renders have similar lighting output, but done with different techniques ie;Bkgrd GI, Monte, HDR, Spinning areas and even 3point set-ups but taking a model from one lighting set-up into another yields unnacceptable results thus the tweaking on a per-scene basis.

I would review how you are surfacing. Perhaps you could post some examples. It may also be you lighting setups.

"Spinning areas.."? Spinning area lights? Is this what you mean? If so, why?

I apologize for being a bit long-winded but I would appreciate hearing some of the different workflows the pros and amatures alike use in setting up "well-rounded/standardized" surfaces.

Thank you
kenrem

No worries here. Better too much information than not enough.

[NanoGator]

Originally posted by angus1965
Yes. A standard three point light setup is usually sufficient to do the job.


Pretty much true with photography, too.

[apex]

Thanks for the input. Thats just what I am looking for... to see how other artists setup their materials.

I guess I should have been a bit more descriptive in my question though without the "longwindedness". I would'nt go so far as to say that my surfaces are terrible when I change scenes, but they do require some more tweaking than what I feel is neccessary. A lot of what I deem to be bad actually has G2 applied. Weird.

My gut feeling was to setup a scene;1 plane,1ball, env.map and any one of the default 3point light setups available to test/create surfaces and I believe I shall begin doing so.

I don't believe my lighting is in question because of the results that I am happy with, but I do think that my problem is creating surfaces on a per-scene basis, compensating for the lighting and expecting the surface to perform in all situations rather than a "default" style light set-up to test/create new surfaces.

Thanks again.
kenrem

[NanoGator]

What surface attributes do you find yourself tweaking a lot? Give us an example?

[apex]

Nano-
I tend to find myself adjusting the color and diffuse values for the surfaces. Gloss, spec, reflec, trans are not an issue. Ultimately, my final scene is satisfactory in terms of render results (ie lighting and shadows). As I am still in the xtra large learning curve of going from traditional art to computers, I continue to outperform previous renders, creating better quality/faster rendering. The majority of my stuff is stills and usually done as a GI style render (I've got time) using backdrop, HDR and now the old spinning light trick. I don;'t have any visual examples to show right now but like I said, it is usually diffuse then color adjustments. As I stated previously, a lot seems to have happened with using G2, which I no longer use (but will try again, esp w/ the update). What I will start doing is workin' my surfaces in a "default style" 3point setup and bring the surfaces into the other renders to test how they look, ultimately to achieve that "standardized surface" that looks good in all situations. Thanks again.

kenrem

[NanoGator]

Heh yeah I see what you mean. I have a suggestion: Photographers run into this all the time. What they often do is use what's called a 'gobo'. Basically, a gobo is simply an object (or cutout) that's placed in front of a light in order to cast a shadow over an element of a scene.

For example, let's say you're taking a picture of a bathroom door. But, when you get the lights set up to get all the wonderful detail of the door, you notice that the "MEN" sign is glaring in the camera, causing it to be unreadable. Solution? Take a piece of construction paper, place it in front of the offending light, and cut it out just right so that the "MEN" sign is blocked, but everything around it isn't effected.

You can use a similar trick with Lightwave. If your light is a spotlight, you can screen-cap a view from Layout, and use Photoshop to generate a b&W image, thus adjusting how much light actually hits the object. This has pretty much the same effect as altering the diffuse parameters of an object.

Just something to think about. :)

[apex]

Nano-:thumbsup: I see what you mean. I have seen your post on the "multi render with sliders" and understand what your talkin' about. I generally don't do much post work but I am starting to be a believer in the subtlties that can be adjusted in that fashion. I hope the psd.exporter is fixed in 8 but in the meantime, I'll try out some old renders and see what I can do with DFX. Thanks.

kenrem

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