Lighting Challenge #15: Film Noir

[qasimroy]

HELLO GUYZ ..THIS IS MY FIRST POST ON CGTALK AND AM STARTING OUT IN CG LIGHTING AND COMPOSITING
so herez my first test i did
software used
3ds max 2008
mental ray
photoshop
am still working on my final setup..will share with you guys soon
critics are alwayz welcome
cheers
cya

[bymak]

bymak - Nice image. In terms of genre it looks more like a horror film than film noir, but that's your creative license. The DOF doesn't look convincing, it seems like the whole background is in focus all the way to the distance, but in the foreground the focus goes in and out and then in again. The composition is pretty good, but the alignment of the branches and round sign with the character's knee hurts the clarity of that area, maybe making the building appear further to the left in the background would help that.
-jeremy

thanks for precious comment. I try to fix problem. thanks again...

@kanooshka - cool...Clean render..:thumbsup:

http://www.bymak.com/images/lighting_challence_15_new.jpg

[jeremybirn]

Hi Everybody -

I'm back in town and trying to catch on the feedback! Here's some just for this page...

bymak - Nice! I don't think the wavey version adds anything, but it's a nice look to your scene. The bare lightbulbs need work, right now they seem to hit the same tone as the backlit windows, when I'd expect them to be much brighter and have a glow around them in the dust and fog. I wonder if the guy needs to be so fully lit, maybe his light could come more from the side, plus a little rim motivated by the building he's approaching?

qasimroy - Welcome! That's a good start! It has a nice look to it. Maybe the guy in the foreground could go darker in places, especially in the top of his shirt collar, just because the level of detail in the model doesn't seem suited for highly visible close-ups. The top edge of the guy could use some work, where the edge of the jacket and top of the shirt form a white horizontal line. The area in the lower left confuses me, I don't know what's being shown there. It appears that the lightin the upper left is very bright on the top of the lampshade for some reason, but not bright enough inside or underneath the light to look like a light bulb was there. The bulbs you see on the underside of the station could use more of an impression that they are lighting the area around them.

shalpin - Welcome! That's a terrific first post! The front upper end of the station seems to be getting some light that doesn't appear to come from anywhere. Perhaps there's a light in the scene that isn't casting shadows and needs to? There's a similar glow on the underside of the roof on the left side of the station. Maybe that window with the sillouheutte in it could be brighter?

punytjoshi - The tree seems to be getting an upwards-aimed spotlight on it from behind the house. Maybe the light from the station onto the tree could be greatly reduced, and instead the tree could have contrast mostly by being darker than the sky. The background moon and clouds look a little blurry, which is strange especially when the hils beside them are crisp. Perhaps you could add some more rims, kicks, highlights, or something to the empty areas to the right or left, just to fill in a more complete image.

juansilva - Great work! The color and the B&W both work, if you were going with the color I'd explore sky colors for more variety. The ground in both images looks like ocean surface, as if it were deep and wavey water. If it's supposed to be dirt and grass with a little wetness on it, then the surface could be better defined. The tree looks great lighting-wise, but I think parts of it seem a little too low-polygon where we see them in close-up. The front of the station seems like it could use less fill light, except for the top left edge which could use some kick or rim from the moon. Those little light bulbs on under the station porch seem a bit bright, but don't really look like they are turned on, maybe just shade them as if they were turned off?

ErshadRahbar - That's coming along well. Right now it looks underexposed, as if the whole image only used the lower range of available tones. Try brightening selected areas, such as around the light bulbs, inside of lit interior, or the sky and clouds.

EN1GM4 - That's coming along. You need some shadows or occlusion to add variation to the ground, and add a sense of contact to where the man is standing. The colored light from the man lighting the match seems exactly the same as the orange color on the building that's supposed to be from the lightbulb, maybe the bulb light could be cooler? A nice sky would do wonders for that image.

jojo1975 - Nice sky, good composition. I think the fill light level on the front of the building is too high, but the fill on the ground too dark. Try to get a nice glow around the lightbulbs, something that isn't blocky. Some translucency on the shade in the window would help the windows look normal.

xwolf - Welcome! Keep going!

Leotril - Good start. That's a strange effect with the banding around the signs, I guess it'll take more work to get it to look like a nice soft glow around them?

-jeremy

[hiva61]

Hi Jeremy , Nice to see you but what about mine ? it was in the page before and you ...! :argh:

i need your suggestions , please

[hiva61]

Hi jeremy nice to see you but what about mine ? it was in the page before and you ...! :argh:

please , i need your suggestions. thanks

[AirmanCS]

Hi, here is some progress, I start to add the main textures to my scene and i probably be posting the full textured version soon, but for now i just want to get some feedback:bounce: from u all, good luck people.:thumbsup:

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/6223/secondimageov9.jpg

[punytjoshi]

Thank you for your comments and critics. I will soon be back with all improvisations done

Punyt Joshi

[jeremybirn]

AirmanCS - Nice scene! It looks like you have some illumination coming from those lightbulbs under the porch, but the bulbs themselves don't appear lit. The outer edge of the roof looks very bright, especially on the left side where it doesn't seem as if it should be getting any light. Maybe there's even a light on the roof that isn't casting shadows?

hiva61 - Terrific image! I love it! The tree in the foreground looks a little low-poly, maybe some displacement or higher res model details could help. Actually, even the tree in front of the moon looks almost like cut paper in its simplicity. The station looks great. A few places are going pure white: the side of a gas pump, the edges of some of the window frames next to the windows, that shouldn't go that bright and could be toned down. The front of the porch roof and front of the columns below it could get less light, since no direct light would be hitting there. Overall just tweak those things, this is a great scene and I love the overall feeling and use of different tones.

kanooshka - Nice scene! The texture on the ground looks good. The view through the car (seeing in the windshield and out the side windows) isn't working for me - maybe reflectivity instead of transparency on that glass? The wooden column in the upper center of the image looks very bright, and not solidly connected with the ground beneath it. The tangency between the edge of the open door screen right and the curb on the ground makes the door shape read less well, maybe you can move things or else even-out the illumination on that curb shadow so it doesn't look darker than the other shadows and call attention to itself?

-jeremy

[AirmanCS]

Hi jeremy thanks for your comment, i forgot to tell that i still dont apply the volume light in the bulbs from the porch, but yes they are there, and yes the roof doesnt have to be so bright, im going to fix that details in my next post. :thumbsup:

[Luthias]

Here is the first version of my entry. Please feel free to make any coments and suggestions that you 'd like. Thankshttp://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/Luthias42/lightingchallenge05.jpg

[Leotril]

@jeremy .. i notice the problem with the neon lights, thank for remind me of those .. heres an update on the black & white .. color correction in AE then PS then AE again :hmm:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/compAE-4111.jpg

i try fix the overbright lights on this one tweaking the incadescense pass on the shaders also adding more glow and grain

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/compAE-3-2-1.jpg

more post work on this one kinda fun try but i like my previous renders better same passes ans settings just more post work ..

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/AE2BWAE-1-1.jpg

- added key light with shadows
- neon tweaks
- reflections more clear
- DoF removed

[jojo1975]

Thanks to all for sharing so wonderful images. I would like also to thanks Jeremy for the precious suggestion he gives to improve my images (I tried to follow them all i hope I suceeded) this is my "final" image. I dont' think I will have time to tweak more the image due to other work Ihave to commit. It was a wonderful occasion to use render in passes and not to bother to much with shaders ;) thanks for this wonderful challenge
http://www.giorgioluciano.net/CgTalk/ContactSheet.jpg
http://www.giorgioluciano.net/CgTalk/LC15SinChallenge.jpg
http://www.giorgioluciano.net/CgTalk/LC15Final.jpg

[jojo1975]

I forgot.. This timewe have not been already plugged ;) or am I wrong ?

[juansilva]

jojo1975. I think replacing the sky would help your image a lot. The picture you're using is clearly from a daytime sky and it definitely shows and thus contrasts strongly with the night-time illumination you've got on your scene.

Just a thought :)

[lossenct]

Wow! Great posts, everyone. Well, here's my first attempt. I have more work to be done, but it's a start.


http://www.timchrismer.com/FilmNoir/fog2.jpg


Here's a version tweaked in Photoshop

http://www.timchrismer.com/FilmNoir/fog4.jpg


Here's everything without the fog.

http://www.timchrismer.com/FilmNoir/nofog.jpg

Please let me know what y'all think. C&C is always welcome!

[juansilva]

lossenct. Good start. Textures are looking good. One thing to think about though:

Will you add other elements (i.e people) to the scene? Because if you're not planning on it...then I'd recommend you change your camera angle since this one is very dull. It lacks life, and there doesn't seem to be a point in framing this area of the scene if there ain't anything interesting happening in it.

Cheers.

[guivAg]

like i promised there is an animated version...

LinK to dowload video
(http://www.megaupload.com/fr/?d=GH5VC765)

[qasimroy]

hey jeremy thankx for the critics heres another version i came up with its wihout the character ..hope to get feed back soon
cheers

[psycosven]

Ok, so I tried add some rim lighting to the roof as suggested by saks. And I tried to get some reflected light to the road in the first 2 shots like you said I should Jeremy. Also I made sure to get rid of the negative space from the moon. I am not sure though, I think some of the light it lost in the photoshop effects. But, these are what I have got. As always, Comment and critiques are welcome!

http://www.douglaskoski.com/renders/15noir_g.jpghttp://www.douglaskoski.com/renders/15noir_h.jpghttp://www.douglaskoski.com/renders/15noir_e.jpg
http://www.douglaskoski.com/renders/15noir_f.jpg

[qasimroy]

hey thankx jeremy for pointing out my mistakes herez another test i did i removed the body from this one ..and added lil grain in photoshop .
will work on another on
cheers

[xwolf]

My second attempt, with textures included and a little post production in PS.. Comments and critics are welcomed

http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/223793/223793_1214252890_large.jpg

[lossenct]

lossenct. Good start. Textures are looking good. One thing to think about though:

Will you add other elements (i.e people) to the scene? Because if you're not planning on it...then I'd recommend you change your camera angle since this one is very dull. It lacks life, and there doesn't seem to be a point in framing this area of the scene if there ain't anything interesting happening in it.

Cheers.

Thanks for pointing that out, juansilva. I'll see what I can do, but I didn't want to clutter the frame up with too much information. I definitely think the right side of the image makes more sense than the left, so I might lean more to that direction for the framing.

[juansilva]

That's true. The right side is indeed more appealing, but do not constrain yourself with the layout given to you by the modeler...move stuff around, copy objects and paste them elsewhere to add more to the scene. Have fun with it, you might be surprised with the ending result.

Cheers.

[Leotril]

heres a new a try B&W

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/compAE4Color-1aGlowBW-1.jpg

color version

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/compAE4ColorGlowCanvas-1-1.jpg

link to my previus post on page 18, click here (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=5223606&postcount=262)

[f3rd5]

Hi All! Here's my very first post to Lighting Challenge. Texture and Lighting all done in Maya
with a little post work in Combustion. Still consider it a work in progress for now so comments
and suggestions are highly appreciated. Afterall. "artworks are never really completed, only
abandoned."



http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk195/tangnanyo/film_noire_ferdz.jpg

[AirmanCS]

Hi there, this my scene with almost all the textures (i still have work the texture on the roof and the water pump), let me know what you think. The next is to add a character to the scene, i got some ideas like sitting him next to the door or walking to the station, with a cigarette in his or her hand to catch the attention, but im really not sure, anyway c&c about the idea of the character will come very handy :thumbsup:, good luck everyone.
__________________________________

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/791/thirdimageni5.jpg
___________________________________

[juansilva]

Leotril. I like both versions. Although the major issue with your glows there is killing both of 'em. What's up with that? Also, perhaps if you added a bit more fog in the distance and some blur you could kick it up a notch?

Cheers.

[EN1GM4]

Hi guys, this are two proposals of the scene, which is not finished yet, there are some things I´ve just could do, like put shadow on the guy with the cigarrete, or get enough contrast to get the film noir feeling and I don´t know why since I change to mac I can´t save the renders on tga or psd with alpha channel, them came out flat. :banghead:PLEASE HELP!! and if there are some other things you think it could be improved please tell me.

THANX!

Note: the flying trees are now fixed :P

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/552/avance3mu3.th.jpg (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=avance3mu3.jpg)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4148/avancebnoa8.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=avancebnoa8.jpg)

[juansilva]

EN1GM4. Personally I think that the only thing that works better in the color version is the fact that you can actually see the blood stains as such. As far as things that need fixing:

The pixelated image of the moon and sky has to go. It's ruining the whole image for ya.
Also the glow on the lightbulbs seems to be way off (particularly on the one in the middle), and also looking at your previous renders, I actually liked it more when the two figures where more in darkness. Don't get me wrong...the right lighting on the 2 characters can work its charms, but right now the guy with the cigarette looks like he's trying to set his eyebrows on fire, either that or stick the lighter in his eye. His hands are holding the lighter higher than they should.

I hope this helps.
Cheers.

[Leotril]

@juansilva.. thanx for remind me about the glows the look cheap cuz is all post in after effects, .. for my next render ill try some different for that effect or try to toned down a bit k.

[Luthias]

Here is an update to my Entry still have a person to insert but I think I'm getting pretty close. Please tell me what you think. good, bad, or indifferent.http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/Luthias42/lightingchallenge06.jpg

[EN1GM4]

Thanx juan, there is a lot of work to do!! I will consider everithing you said :thumbsup:

[hbeachman]

to Luthias Hey I would look at placing a rim light on the middle foreground cross. Its gettting lost in the black of the hills. This will just pull it out. And maybe the grass in the foreground is looking off. It might need a shadow pass, or its lit too much. Might adjust the falloff of the lights affecting it.
EN1GM4 Looking cool. I think the blood is looking fine in the black and white version. Maybe a stonger shadow might look good in there somewhere? The general light looks spot on if it was all coming from the moons illumination. With those bulbs on, there might be a chance of a stronger shadow. Also it is a film noir thing so you think about a shadow to reinforce an idea or suggest something.
AirmanCS Textures are starting look great, I like the ground one, but it looks life it stretches or blurs as it goes away from the camera.
Leotril -I think the back light is too even. I am not sure if its supposed to be fog? Might help if you can darken in on the left of composition. Also I find the car too evenly lit, the tyres look to even, I think it would get darker around the wheel arches. And the rear bumper is too bright. Maybe just knock back the light here if you have one. Same thing with the front of house, around the windows. Its evenly lit all over. Try for some darkening of elements.
Xwolf- The Light setup is coming along, but the textures are off. Too stong and they dont tell you much about the surface. The top of the pump, looks like a heavy iron plate. They arel more thin metals, polished or glass. You can find reference for these on the net easily enough. The light from the cars headlights looks nice, I think you could define the car a bit better, maybe bring out a detail on the wheels, a some metal on the body work?.

[f3rd5]

Here's a follow up revision to my earlier post. Dressed up the background a little and added
light shards. Again, critiques and comment are welcome. Thanks



http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk195/tangnanyo/film_noir_ferdz_revB.jpg

[juansilva]

f3rd5. Veeery nice indeed. That's fine work right there.
Only one crit from my part...there's a weird light hitting the car in the background from the front. Also, it seems to be missing contact shadow.

Nothing further.
Cheers.

[ErshadRahbar]

hi jeremy


thanks alot for every thing i fixed problem :

[Leotril]

@hbeachman .. thank u.. u pointed out many things like the light being to even in the house, car and tires. I will check the light and try to do something different for my next update k

@f3rd5 .. i think some areas are looking too black try to get more bounce light in those parts or maybe some specularity or reflections so they dont look that black.. thres a non motivated shadow upside the gas sign , the reflections on the car needs a litlee blur i think they are too sharp and below the car should be a bit darker.. maybe not :drool: more corrosion on some textures will help some look like lambert and finally add some grain and more fog .. nice work !!

[lighthunder]

just got in,here is my R & D of the scenehttp://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1378/finalrc2.jpg

[hbeachman]

Hello All

Here is my latest render. Almost the final image here. Have made some changes to the well area as per Jeremeys suggestions. Otherwise, some subtle changes to everything.Nothing too major. Then some light touch ups in PS. Still playing with the grain. Got a little balencing of elements, I seem to have lost some spec for the windows in this comp. Reflection on the pumps at the front isnt quite right and the well has got a bit too dark in parts. Body is getting a little lost in the comp, need to pull that out. I have wanted the composition to draw your eyes to the body all along and I might have lost that right now. Will post the final over the weekend.http://videogamepaintings.free.fr/hamish/HbeachmanNoirRenders2.jpg

[xwolf]

Xwolf- The Light setup is coming along, but the textures are off. Too stong and they dont tell you much about the surface. The top of the pump, looks like a heavy iron plate. They arel more thin metals, polished or glass. You can find reference for these on the net easily enough. The light from the cars headlights looks nice, I think you could define the car a bit better, maybe bring out a detail on the wheels, a some metal on the body work?.

I will get into it, thanks for the advice!! Although my car´s idea in the picture was to only be seen as a silhouette.

About the textures, yes I do have some problems with the concrete, and well the Pump I know it was not real, was just experimenting :P, I have to fix these.

[kiko77]

Hello, friends I am sending my final study, thank you
http://www.kiko3dmania.com/ImageGalleryHandler.ashx?imageId=184d1a22-feed-4788-866a-43ab280b4390&width=100&prefix=fullscrean&oldWidth=100

[Eomer41]

There are some good renders on here. Here is mine, this is version 1. So far I don't have too many textures. This was done with Lightwave. Total of 5 lights in the scene. Four area lights and one point light. I also used a soft filter on the render too give it a more old look.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/5530/bw2xo4.png

[Luthias]

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/Luthias42/lightingchallenge-03.jpgHere is the Latest version of me challenge. Let me know what you guys think.

[rathe]

Hello all

This is my first entry to a lighting challenge :):

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn119/rgDengate/rgDengate_filmNoir.jpg

Any comments would be appreciated, although given that the challenge ends on Monday, I guess there won't be a lot of time to make changes.

Fantastic book by the way, Jeremy.

Cheers,
Rebecca

[peraza02]

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/733/cinenegroto3.jpg
Hi there. This is my first time in this kind of activity and I'm very excited about it. In this work my idea was to create some kind of "Coloured Film Noir" scene in which the main idea is to use the contrast between color and blacks. Right now I am working on improve it, so I would be very glad if you give me some help or advises. Thanks and keep creating!

[lespectre]

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/angi-chocoloco/light_01.jpg

Well, this is my lighting for this scene.I wanted to make allusion to the legend of the vampire of Dusseldorf, so its a murder scene, there will be blood and a knife somewhere in the trailer.I believe the trailer and some samll props was all i needed to give the scene the feeling i was looking for.
I would really appreciate any comments...soon.
thaaaaaaaaaaank :bounce: youuuuuuu!!!

[lespectre]

sorry, double post :shrug:

[pmegele]

Hello there,

Here is my last go at this challenge. i changed a couple of things. pasted in a car and changed the sky to something more atmospheric and made it more contrasty. Critique welcome !

[juansilva]

rgDengate. Nice Render. I think the drapes in the windows add realism to the image. I also like the water.
I think perhaps the tree in the back perhaps stands out a bit much because of the bump. I dunno...it looks a little odd. Also, you forgot to "turn on" the lightbulb on the left side of the house...the light's there, but the lightbulb's out.

Other than that, everything's going well. I'd say try maybe adding a little bit more to the background? You could throw in a few objects here and there to make the image tell a story or enhance the overall environment.


peraza02. Pretty cool. Very surreal render. I like the colors and although I find the yellow police tape going through the whole place like that a little eerie, that's what makes me keep staring at the image. Nice work!


Keep up the good work, guys.
Cheers.

[JohnPGiancarlo]

Hello there,
I hope to get a good review and critics from all of you, it´s always great to know what great artists think about your work.

Thanks.

[peraza02]

rgDengate. Nice Render. I think the drapes in the windows add realism to the image. I also like the water.
I think perhaps the tree in the back perhaps stands out a bit much because of the bump. I dunno...it looks a little odd. Also, you forgot to "turn on" the lightbulb on the left side of the house...the light's there, but the lightbulb's out.

Other than that, everything's going well. I'd say try maybe adding a little bit more to the background? You could throw in a few objects here and there to make the image tell a story or enhance the overall environment.


peraza02. Pretty cool. Very surreal render. I like the colors and although I find the yellow police tape going through the whole place like that a little eerie, that's what makes me keep staring at the image. Nice work!


Keep up the good work, guys.
Cheers.

--------------------------------------------------

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your comment.

[marioaguirre]

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/151/pegadaszv0.jpg

This is the way the world ends,


not with a bang,


but a wimper.... not in this case though


Hi everyone, this is my first time posting something here on CGTalk, and also my first time in these sort of challenges. I finally finished the scene. It took quite a while but i am really happy about the way it turn out. I started researching about film noir and i realized most of the images i found had bodies and blood. I actually did not wanted to deal with blood(too mesy maybe) so i try giving the viewer the idea that a murder had ocurred. So the thing with the glasses was just perfect and it also offered me the oportunity to put the viewer in the position of the person that had just been kill.


I wanted to achieved a gloomy atmosphere with the scene, a lot of fog was therefore useful, so as to really create a misterious yet deadly ambiance.


Anyhow i hope you like it as much as i do and feel free to comment.

[AirmanCS]

Hey peraza i have seen your work, well done:thumbsup:.

[pmegele]

Hy,

Changed the headlightcone and cropped the image, because there was a lot of dead space at the bottom.
I really enjoyed this one. Good luck to all of you. I think there are some wicked entries.

[rathe]

Hi all,

Thanks juansilva for your comments! I have made some changes, the updated image is below. Well done everyone who is posting entries - I'm seeing some very impressive work!

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn119/rgDengate/rgDengate_filmNoir2.jpg

Cheers,
Rebecca

[jojo1975]

@ J P Giancarlo Great work is it done in post ?

[JohnPGiancarlo]

@ J P Giancarlo Great work is it done in post ?

Most of the work was done in Maya and then compose with photoshop.

Things like the birds, Dust, leaves were also added in photoshop. I used lots of adjustement layers for color correction, I´m still playing with Values, so I guess I will be posting a different Image later on.

Thanks for your post Jojo.

[AirmanCS]

Hi, this is my final result, i added my character to the scene, and finish all the texture and lighting work, my goal was to achieve a scary atmosphere so i decided to give a little of paranormal feeling to it :), anyway i hope you like it. All C&C are welcome :thumbsup:.
___________________________________

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/6041/filmnoir2og1.jpg
______________________________________

[hbeachman]

Hi all
This is my final image. Again not alot of difference to the last one, but I am happy with it. Was trying to get the feel of film noir, with a nod to my favourite noir films. I was really interested in strong contrasts, strong shadows and plenty of darkness and an interesting composition, hence the angle.. Went for a night time render, clear night, no fog. Important to light it in such a way as to pull attention to the body, as it was the area of narrative. Thanks for the critiques. And thanks to Jeremy for the challenge.
http://videogamepaintings.free.fr/hamish/HbeachmanNoirFinal.jpg

[juansilva]

Hi Jeremy,

thanks for the feedback. I tried to add a bit of a rim glow on the roof's left edge, and also make the lightbulbs look like they're on. It's quite subtle but it's there, hehe. What do you think? Does it show?

The ground I really didn't know how to go about giving it more definition. I've always had issues mapping and shading ground. It has a tendency to always end up looking blurry even though I use high-res texture maps. Any input as to why this could be happening?

I also added a little bit more contrast, and a sharpen layer at about 20% to enhance the rain and the old grainy look.

Thanks again.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8816/filmnoirfi1.jpg

[punytjoshi]

Here is my work where I have made some drastic changes Hope you all will like it and Will be looking forward for your comments and critics from every one.

One thing I would have to say is I had to change the sky as you(jeremy) suggested that sky looks blurry and I found out there was a Problem with image so I found unother one and photoshoped it to go with my theme(I.e A peace full sky with just a Moon).

Here is a link to have a look at my work
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6761/readytosendlff3.jpg

Thank You
Punyt Joshi

[gregsandor]

Hi everyone. Here is a quick render of my challenge image. The light is a moon below the horizon, and the station lights. I'll appreciate any suggestions for the scene.


http://gregsandor.tripod.com/FilmNoir.jpg

[f3rd5]

Hi All! After some tweaking and few modifications, here's the latest result to my shot. I made some changes in the camera settings to show a more interesting angle of the scene and added or deleted a few more things to make it look more visually appealing . I greatly appreciate all the comments, suggestions and hints that somehow made a big difference in improving the scene:

@JuanSilva... thanks a lot for your input. you are right, there's light being reflected on the background car's front shield and I guess it's creating confusion so I guess that must go...and as to the absence of contact shadows between the car and and ground, well, i just made it more visible.

@Leontril.....thanks a lot for pointing out the lack of fill lights in areas that seem to appear almost black and convesely, the brightness of areas that need to be more in shadows ( under the car).

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk195/tangnanyo/film_noir_ferdz_D.jpg

[marioaguirre]

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/151/pegadaszv0.jpg

i dont know whats happening. it seem i am unable to post, i did post the text for the picture

[lespectre]

hello, it would be really useful if someone gave some feedback on my previous post, thanks!

[radianssi]

Alright, here's a slightly more polished and larger version of what I posted a few weeks ago - finally had a chance to do something about it. Thanks for the comments and suggestions. :)

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7709/fn2wm4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[gregsandor]

Lespectre: Interesting point of view there. I would like to see something in the sky and ground behind the coach to draw my eye into the scene. Maybe some clouds or bats.

[peraza02]

juansilva.

I really appreciate your comments on my first post. The last time I gave you a short answer but I am not sure if you read it (I am a little bit new in this things and maybe I did something wrong). It is great that you think that my work seems like a surrealistic render because I was looking for that kind of reaction. I didn`t see your Film Noir work until now, and I really like it. The wet tree texture is great and the idea of the puddle in the front. The puddle looks great. Also I noticed that you used almost every object from the original scene and you created a great composition with them (in my opinion that is very hard to achieve). I really like the old grainy looking and the colors of your scene, mainly the color of the plants in the front because it is not too strong but it is there adding an effect to the image.

Thanks a lot and keep creating!

[juansilva]

peraza02. Thanks! You just made my day, hehe. I'm glad you liked my work, and you're right: Pulling the composition using only the objects in the scene was probably the hardest bit; Nevertheless I wanted to do it that way for that alone seemed like another good challenge to tackle.
I'm also glad that you found my feedback useful.
Cheers, man!

f3rd5. This latest version turned out great! This is definitely one of the best renders this month. Thumbs up.

radianssi. I think the tree behind the station is simply awesome. The way in which it contrasts with the light in the background makes the image for me. It seems both terrifying and glorius all at the same time. The shadow in the foreground's a nice touch. The whole picture gives me this feel of "The Exorcist meets The Exorcism of Emily Rose".
Nice work indeed.

[animatedplayer]

http://www.animatedplayer.com/onlineimages/filmnoir_reginaldharber_web.jpg

Lighting Challenge #15: Film Noir

[peraza02]

AirmanCSThanks a lot for your words! It was great to find a comment from a friend here. I really appreciate all your help. About your work I really like the idea, because it is very original and unexpected. I think that is the most important thing about this: to create something that people does not forget. Thanks a gain my friend and keep creating!

[Luthias]

Here is the Final image. I hope you guys like it and thanks Hbeachman for the comments I tried to make the crosses stand out a little more without losing the feeling of the image. Let me know what you guys think.http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/Luthias42/lightingchallenge-wk04.jpg

[marioaguirre]

This is(i think) my final image. I decided i could go a little further in terms of contrast. I also dd some highlights so as to define de shapes just a bit more. A bit of fog coming out the window and also a few things here and there i order to broke up the large shadow. and i also took away the little shards, i was not entirely happy with them.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/4044/finalfinaluk2.jpg

[bernardoAlfz]

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8792/filmnoir3bernardoalfarooz9.jpgHello, here's my first post. Nice job on this challenge everybody (http://imageshack.us), good luck. http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8792/filmnoir3bernardoalfarooz9.d32b8ca7c5.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=154&i=filmnoir3bernardoalfarooz9.jpg)

[sifuera]

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/2922/mmmm2ia2.jpgHi, this is not the final render; I still need to adjust the illumination and some textures.

The idea was to represent the female side of the film noir without the need of the girl, maintaining the essence of this genre.

Comments and critics are welcome...
Thanks.

[bernardoAlfz]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3874/filmnoiraliciavelascoux5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)A friend asked me to post her work because her internet connection failed. This work is from Alicia Velasco and she will soon be posting with her own user, we hope XD ;-) hehe.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3874/filmnoiraliciavelascoux5.d3609b5705.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=241&i=filmnoiraliciavelascoux5.jpg)

[bernardoAlfz]

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7126/filmnoirfinalbernardoallk0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7126/filmnoirfinalbernardoallk0.92fed1cc7d.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=58&i=filmnoirfinalbernardoallk0.jpg)

Here's my final post.

[kenosi]

This is my first time posting in cgtalk, I'm from south africa and I started 3d a couple of months ago.This is my cg challenge entry and its entitled dark night, I enjoyed lighting it and I'll keep on participating on other challenges.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll194/kendavmod/cg%20lighting%20challenges/cglightingchallenge_011.jpg

[EN1GM4]

Hi guys, I hope this isn´t my final post, because there are some things i want to improve, but if I can´t get them at time well... this would be my final post :S.

I had a lot of poblems with mental ray, so I get later than I thought, I hope the challenge finish including June 30th :D


http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8981/filmnoirjuanpablosolistz4.jpg

[xwolf]

My last entry to the challengehttp://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/223793/223793_1214804127_large.jpg

[mustafaq]

Hi,

This is my first post here. I'm quite new and the content at CGTALK is overwhelming :) Looking forward to learning & contributing in future.

Here's my entry.

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll162/mustafavizcomrade/CGTALK/filmnoir_mustafa.jpg

[guivAg]

this night is the last night of this great challenge ! ! ! !

anyone know wat is the next ??




i re up my final try...

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7624/compositecadre3cv1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=compositecadre3cv1.jpg)

great work everyone !

[lespectre]

hey my final render! the first one is the original version, and the rest are variations
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/867/11470032qd6.th.jpg (http://img79.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11470032qd6.jpg)
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7853/iiigl5.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iiigl5.jpg)
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4845/ivib4.th.jpg (http://img117.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ivib4.jpg)

[lost-in-3d]

hi guys,

this is my first post, and i think iam the last one to post bfor july 1 . the time right now is GMT 7.10 PM. comments r always welcome. so here's my colored version

http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm412/lost_in_3d/Film_Noir_Clr.jpg


NOW the b & W version


http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm412/lost_in_3d/Film_Noir_BW.jpg







I have written an open letter to jeremy

hi jeremy,
i know you are not participating in the challenges anymore, but it would be great if u decide to post ur version of the challenge at the end. In ur post i request u to add a video describing ur work. Iam not asking u to record the whole lighting process . after u finalise the scene just a brief description of the things that u have done(lights,textures,materials etc etc) . It would be very helpful for people like me . please consider my request.
bye 4 now
Mathew

[JohnPGiancarlo]

This is my Final image. Please post your comments, I would love to hear what you have to say about it.

This is a link to a larger image:
http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/295323/295323_1214856440_large.jpg

Thanks Again.

John Paul Giancarlo

[EN1GM4]

Hi people this is my real final post!!

thanx for everyone who helped me!

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/173/filmnoirfinalsn4.jpg

[marioaguirre]

well i wanted to port something with my name on it. I hope i still on time. Anyhow i did post my final image before. I also wanted to post something in color. Hope you like it.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/7057/blackwhitefinalgo2.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2843/colorfinalky1.jpg

[sifuera]

Hello this is my final image.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5697/filmfinalmk8.jpg

[emfj25]

hi every one, great work i have seen.;)
here is my scene...

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4084/filmnoir23ga5.jpg


:sad: I got some problems with the image, and posting in this page... I don't know why. Some times doesn't open the page or doesn't let me post, i don't know if is my conection.

it's weird, because I have already post in the past, and I didn't have any problem.:surprised

[ChrisCast]

Hello to all,

This is my first time participating in the Lighting Challenges, hope you like it. It's still June 30th by my time so I hope that maybe this will make it into the gallery. I used 3ds max and Photoshop for post. Next time I will post a little earlier to try to get feedback from all of you. Not much I can do to change it now, but please let me know what you think. :-)

http://www.castanedafx.com/galleries/3dspeed/images/ccastane_FILM_NOIR_final01.jpg

[Dipali]

Hi all...
this is my first post to this challenge...pls comment and guide..
Thanx,,,http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/Dipali_album/CG_Challenge16/camera1_shk_final_crop.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/Dipali_album/CG_Challenge16/camera1_shk_final_crop_grey.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/Dipali_album/CG_Challenge16/camera2_shk_crop_grey.jpg

[JohnPGiancarlo]

Here is the link again:

http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/295323/295323_1214856440_large.jpg

Please don't forget to review my image I would really like to hear what you have to say.

Everybody on this Forum/Challenge feel free to critisized my work in any way.
http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/295323/295323_1214856440_large.jpg

Thanks.

[gregsandor]

JohnPGiancarlo, I think it is beautiful; looks right out of an Old South postcard -- its spooky. I preferred the fuller view you posted originally to the cropped version.

[jeremybirn]

Well, I've fallen a bit behind on giving feedback, but -- WOW! --- look at all these great images!


JohnPGiancarlo - Great image! It has a very 2.5D look to it, although the blurring applied to parts of the image seems kindof random to me. The area around the cemetary with the light and fog on it is subtle and beautiful. In front of the house, I don't know why the lights have such hard-edged glows around them, but some of that fog would be useful. Some fog in the distance, fading the farthest hill towards the sky tone, would add to the depth and consistency. The birds are a nice touch!

Dipali - Welcome! nice images! I like the color one with the night sky, maybe it could use some more light from those light bulbs onto the set, the bulbs could be brighter, and the road could reflect more of the blue light. The bottom one with the UFO shining its headlight on the hill is interesting too.

ChrisCast - Welcome! Great image!

emfj25 - Welcome! That image link from post #340 isn't working for me, it just says no image available at imageshack.

sifuera - Welcome! Those are great! In some ways I like the color one more, although the tree should just be black instead of blue lit. The black-and-white version works, and I love the little reddish smudges on the mirror in the lower one.

marioaguirre - Wow, great images! Nice story elements! I think the amount of contrast in the background person is a little high, he could look more like a part of the scene if he hit similar tones to parts of the camper, but this is a minor point.

EN1GM4 - Great job! Congratulations!

lost-in-3d - Welcome! That's a nice scene, great way to make an entrance. I like the reflective ground, that adds a lot to a night scene, although I wish the car were a part of the reflection more. For the light bulbs, I think there's too much of a 2D glow added around them, but not enough illumination from the bulb onto the nearby parts of the set. Watch for the middle back bulb where its behind a gas pump, you don't need to glow there.

lespectre - Great scenes, all of them! The view of the camper wall through the glass in the door looks a little fishy to me: maybe shadows are not appearing through the glass?

guivAg - Terrific image! Very photographic!

mustafaq - Welcome! Things can get overwhelming, I'm personally swamped
and have fallen behind on giving feedback here. That's a great start.
Making the top of the milepost so bright would work if you were
imitating a car's POV with headlights on or something, but here it looks
out of place. Try to use more contrast and dynamic range, with some
other fully bright areas, and other areas dark.

xwolf - Nice angle with the guy's POV looking out the window! I also like your earlier one with just the color scene that's now in the BG.

kenosi - Welcome! Nice idea with the person coming out of the well. When
we added a well to the scene I was wondering if someone would do a "the
ring" take-off, and this is the closest we've gotten. I think you could
use a little more contrast in the scene, a lot of it has a similar
medium-dark tone and many of the colors are more saturated than you'd
see at night, some more black areas punctuated by bright rims and
highlights could make it look more like nighttime.

bernardoAlfz - Nice job! The "car crash" one is really great, although
the sky and horizon in the upper left could use some work. The other one
seems little too grayed out - having some atmosphere is nice, but it
looks cloudy in the porch ceiling as if the clouds from the sky were
still visible down below.

Luthias - Great job! I think the rim light on the crosses could use
work: it needs to cast shadows to look believable, and you could use
some rim light on the horizontal parts especially of the right one.

animatedplayer - Nice job!

radianssi - What a fantasic image! I love it! Congratulations.

f3rd5 - Terrific work! Congratulations!

gregsandor - Your image is looking good so far. If you add the tree and other parts, then that'll be an excuse for some nice shadows. Some of the bulbs seem not to decay with distance or shadow realistically.

punytjoshi - nice work!

juansilva - That's terrific! I love the rain!

hbeachman - Great scene! It really has the feeling of a studio set production. The figure looks like he's built of different segments that don't fit together at the top of the legs, so that might be an area to retouch if you had time.

AirmanCS - Great work! Whatever he's doing certainly looks scary, is he using that plastic bag to hide a hole in the ground? Anyway, it looks top-notch. I don't know why the sky looks blurry, if you had a sharper sky image it might blend better with a scene with such deep focus otherwise.

rgDengate - Great scene! My only though was if it might balance out better if the sky were brighter and had more clouds visible. There's a look of soft ligthing in the scene without many shadows, as you'd expect if the gas pumps were just being lit by those bare bulbs.

pete1974 - Great job!

peraza02 - Wow! What an awsome, memorable image! You've done something with bold colors in it, and yet it perfectly captures the stark feeling of a film noir. I can't wait to put together the gallery of all of these...

Eomer41 - Good start!

kiko77 - Great job!

lighthunder - Interesting take on the scene!

ErshadRahbar - Great job!

-jeremy

[jeremybirn]

I have written an open letter to jeremy

hi jeremy,
i know you are not participating in the challenges anymore, but it would be great if u decide to post ur version of the challenge at the end. In ur post i request u to add a video describing ur work. Iam not asking u to record the whole lighting process . after u finalise the scene just a brief description of the things that u have done(lights,textures,materials etc etc) . It would be very helpful for people like me . please consider my request.
bye 4 now
Mathew




Hi Mathew -

It's a shame I can only do so many background tasks when I come home from work. I've done my own entries in 5 out of the first 15 challenges: #1, #4, #8, #10, and #11. When we do some re-run challenges coming back to the earlier ones, and I have time, I'd love to do more of them.

I have been making some instructional videos recently. The cgworkshops I've taught here come with videos for each week's course. Some time later this year I'll teach another cgworkshop, and I'm also looking into getting some training DVDs released.

-jeremy

[jojo1975]

Jeremy, I would like to thanks for the great possibility and feedback you give us and for hosting such great challenge. For me it was a good chance to start the wonderful "classic" way of compositing ;)
Thanks
Jojo

[gregsandor]

I add my thanks to Jeremy and every artists who contributed here. I have really enjoyed every image posted here and learned a lot over the course of this challenge. This is just an end-of-the-day musing: it would be neat to run an animation challenge using all the stills here as storyboards. For the past couple of months every time a new picture was posted I felt like a new bit of a story was being revealed.

[lost-in-3d]

hi jeremy,
I just wanna say thanks for ur feedback. It feels great to get response from professionals like u. looking forward to ur training DVD's .Good luck

thanks a lot
Mathew

[xwolf]

I add my thanks to Jeremy and every artists who contributed here. I have really enjoyed every image posted here and learned a lot over the course of this challenge. This is just an end-of-the-day musing: it would be neat to run an animation challenge using all the stills here as storyboards. For the past couple of months every time a new picture was posted I felt like a new bit of a story was being revealed.

A very good idea!! Would be great to try to combine all this images into one good storyline!! or several short ones!!

Also would like to thank Jeremy Birn for the support he give to us the upcoming (hopefully) workers in this industry.

And eventhough, Mario and 3nigm@ are classmates, I want to openly congratulate them on their challenge's project. In my taste both of them are the best of what the challenge was about, Good illumination with a Film Noir flavor.

And to the rest, congratulations on your works, thanks for the advice some of you gave me. I see how much I need to improve, but hopefully this will help me get to where success rests!!

[EN1GM4]

Thanx a lot Xwolf I like Mario´s work too, and yours it gives a stressy feeling that something will happend, otherwise peraza´s its a kind of different film noir maybe one day we´ll watch a movie with that style, it would be very stimulating.

Thanx a lot to everyone!!

I wish i had a lot of time to enter every challenge i could!! :beer:

[Pedro3D]

Here is my entry : Maya 2008 / Mental Ray / Nuke and photoshop used.
C & C are welcome

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n319/Masiker/FilmNoir.jpg

[thundering1]

Yes - thank you Jeremy for putting these challenges together and the feedback! I have only had time to do one image from this (insanely busy with work), and the feedback was very constructive - I really apreciate this. Thanks again-

-Lew ;-)

[rathe]

Thanks Jeremy for the feedback! You are quite right about the sky needing to be brighter. I really appreciate it that you take the time to critique each individual's work - it must be a huge time commitment!

Thanks again!

[ErshadRahbar]

Thanx a lot Jeremy for putting these challenge

thumbs up

[Leotril]

@jeremy .. thank u for this challenge .. heres my latest update composite and post process in AE and PS .. link to my previus post (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=5227335&postcount=275) :thumbsup:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/FilmNoir4dHD_AEcomp-2-1g.jpg

[juansilva]

Leotril. That's also a nice angle for your scene. Hey, I'm curious...I remember you said the problem with your glows was they were being added in After Effects, right? Why don't you try adding them directly in Maya for a quick solution?

Cheers, bro.
Juan

[Leotril]

@juan.. i think i should try to render glows in maya and use that pass in AE... in the moment i render translucence pass and add the glow to that in post.. its looking a bit blown out now taht i look at it

cheers

[tuffmutt1]

Pedro3D....really love what youve done with this scene.nice texturing too. I guess the only thing missing seems to be any shadow of anything in the scene. like the rocks seem to float in the air.

Leotril: nice job. maybe you could tone down the fog in the background and give a bit more visibility to the background elements.the white seems to be there just by itself instead of a falloff into the background. or instead you could add more fog in the front of the scene and almost wash out the camper / well and the car.

[Pedro3D]

here is Version 2 with shadow's fixed the rocks they were floating so was the ice chest

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n319/Masiker/Film2.jpg

[juansilva]

Pedro. That scene's looking really nice! I like the angle and all the other objects you added. Also love the little puddles on the ground, and the light beams coming out of the front windows.

There's only one thing that seems a bit off to me: You see how on the left side of the house, you've got the spotlight from the lamp, but the lightbulb itself seems to be off? And, there is also a beam of light fog shooting out from that point towards the left and it ain't coming from the window nor the lamp.

Other than that, it's all goooood.

[SahaneNik]

http://www.orkut.co.in/AlbumZoom.aspx?uid=7628352677609793521&pid=1216752743244&aid=1207144349IT STILL IS A W.I.P.
C&C WELCOME.

[Leotril]

hi .. i think this could be my last entry for the challenge .. i will try to post the color version tonight and check the contrast if it needs to..


http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm255/Leotril/Film%20Noir/FilmNoir4b_Compo1-1.jpg

thank u for this challenge:applause:

[SahaneNik]

THIS IS MY BASIC LIGHT RIG, C&C WELCOMEhttp://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/SahaneNik/film_noir_challange_nikhil.jpg

[dudateles]

Hello,

This is the first time that I participate of a challenge. I really like this experience. I used XSI to texturing and rendering (Mental Ray) the scene. I hope you like.


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h198/dudateles/Mini_Challenge_R4.jpg

[Kunotaku]

Hello, this is my first worck on this site.
For my render I used LightWave and Photoshop for post procesing.

There are 4 lights in my scene, 3 of them are area lights and another is spot light.
One of the area lights is for forming shadows.
Two another area lights are filling lights.
Spot light is used for volumetrick effect.

Thank you very much for your challenges.:bounce:




http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd334/Kunotaku/Film%20Noir/0002b.jpg

[jeremybirn]

To the people who just posted, here's a little feedback on your efforts:

Kunotaku - Welcome! Good start on the texturing. For a film noir look I like to see more selective lighting, so some sides of the objects are lit, but not all the sides. Right now the illumination looks very even, making everything bright on every side. Maybe it would look better lit by fewer lights?

dudateles - Welcome! That's really good. You've captured the main idea of a film noir scene there! Probably the whole tree could go black, without those white highlights, and I'd like to see softer light on the camper, but these are minor points.

SahaneNik - Good start! Maybe you could bring out more of the environment with a sky texture and selective light or reflections in some key contours?

Leotril - Nice job.

-jeremy

[jeremybirn]

This is an old challenge now, this thread is archived. If you scroll down to the Challenge #15 section of the downloads page, you'll see that the models can still be downloaded for your tests, and also that a gallery has been made of top entries. Feel free to browse this thread to see what others have posted, even though you can no longer post here.

The gallery is on-line from this challenge! Great work, everyone!

http://www.3drender.com/challenges/film_noir/index.htm


See you next time!

-jeremy