LC #42 Pipers Alley

#21

could you share bigger sample?

#22

Sure. This was a printscreen out of paint. I will upload a larger file later today. I am learning unity as i go so the scene isnt all that good.

#23

[IMG]Hi My name is Morteza Ghamari
And I hope LC 42 Pipers Alley be a good Challenge

Software Using
1 - Autodesk Maya 2016 SP3
2 - Pixar Renderman 20.2 (RIS Engine)
3 - Adobe Photoshop
4 - Nuke 9

WIP Image 001 (Surfacing WIP)
](http://postimg.org/image/xzu1k74al/full/)
screenshot program[/IMG]

#24

Hey!

This challenge is awesome, first try in anything like this :slight_smile:

I’m mainly focusing on technical stuff, so comments and suggestions are appreciated, i hope I can get better and learn! :slight_smile:
Right now i’m using Cinema 4D R17 with native rendering, later will test physical and Arnold as well. Compositing in Nuke.

pipersalley_wip_01 full

#25

Wireframe Coloration

This is probably a trivial thing for most but in case some of you, like me ;), like to understand why something is colored differently - the wireframe (Display > Wireframe Color) has been set on some objects and on some of the groups.

Unfortunately, global selection of objects to mass reset the wireframe color yields unpredictable results.

V-Ray Polymesh Warnings/Errors

For those using V-Ray, the ‘Polymesh’ warnings/errors occur when a mesh does not contains UV’s. The light bulbs in all of the lamps and flies do not contain UV’s … nothing an Automatic UV Mapping can’t resolve.

Cheers,

Happy lighting …

#26

hi

thanks fr uploading this wonderful scene…
heres my grey render with lighting done in vray for maya and comped in nuke

#27

Great scene. Really nice model and great UV’s made it very easy to work with.
Here’s my final result.

Thank you Clint Rodrigues great work.

#28

WIP Image 002 (Shading and Lighting )

Next Image Is Final Render

#29

Hi there! Third time try to just hit render and watch incoming data. But 3dsmax version doesn’t updated yet and I can’t open it. Import via FBX gives no materials and Maya version loading about a minute, have issues with map path remapping and crash on autosave. Wrrrr…

#30

Sent you a PM. :slight_smile:

What are you trying to import the .FBX into? If it’s 3DS MAX, keep in mind that there are different generations of .FBX importers/exporters. I used Maya 2015 SP5 FBX exporter and when I re-import in Maya 2015 and/or 3DS MAX 2015, I see the textures.

What version of Maya are you using?

From a new Maya scene, use the File > Set Project option to set the location of the extracted scene; then open the Scene file. I used the default Maya folder structure so you should be able to open the scene without texture file path issues.

As of Maya 2014, they included an option to change the File Paths which can be found under Window > General. You can use that to repoint the scene texture paths elsewhere.

I recommend turning off “Auto Save” or increasing the time between saves to at least 60+ minutes before attempting to open the scene … it’s 2.9+ million polys.

#31

Thank you hgagne! Finally I have scene in Max!

From the first glance at the model I can’t figure out where 3 Million polys comes from and why it 500mb. Especially then everything looks extremely low poly.

So I have an answer. No offence guys but why there is a horde of flies with 1.5 million polys on??? :surprised :slight_smile:
5 minutes later…
stafford - Just saw you post :slight_smile:

#32

You found the Trap :applause: :applause:
The flies is a bug in this scene
If anyone work whit this scene first delete all flies

admin question : how much time is left for this Challenge ??

#33

//youtu.be/synzMYmavEg

That is what I was able to do in unity 5 with my crappy laptop. The GI took 28 hours to calculate. I think I need a new machine, too bad I cant afford one right now.

#34

To make the scene compatible in various formats, I didn’t use referencing/instancing … as per my previous posts, I added those in by hand.

The issue with the fly geometry is that it doesn’t contain proper UV’s - thought I had used the fly that I had fixed, but apparently not … it’s what happens when you rush to get everything cleaned up within a week.

The issue isn’t the poly count on the flies as much as the polycount on the Clothes/Curtain … and I decimated those by 90%. :slight_smile:

As I previously posted, also keep an eye for the light bulbs as I discovered that those require UV’s in order to avoid rendering (v-ray) errors. :slight_smile:

I’m not having any issues with the navigating the scene - as extracted from the archives I made available - in Maya (~260MB) and/or Max (~300MB) . But then again, I’ve got quite a bit of “horse power” under the case. :wink:

Anyway, glad to read you’re at least able to make it work with minor changes.

Cheers,

#35

Hello ! Keep posting, there is still time, I’m startgin preparing the new model :wink: Also I will give accurate feedback next week.
Jojo

#36

The Piper’s Alley - Opening Shot 001 - I will be talking about the shot breakdown along with the lighting for this image.

I had initially created a background for the main scene, which I later altered, but the principles still remained the same. I am an strict pupil of lighting that makes complete sense. I understand when working on Fantasy and other whimsical projects or artworks, one tends to bend rules but like everything else one must not forget the basic anatomy that actually drives the medium. I have read a re-read Jeremy Birn’s book on Lighting and Shading and I recommend reading it before staring lighting. Jeremy explains in-depth about the emotions involved when lighting a particular scene or subject. I can’t stress enough but throw your first idea in the bin, its probably likely to be the most average one. Keep exploring with lighting and shading. Here is the link to my Lighting breakdown along with my compositing breakdowns.

http://thepipersalley.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/lighting-process.html

I used Vray to render the entire image, I have been overly impressed with the render Engine but I still do believe every new Artist should still learn Mental Ray, such a great foundation for all the other render engines out there.

I usually follow the basic 3 point lighting setup, or Rembrandt’s lighting technique and tweak my way through the process, there is one thing coping somebody’s style another getting inspired by it. One major mistake a lot of Artist’s make when they start lighting especially in 3D is add one too many lights, first of all the result most of the time ends up looking average, secondly too much control is not good and more often than not ends up confusing the Artist. I like to keep things simple and clean, name your objects (every single one of them) likewise name your lights.

For this image I started off with the Key light (Vray Rectangular Light). Once I had my camera fixed, I focused where my eye direction would lie, its very important to note that audiences notice even the slightest mistake without actually knowing whats wrong with the image, they will most often than not find something amiss if your artwork doesn’t convey the right message, always ask your peers for opinions. The Key light constitutes for the most light that hits the scene, its the most important light and gives direction to the image. Once I’m happy with my key Light I shut it OFF or hide it and then start of with my Kicker light or Rim light, well for buildings and Environments its a lot more different than lighting a character but they follow the exact same principles. My kicker is almost diagonally opposite my key light and its another light that gives shape to the Image.

Once I’m more or less satisfied with my kicker light I move on to the Bounce or filler lights. As the name suggests this light helps fill in all the gaps and dark areas in the image. I usually end up using at least two fill lights but again there is no particular rule to lighting, it all depends on the Image. Your first Lighting might not turn out great, and along the way there will be a lot of hit and miss when lighting but eventually one will truly understand How they want to light a particular Image.

How to Light in a more controlled manner?

When lighting to avoid confusion, When done with one light I shut it off completely and move on to the next. Once all the lights are complete I turn them all on and then tweak each light individually. This works for me perfectly and I usually more or less get the desired result.

Lighting In - Depth (The Piper’s Alley) - Shot 001

Key Light or Sun Light - The Most important light in the scene. Gives the image a sense of direction and purpose. Doesn’t have to be the brightest light but more often than not tends to be. In this particular image I ended up using two Key Lights, one for the Foreground and one for the background. I used the Vray Rectagular Light and the Vray Sphere light. Spend a good time setting up your key light because once you set the tone for the main light all the other lights follow.

Kicker Lighter or Rim Light - This is probably my favorite light and often gives shape to your scene or subject. Its probably the hardest light to control but when done right, produces some of the best results. When I started lighting I never quite understood what the rim light actually did but reading about it and getting exposed to various lighting techniques I cannot do without a kicker light. I used the Vray Sphere light as my rim light. I usually place the light diagonally opposite the key light.

Fill Light or Bounce Light - This completes the images and adds touches to the final render. The bounce lights helps give the subject an environment and just adds to the realism of the image. Bounce light is also hard to get right and I usually use bounce card to reflect light back onto the subject. I use Vray Rectangular lights as bounce lights along with Global Illumination (Irradiance Map and Light Cache) to ease the process. For this image I ended up using two filler lights.

Compositing in Nuke X v8.01 - Once my Final Image (Render from Maya) is complete, I move on to Composting. Being a modeler I am not accustomed to heavy work in compositing but in my opinion every Artist be it Animator, Modeler or Lighter and even a Rigger should have a tiny bit of knowledge in compositing. Vray’s great a spitting out passes Quick and easy without much effort. My final Render per minute ended up at 11 minutes (1080p Full HD) with 8 Passes.
The passes are Diffuse, Raw Global Illumination, Raw Light, Reflection, Refraction, Specular, Shadow and zDepth.
I used Nuke to Composite my final image and got a desired result as expected.

This Video explains how I go about my lighting process. Sorry my English isn’t that good :slight_smile:
Hope this helps :slight_smile:

[VIMEO]111493183[/VIMEO]

#37

Its a nice scene.
But like many scenes here for the lighting challenge there always some low poly objs on it like simple rectangulars woods that cant be subdividaded properly… or any geometry bad modeled with ngons… or missing uvs or reversed face normals.

I wonder why the scenes for the lighting challenge always have to lack attention for good modeling standards?

Would be nice to keep in mind this for future xhallenges because it takes time to fix thoses issues that are not part of what we should be doing as lighting artist.

#38

Hello Everyone…
Please take a look at my work in progress output
Creative criticism are most welcome …

#39

It looks like Christmas time… I liked it …
I think it could be more better if you work on windows and street lamps … its look solid color light
2.De focus its looking wrong
and 3. Atmosphere is missing …
Keep rocking

#40

@pamulighter
Your rendering is really awesome!
Only thing that comes in my mind is giving the lights more variation in temperature and intensity.