[Basic Doubt] Glow material

#1

I have created a geo and applied a steel material on it, and now have been asked to create a light setup at the back of my geo.
I’m not a pro at lighting so maybe I’m going at it the wrong way. What I’ve done to achieve the desirable result is created a copy of my geo and scaled its thickness down and put it at the back of my steel geo> applied a lambert shader on it and increased glow value from its attributes. What I don’t like about the result is that the glow intensity is uneven and the glow from the back makes my steel material look a little weird.

What I want to know is, whether or not there is a way to somehow unlink (or decrease the effect of) the glow effect from my steel geo so it looks normal steel.
Basically, is there a way to unlink objects from another objects like there is one in light linking in relationship editors?

Also, If you think there is a better way to achieve the light set up I’m trying to create, please share your ideas. Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

#2

I would do the glow in post. Far better to control. Just create a matte pass and use that to give the object a glow in whatever compositing software you are using.

Good luck!

#3

maybe I should have been more clear… what I have in hand is a simple signboard, and I have to create a light setup at the back, I have achieved the desirable result with a blend of glow effect in lambert+photoshop but I didn’t have much control over the glow as I would like to.

For now I just want to know how to unlink my steel material from the glow effect or somehow create the light material that only emits its light towards the back.
As I was writing this I may have just answered my own question if I remember it right. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I think one can create a light and link it to a shape/geo shape and which emits light.

I’m asking this is because I’m using HDRI lighting system to get proper reflections and don’t have much experience with lighting or HDRI.
[My specialization was animation :cry: ]