Direct Illumination in Production

#1

Hi there,

I was doing an architectural still frame render. I have a camera setup which moves through the shot. However when I render the camera moving shot, i switch off direct illumination and have multiple render layers.

My question is, is direct illumination used in Production of movies? where there are CG sets, because direct illumination and photons take a really really long time to render. What is the option that they use to achieve photo realistic renders?

Sid

#2

You mean indirect illumination? ‘Direct’ means cg lights, like a spotlight.

Most studios use indirect lighting / global illumination. They have massive render farms that can handle long renders. 40hrs for one frame is not uncommon. Last I heard, Sony Imageworks had an 18,000 core farm, and ILM’s is even bigger.