Help with Lighting!

#1

Ok i just finished modeling an audi r8 and need help with lighting it. Im trying to go for a dark setting with only a couple of “Garage lights” on…sumthing similar to this (http://www.dymee.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/200909-1/8ff87_8360-audi-r8-2007-studio1.jpg) ive been messing around with mental ray but i cant really get it…anyone know how to go about this? im a lil new to lighting.

#2

ferrari2992, try posting a link to that image that doesnt contain “wp-content”, I cant access the site’s content folder. Try a link to the article the image is from on dymee.com.

I’d be happy to try and help you figure out the lighting then.

#3

oh sorry bout that…i need sumthing similar to this (http://www.dymee.com/articles/audi-r8-car-images.html) the first pic. Someone mentioned sumthing bout HDR lighting but not really sure how that works. also had another question…would i get better(more realistic) results using vray vs mental ray…

#4

I’ve only ever used MentalRay so I’m not sure which is better suited for this. I do think that using an HDRi or image based lighting would sort of be overkill. The image you sent looks like its lit from the front and top; with a couple bright panels for reflections and highlights. If you were placing the car into a scene then I’d go HDRi, but a studio lighting setup doesn’t need all that power and complexity.

   Anyways, I attached a png with a quick render setup.  Keep in mind this is an example, and starting point,  setup; I know its lame looking but hopefully you'll get the gist.  And I attached the Maya file if you want to go in and poke around.

  I have two spotlights.  One in front and above the subject for lighting and shadowing and another above the subject just as a fill light.  Both have some kind of falloff set so that its bright where we want it and then fades to black quickly.
  You can see my four panels I use for reflections and highlights.  Just smoothed polygon planes with a lambert with bright white color, high ambience and high incandescence to bleed some light into the scene.  The floor is an mia with glossy reflections and the orb thingy is a car_paint.  
  Mental Ray actually isn't too crazy here.  FinalGather is at about 500 and raytracing for the shadows set to 6.

 From here you can move around the reflection panels to contour the reflections nicely.  Tweak the lights and final gather settings to get a nice even top-down lighting and get your shaders signing.   Let me know if you have any questions but if you start simple like this and keep that picture handy as reference you should nail it.  Cant wait to see some renders, now.
#5

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