Lighting Challenge #15: Film Noir

#61

Would it help people if there were a new thread called “Challenge News” or something, that maybe would have limited posting permission so there wasn’t a lot of chatter on it, but you could subscribe, subscribe with e-mail notification, etc.?

-jeremy

#62

I think that would help immensely. That way we could be notified somehow when you post a new challenge. The idea thread was great because it was stickied and I was subscribed but as far as I know there were no announcements regarding when the new challenges were being posted. I normally just check my subscriptions and not the actual lighting forum. I don’t know if I am the only one who does this.

#63

i’m beginning the texture work so there is a little update:

comments and critiks are always welcome : )

#64

I’ll just throw myself in here :slight_smile:

maya/mental ray

and the same with a cool blue tint :wink:

/eric

#65

Nice model:cool:
This is one I am going to give a go.

tnhx

#66

e-mail notification is so last tuesday, make a Twitter account for new challenges. Or just a jeremybirn twitter account :wink:

/Z

#67

Hey Guys!

Can one or more of you explain your workflow for lighting to us (or me)? Since this is really my first “real” lighting challenge, I’m very curious as to how you pumped out complete renders already. I’m not looking for in depth details, just whether or not you guys light before you texture and then adjust the lighting accordingly after the textures are applied and all that jazz.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it

#68

Hi folks, here’s what I have so far. I used maya and mray.

#69

Here’s mine so far - don’t know if it’s final yet. I’ve focused mostly on the composition and lighting. Not really sure if it works, you tell me. :slight_smile:

I used 3dsmax and Indigo Renderer.

#70

Hi Guys.

Nice stuff so far from all u guys. Here is what i have so far. No Texturing at the moment, just classic lighting with NO FG and GI. Rendered in Maya 8.5 with Mental Ray and a little little bit postwork in fusion. Still in progress but i hope u like it...

[img]http://www.kaypoprawe.com/chillout_products/230508_filmnoir_wip3a.jpg[/img]


edit:
@radianssi
Yes it works out, really nice done.

cheers,
K.

#71

Radianssi, I like the atmosphere

One month left…this one will be my first challenge. Probably writing this just to confirm to myself that I have to come up with something :slight_smile:

It’s ok to move around the objects in the scene, isn’t it? And adding new objects?

#72

radianssi…awesome stuff. really love it.
Kay Poprawe…good one…:slight_smile:
here’s my fixed up version.

and here’s a poster version of it…say’s i ve got too much free time i guess…

#73

tuffmutt1 - Your latest are great! In the last poster image, the the line between the horizontal beams with the light bulbs on them and the roof looks a little strange. It’s as if the roof is getting bright highlights that aren’t shadowed (or aren’t shadowed with a softness that matches the bulb size) but somehow that line is looking kindof CG to me. I wonder what that poster would look like with some color (1950’s type color if possible…)

iduna79 - Welcome. Do what you want with models. Let’s see your work!

Kay Poprawe - Welcome! Keep going with those, they look great! Towards the left side of the first image, one of the gas pumps clearly isn’t casting shadows. Look at the bright highlights on the ground, where the columns of the station cast shadows but the pump doesn’t, or at the ring of light running all the way around the pump itself, that doesn’t seem to get self-shadowing. Great entrance to the challenges!

radianssi - I love it! That’s a terrific image! If you’re looking to polish it up and perfect it in another pass, I’d take a look at the texture on the texture on the dividers sticking up through the ground on the center of the right side of the image, they look very “CG” to me, while the rest of the image is really ace! The lighting on the crosses looks maybe a little bit too cheated, there’s a glow between the horizontal part and the vertical part of the near cross that might look more natural if it were just on top not in between, but this is a minor point. You might also take the image higher resolution, more surfaces like the trees might need a tiny bit of texture work or more subdivision if you did that though. To make something worthy of the gallery in your first post here is really quite an accomplishment!

pbalsic - That’s great! You’ve really crafted a nice composition, nice start on the lighting, too! A few more surfaces might need some textures. That roadway is featured so prominantly that the shoulder and painted stripes and so on become important. A little grass or vegetation might help in places, if that’s not too difficult. The lighting on the well looks so bright, compared to the tree or anything else near it, that I think it could be toned down a little bit, or made into a more narrow kick.

-jeremy

#74

In general, the “correct” approach taken on big productions is that shading and texturing is done first, before lighting. A project like this seems to be an exception to that normal rule. Here, leaving a plain white material on all your objects, you can block in a few lights with shadows, and also test the camera positions and move models where needed, all without adding any textures. Objects that are mostly black or rim-lit or hidden in fog might not need any texture work. Of course, surfaces of light bulbs need to be given a bright material, surfaces that should be reflective or shiny need a reflective material, and surfaces getting a lot of light need textures, but you can pick which ones to work on after you’ve got the basics blocked out.

People who have effects like rain, fog, DOF, etc. are probably spending some time testing those effects as well, and those also can happen before the final texturing is done.

-jeremy

#75

I just created a jeremybirn twitter account. I haven’t done anything with it yet, but at least the name is saved. :slight_smile:

-jeremy

#76

epq - Welcome! I think you could use more shadows or occlusion, or at least be more selective in what you light. Figures like those people don’t need a lot of fill light. They could look better as sillouhettes or with maybe just a little rim light on them. I think that scene could really be great with the same set-up and composition if you could just work through the fill and bounce light and create some nice dark shadows.

guivAg - Nice job! Maybe the light coming out of the windows in front of the station is a little hard-edged, and the light from the inside should be softer. On the side of the station, think about making the light itself brighter, and the light hitting the side of the building less bright, so it’s more clear which is the bright light source.

greyother - The News Thread has been created. Since this challenge runs through the end of next month, I hope this is still a great time to dive in and get started.

-jeremy

#77

There are a few (very basic) tips here:
http://www.3drender.com/light/calibration.htm

Probably the best way to do things (especially if you work in more than one location or more than one time of day, and want to make sure you are adjusting things consistently) is to get some reference images that are well lit in the style you’re going for, and load those up for comparison on any monitor you’re using. In larger productions, there are always reference images and concept art and color scripts and other shots for continuity checks to load up, in starting a still image from scratch finding images on the Internet or grabbing frames from DVDs might be your better solutions. Collecting good reference has many other benefits besides helping to guide you into the right color space, so it’s well worth the effort.

-jeremy

#78

Thanks for the comments everyone, glad to hear you like it. Looks like other images are coming along nicely too - tuffmutt’s is looking especially good.

You’re right Jeremy, I think I’ll post a bit larger and more polished version at some point. It’ll probably need some work as you said, because currently it’s the sampling noise (which blends nicely with the film grain in this case) and lowish resolution that hides the lack of detail in some objects.

#79

Here’s what I got thus far.

#80

[QUOTE jeremybirn]There are a few (very basic) tips here:
http://www.3drender.com/light/calibration.htm

Ok cool thx so I guess I am on the right track
I used the nvidia tool wich is much more complete and have one monitor brightened for flight sim useage and one tuned with nvidia tool (wich is much darker with better contrast. IT’s a really old nokia and my newer Dell cant compete. Progress lol) so I guess somewhere between the two is what most people see.
thx again