Need help with lighting a House with a Drive Through

[AFK_Matrix]

Hi,

Ok when I render out a still of a house with a drive through it looks like the black hole of calcutta lol :weird:

 

Now I have tried putting omni's, a Direct Light, a Spot etc shining into or actually in the drive through with little to no improvement.

 

I am not after the whole thing being lighted but to have soft shadows so that you know that it is not just a big nasty black hole.

 

I have attached a picture with the big black hole in

[JamesTaylor]

looks like a non linear work flow issue, i think you'll have to fudge it somehow as you've already been trying.... are you using vray?? if so i'd try placing an area light as a plane along the underside of the roof to the drive thro and adjust the multiplier to suit..... this is suitable for using with other render engines also.

 

If you want further info on linear work flow etc. try a search, there have been a lot threads on the subject recently.

 

hope that helps!

[martin walker]

if you are using V-Ray there is a few options

 

1) Detach the internal geometry and increase its GI values

2) Place an (invisible to camera) "reflector" plane in front of the area (like in real photography) to bounce light in

3) By far the best, use Linear Work Flow

[DavidR]

if you are using V-Ray there is a few options

3) By far the best, use Linear Work Flow

I've been using Vray for ~2 years, and one of my coworkers, who knows Vray way better than I do, uses linear work flow, but I don't really see a diff between Linear Wk flow and playing with, eg, dark multiplier and Linear exposure -what's the big deal with Linear Workflow? In 1.5, have you switched to Reinhard? I have 1.5 in Max9, but Max9 isn't on our renderfarm yet, so I have to wait to use it:(

[AFK_Matrix]

Sorry to say I am not using Vray but Light Tracer. Havn't had the time to play with Vray tbh. And Light tracer has produced some good results so far, but if Vray is the way to go will have to try and persaude work to purchase a copy.

 

EDIT: Jat10005, When you say an area light I assume you mean an area omni or spot? Sorry not feeling well today and not really with it could you explain a bit more on what you mean by making the light a plane?

[JamesTaylor]

Sorry not feeling well today and not really with it

 

that'll be monday!!!

 

i've no idea about Light Tracer i don't know if what i tell you usable or not... anyway in max open up the light segment of the modifier panel and in the pull down menu select Photometric, the available lights to create should change and there will be a Free Area and a Targeted Area. try using either, as usual one is targeted the other isn't.

 

As a general rule (again i know nothing about Light Tracer) i would avoid using omni lights as their light distribution pattern is not like any type of light found in the real world.

[eksg]

have u checked if ur material is double sided?

[eksg]

have u checked if ur material is double sided?

[martin walker]

I don't really see a diff between Linear Wk flow and playing with, eg, dark multiplier and Linear exposure -what's the big deal with Linear Workflow? QUOTE]

 

I cant say that Ive ever used the exposure settings within V-Ray...never really had to, but I find by using LWF you can get light into the dark areas of a scene (ie through windows into rooms). And its especially helpful for interior scenes.

 

Adjusting the exposure settings may be exactly the same end result...id be interested to hear from a "gamma guru" if this is so ?

[AFK_Matrix]

Ok doesn't look like the photometric lights are working with Light Tracer. So I put a direct light into the driveway with the target on the floor/driveway and the light source up at the ceiling. Now on one house it worked but then I was looking from the top down and on the other houses I am looking from head height and on these nothing seems to happen??

 

I have attached the before and after images of the house it worked on.

 

Now if i take the exact same light into the house model I attached in my first post nothing happens at all??

 

I have turned the floor to double sided and even put the mulitplyer on the light to 2 but its still dark black??

 

Really puzzled now :confused:

[AFK_Matrix]

So does anyone have any idea why the lights arn't affecting the drive through? Really need to get this sorted ASAP as the images need to go to print soon.

 

Thanks

[eksg]

Ok,can u give me the detail of ur scene.how did u model it?if it came from autocadd,or directly modelled from max/viz.and what are the lights that you'ved used.and the light tracer setting.Well try to cracked down the problem,ok buddy.

[AFK_Matrix]

Hi eksg,

 

Thanks for helping out mate.

 

Ok deep breath....

 

Right I did the model in ADT and then bought it into Max 7. I then used the Windows, Cills, Facia and Gutters from ADT the rest, ie walls, window headers, doors etc are all modelled in Max. To create the walls I basically used a grid so I could trace round the wall and openings with a spline then I extruded this.

 

I have a Skylight with a 1.2 mulitplyer and a light blue colour.

 

I then have a Direct Targetted Light acting as the sun, which is around 20deg from the camera (image attached showing lighting). The Direct light has a mulitplyer of 1.2 and a very light yellow colour and has advanced raytraced shadows.

 

Then the light I put into the Drive through is as follows:

 

Direct light pointing from the drive through roof to the floor. I set it to a rectangular light cone and give it a multiplyer of around 0.5 and turn shadows off.

 

For the Light tracer settings I keep them all at defualt apart from:

 

Rays/Sample - 300

Filter Size - 5

 

I also include an Alpha Render Element.

 

Hope thats enough info, all help is greatly welcome!!

[eksg]

Ok. Before, Im always having problem like this when my model comes from autocadd for some weird reason I dunno). And here is my usual solution.

• Check if the black part has faces on it. Most of the time, when imported from cadd, there are missing faces,that’s why its black. Sometimes if you used a Boolean in max on a model from cadd, this also happens. In case my theory is correct, follow number three.
  
• In case that there are faces on it, the material is not double sided.
  
• I suggest that you create a new wall and floor on that specific area. You can use a line with extrusion and a very small amount of shell modifier (just to have a thickness) would do the trick. (I think the problem is with the model).
  
• If there is no problem with the model and material, you can try putting an area light on it to lit the area.

Try this first, that’s the only thing I can think of now.