Outdoor Lighting in Max 7? What's the best setup?

[rcase]

Most of my models are of outdoor places, (Parks, Housing Developments, Streets, etc.) and I need the very best lighting setup possible. Photorealistic is my goal, but right now I only use scanline rendering. Is MR better for outdoor lights, and if so, what is the best way to set it up. Also, does anybody know where I can find some documentation on MR. The whole trial and error thing is killing me. Thanks.

 

Rusty

[Devin Johnston]

The best lighting setup for outdoor lighting is really what ever works for you. I know that doesn’t help but unfortunately there isn't one single answer to your question. Some people use multiple light sources, some use a 3 light system, some use a method to fake radiosity which could use up to 100 different lights. If your thinking of using MR to render the scene then your going to be using GI which is completely different from the standard Max scan line render engine. If you've never used MR before I wouldn’t start using it now on a project you want to be photorealistic, it's best to use the methods you know. Check this link out and see if it will help.

 

http://grayson.cgworks.com/tutorials/lighting/index.html

[rcase]

Thanks Maxer,

You're right, there are some many different ways to get good results, it's hard just to pinpoint one. Do you, or anyone else, have a set routine on how you light an outdoor scene. What lights do you use,what settings, how many, falloff, intesity, etc. I just wondered if anyone has a typical set routine they go through to setup their outdoor lighting, or does it vary from model to model? Thanks.

[Eric]

Most of my work is exteriors. For a couple of years I used Vray Free with Max and Viz. My setup was always basically the same. I now use the full Vray, but I have the Free version at home. Here is what I do (did).

 

I use a "Target Direct" standard light. I set the shadow type to "Vray Shadow". I leave the multiplier at "1" usually, and leave everything else at default (with "None" for Decay), except for perhaps on occasion the light color. However, I usually don't mess with the color of the light as most of my clients are more concerned about material colors being accurate than how nice the sunset makes the building take on an orange color. You will want to increase the Hotspot/Beam to ensure that sun is hitting your entire scene. If you would like softer shadows, enable "Area Shadow" and adjust the "Spere" size until you get the effect you're after. This will be be determined/effected by how far away from your scene you place your light.

 

And speaking of sunsets, I always try to leave my sun low in the sky, aiming mostly at the side of the building (not the front), about 15 degrees off of the front facade, and about 15 degrees up in the sky. I usually like it when the sun is on the same side as the camera is on, such as if you're standing towards the left, looking to the right, the sun would be on the left, shining towards the right. This way you're not seeing everything in shadow.

 

For Vray, I set Antialiasing (Image sampler) to "Adaptive subdivision", enable the "Indirect Illumination (GI)", set the Irradiance Map preset to "Low" or "Very Low" (which is usually better and better the larger and larger your final output size gets), and set Environment to "Overide MAX's" GI Environment (skylight), leaving the multiplier at "1".

 

I get predictable results with this every time. Here is a quick scene I setup to give you an idea of my typical setup. I set the Irradiance Map preset to High just to make it look a little nicer. Like I said though, the larger your final rendering size, the lower you can set the preset.