Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category

Jonj1611 asked on Renderosity how to create a searchlight like effect in Vue – if this is what he’s looking for I’ll post an explanation here soon.

Edit: Its now up as: Making a Searchlight in Vue

Last week in part 2 of Vue Lighting Rig #16: Three Point Lighting – Part 2 I covered two variations on a three point lighting rigs. Tonight I’ll cover another of the variations.

Again the key light is at 30 degrees to the horizontal and 45 degrees from the front of the subject to be lit. The fill is placed at 90 degrees to the key, at the subject’s eye level and is horizontal. This time the back light is placed behind the subject pointing directly towards the fill and at 90 degrees to the key.
I’ve turned shadows off on the fill and the back light. The relative power of the lights in the rig are:

• Key: 100%
• Fill: 60%
• Back: 40%

Last week we saw how a back light may provide virtually no light in a render even though in real life it might have quite an impact on a picture. To check this rig benefits from the back light I did a quick render with just the back light. I turned the back light’s power up to 1000 so I can see where it is casting it’s light.

As you can see it is creating highlights along the left hand edge of the subject so this position does provide some illumination that will separate the figure from the back drop.

Here is the final render with all three lights.

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. The figures skin texturing was enhanced using SkinVue.

Back in part 1 of Vue Lighting Rig #16: Three Point Lighting I said I’d work through renders from some of these different rigs. Tonight I’ll cover two of the variations.

Both of them place the key light at 30 degrees to the horizontal and 45 degrees to the subject to be lit. The fill is placed at 90 degrees to the key, at the subject’s eye level and is horizontal. In both cases I’ve turned shadows off on the fill and the back light. The relative power of the lights in both rigs is:

• Key: 100%
• Fill: 60%
• Back: 40%

The first rig has the back light placed directly behind the subject and it is horizontal.

The next image is the same rig but without any back light.

You should be able to see there isn’t a lot of difference between the lighting of the two figures. This is because, while it may work with real world physics, with a computer simulation using a poser model and standard vue texturing a horizontal back light has little or no effect.

The second rig tonight places the back light almost vertically above the subject. It is pointing down at an angle of 10 degrees to the vertical from behind. A simple render with the back light set to a power of 500 and no other lights shows this one will have some influence on the subject:

Now with it turned back down and the other lights turned on:

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. The figures skin texturing was enhanced using SkinVue.

Read:
Vue Lighting Rig #16: Three Point Lighting- Part 3

I’ve covered a selection of theatrical lighting rigs already that use three lights. I was sent an e-mail asking if I’d show a definitive version of the classic three point lighting rig used for film, television, photography and computer graphics. I’m not going to claim to have any experience of using this rig, I have seen it used by a TV crew but that’s my entire level of real world knowledge. One thing I do know is that whenever I’ve tried to find a definitive explanation of it I’ve discovered quite a few variations on a theme rather than one three point lighting rig that everyone swears to. From what I’ve read it originally evolved from the three point theatrical rig when film and later TV emerged.

The basics don’t vary that much. Light sources from three directions are used. These are usually called the key light, the fill light and the backlight. The key provides the main light source from the front. The fill comes from the front and softens the shadows cast by the key as well as filling in any other dark spots. The backlight comes from somewhere behind the subject, it adds highlights to the edges and separates the subject from the background. Sometimes, when a studio set up is being simulated, a forth light is added called the background light.

The first major difference is about where the key should be placed. Some explanations I’ve read place it above the subject at around thirty degrees to the horizontal. Others say to place it where a real light source would be shining from. It is usually placed to one side of the subject from the front.
The fill is a light placed to the front at roughly ninety degrees from the key. It is placed lower than the key at around eye level and its angle to the horizontal is closer to than the key. The fill is usually a softer light source. It is also usually not as bright as the key.

The backlight is the third and final light, sometimes called the rim light. Again different explanations place the backlight in different places. Some examples, particularly those for portrait photography of subjects with hair, place it as a horizontal light close to the rear of the subject shining straight forward. Others place it to the rear of the subject pointing straight forward but raise it above the subject and shine it down at a steep angle, almost like a godspot from behind. The final popular location is to place it behind the subject one hundred and eighty degrees to the fill and at ninety degrees to the key.

If a background light is used it is behind the subject and shines onto the background to illuminate it.

The next source of schism between the descriptions is in the relative brightness of the three lights. Some sources quote formulas and ratios for the different lights depending on if a high key or a low key style is preferred.

Adding to the complication of creating a three light rig in computer graphics, such as when using Vue, are the imperfection of rendering in simulating real world lights.
Some problems, like the fill light casting a shadow can be avoided in some packages by simply turning off the source’s shadow casting. This can be done in Vue 6 Infinite, Vue 6 xStream, Vue 6 Pro Studio and Vue 6 Esprit with the light tune module. It can’t be done in Vue 6 Esprit or Vue 6 Easel.

To simulate a soft fill source it may sometimes be necessary to use several faint light sources as the fill light placed at slightly different positions but all shining in the same direction.

In the real world backlights gain a lot of impact from shining on the tiny hairs the surface of a subject’s skin and through a full head of hair with many separate strands. Computer generated hair on skin surface however is usually none existent and head hair is often either simulated with layered transparency mapped polygons or is made up of significantly fewer hairs than a real person. So as to get a rim of highlights to separate the subject from the background a single backlight behind may not be enough. Instead it may either need to be raised up and angled down or a series of sources may need to be placed around the subject to shine onto the subject’s edge.

Three point lighting’s biggest shortcoming is that it is an overused cliché. Its style is that of millions of unoriginal studio portraits and almost as many uninspired 3d renders. I’ve read that with better technical innovations it has fallen into disuse in a lot of television and film production.

I’ve not had time to write this and produce any example renders. Despite my misgivings about this rig I do think it can sometimes be useful and so for next time I’m hoping to produce examples of several of the variations I’ve mentioned today.

Read:
Vue Lighting Rig #16: Three Point Lighting- Part 2 and Vue Lighting Rig #16: Three Point Lighting- Part 3

I’d planned on starting on some more lighting rigs this week but with a heavy cold all last week I’ve just not got them ready yet. So for now here is a quick recap of theatrical rigs I’ve shown so far.

Vue Lighting Rig #1: Single Spot Overhead

Vue Lighting Rig #2: Single Spot Slightly to One Side

Vue Lighting Rig #3: Single Spot Slightly Behind

Vue Lighting Rig #4: Single Spot In Front

Vue Lighting Rig #6: Two Spots Slightly to the Side

Vue Lighting Rig #7: Two Spots 45 Degrees From the Side

Vue Lighting Rig #15: Two Lights from the Side

Vue Lighting Rig #8: Spotlights at 45 degrees from the Front and Back

Vue Lighting Rig #9: Two Spotlights from the Front

Vue Lighting Rig #10: Three Spot Lights

Vue Lighting Rig #11: The Godspot

Vue Lighting Rig #13: A Four Light Rig

Vue Lighting Rig #14: Another Four Light Rig

The other two rigs not covered here were: Vue Lighting Rig #12: Modern Christmas Lights and Vue Lighting Rig #5: Halloween Special

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. It could have been made using any version of the current versions of Vue 6 including Vue 6 Esprite or Vue 6 Easel.

This weeks rig is a step back from the complex four light rigs I’ve been covering recently to a two light rig. This time the lights are placed on either side of the stage shining horizontal beams with the lights at head height or above so they shine down onto an actor.

Lights placed like this produce a vertical corridor of light across the stage that can be tailored to how much the actor will be moving. This rig provides good visibility and modelling. It creates very long, unnatural shadows. These may fall on props and scenery drawing attention to the lighting’s styalised nature unless the scenery’s texture is designed to hide them. Shutters may be placed to prevent light spilling on to the backdrop, off the front of the stage or on to scenery.

This rig, and variations with multiple horizontal light sources or light sources at other heights off the stage, can be particularly useful if an actor has a lot of movement in their performance. It is especially useful for lighting dance because of the provision of good modelling while allowing for significant movement.

As for all the previous rigs, all of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. They could have been made using any version of Vue 6 including Vue 6 Pro or Vue 6 Easel and any version of Poser since Poser 4.

Saw Kodo at the Liverpool Philharmonic and I have to say I had a really good time. I’ve heard their music on CD but it just isn’t the same as feeling the vibration of the big drums run through you. It’s not just about big drums though there were subtler pieces played on shamisen, flute and drums. Then there is the complex rythms of massed smaller drums which isn’t to say they can’t kick up some volume when they’re really getting hit.

Add into the mix some acrobatics, some comedy, a dragon formed by a woman playing the drum while standing on a man’s shoulders, four oni and a bit of audience participation and there’s plenty of spectacle. The audience was a real mix from shocking red haired punks through rockeers to classical music lovers. It was great to see so many children in a concert hall too.

I’ve not forgotten about my lighting tutorials – before I started writing this I made notes on the rig that was used tonight so I can use it for inspiration. It was simple but effective. No overly distracting changes just simple fades and with enough variety to add to the show.

This weeks follows on from last weeks four light rig. This week the lights are again at ninety degrees to each other. The lights have been rotated so we now have a light pointing straight in from the front, one from behind and one from each side.

This rig gives us a lot of control over the amount of light provided for visibility (now all from the light from the front) and modelling (from the lights to either side. With the side lights roll now purely one of modelling they can be brought in to light the actor at quite steep angles thus reducing the amount of light spilled to the sides.

The light from behind adds highlights, reduces the lighting’s flatness and separates the actor from the scenery and backdrop.

Many of this rig’s real world disadvantages are the same as last weeks rig. It uses four lights in the rig and four dimmers if each light is controlled separately. In a small theatre may be hard to justify over a three light rig.

Although this rig has better control of spill there are still four shadows cast in different directions with the danger of them falling on scenery, props or other actors.

From a rendering perspective a four light rig is only a fraction slower to render than a one light rig so this has little effect on the decision of what kind of rig to use in an illustration intended to simulate stage lighting.

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite.

With improved power supplies, lighting desks that can control more lights in larger theatres it has become possible to use more lights to light an actor. This allows a lighting designer to go from the standard 3 light rig to four light rigs.

This weeks rig has four lights set at 90 degrees to each other. As with the previous three light rig the front two lights are angled so as to stike the actor from the diagonals. Now though these lights are mirrored by two lights behind.

While this rig doesn’t improve on the general illumination provided by the three light rig it does give improved highlights around the edges of the actor. Separation from the background is not quite as strong. There is now quite a lot of light spilling both backwards and forwards onto the stage. Four shadows are being cast in different directions with the danger of them falling on scenery, props or other actors. For computer graphics this rig can give better lighting of a models hair because of the extra side light.

Next week I’ll show you another four light rig that has several advantages over this one.

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. They could have been made using any version of Vue 6 including Vue 6 Pro or Vue 6 Easel and any version of Poser since Poser 4.

My lighting tutorial series will resume on Mondays as usual in the new year.