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I agree, The UberAL is next to ideal as it will preserve the texture. The Big drawback is the Base mesh it is applied to as you know. I was thinking maybe a custom geo-graph for this might be the answer. Then only that ONE section of the item would be mesh heavy and UVed to match the Light. You think that would be worth trying?
My issue, is the concept for the character I am creating is she has most if not all exposed skin (Well all skin but I can cheat and not put anything on clothed areas) covered in the angelic script and more complex sigils, so no matter what the uber area light will not end up the answer as no matter how it is done she will be covered in pieces of geo mesh. I do have other concepts that may end up with wanting or needing a single glowing tattoo or sigil and would love to see it solved in a different way. But Szark did point me in a direction that works for what I need, I have returned to my thread for the next steps and refinements or even other ideas to accomplish the end goal I am trying to accomplish.
I will keep a close eye here for progress though :)
Having had my mind blown by just how backwards I was trying to use the UberLights (and how long it took me to realize I should probably look for info), I feel obligated to thank the OP and everyone else for giving me the perfect excuse to put of some homework for the night.
tl;dr Thanks! *dashes off to play with lights*
my/our pleasure sikotik13. Homework is good. I always leave a few hours a day for homework. I try and learn a new thing each day.
This is a question I asked over in the Car and Bike Lovers III thread and I thought it wise to post it here too:
OK, I could use some rendering/ lighting advice here on the bike. The bike's headlights, turn signals and tail lights uses this set of glass shaders for the lenses and light bulbs and the Ultimate Shader Pack for the reflective housings. The problem is, they're not really illuminating realistically when lit. I reset the ambient settings for the bulbs to 100% white and loaded a spot light into the headlight, and linear pin lights into the turn signals/side lights, and tail light, but they really isn't do much, if anything to light up the lenses and reflective surfaces inside the lights, the way glowing light bulbs should. The "Camaro" in the picture simply has opaque surfaces for the lenses of the headlights and tail lights, and setting the "ambient" brightens them fine, but not really all that realistically. What can I do to really get the bike's lights to really look like they're realistically lit while maintaining the proper look of the glass lenses and mirrored housing surfaces? It's lighting like this, this, and this that I want.
For the record, I tried applying the uber area surface lights to the bulbs (render still in progress), but didn't get the glass of the headlight or front turn signal light lenses to brighten up and enhance the light any the way they should. I'm not sure if it's because of the multiply through opacity settings or what. Also, I'm rendering with 3Delight.
I wouldn't use Area Lights with the bulbs being really small, Try and put Point Lights inside the light housings, tail and signal lights aren't that bright in reality. The headlight, if room might be better with a spot light. You might have to mess with the glass surfaces so the light passes through and depending how many surfaces the light has to pass through the Max Ray Trace Depth (render settings) may need increasing.
As for my render settings, I always have a high Max Ray Trace Depth for the purposes of reflections, so that's not a problem. And, for the record, the glass of the lenses is only one layer of mesh (they're material zones of the front and rear fairings, not separate pieces).
Attached below are comparisons of the bike with and without the Uber Areal lights. The first is the previously posed pic with just the spot light and linear point lights. The second pic is the latest render with the uber area lights added to the bulbs (but not replacing the existing lights). Adding the UA lights brightened the bulbs up some, but still didn't do much to the lenses.
So what are your surface setting for the lens as that seems to be an issue and what intensity are your point and spot lights set to. Have you tried applying Uber Surface to the lens and use the Translucency function. I would be using IOR (Index of Refraction) for the lens, about 1.5 should do it. Opacity plays a part too for allowing light through.
With 3DL lighting, it isn't really possible to have light emission, transparency, reflectivity and bloom at the same time, without building a custom shader. Basically, you want a reflective glass shader with volumetrics that just happens to also be an area light...
Diffuse Color 224, 224, 224
Diffuse Strength 5%
Glossiness 70%
Specular Color 255 255 255
Specular Strength 100%
Multiply Specular through Opacity on
Ambient Color black 0 0 0
Ambient Strength 5%
Opacity Strength 15%
Reflection Color 255 255 255
Reflection Strength 25%
Refraction Color 255 255 255
Refraction Strength 100%
Index of Refraction 1.52
Turn signal lens' important settings:
Diffuse Color 224, 140, 55
Diffuse Strength 5%
Glossiness 70%
Specular Color 255 255 255
Specular Strength 100%
Multiply Specular through Opacity on
Ambient Color black 0 0 0
Ambient Strength 5%
Opacity Strength 15%
Reflection Color 255 255 255
Reflection Strength 25%
Refraction Color 255 195 7
Refraction Strength 100%
Index of Refraction 2.5
Tail Light lens' important settings:
Diffuse Color 224, 55, 55
Diffuse Strength 5%
Glossiness 70%
Specular Color 255 255 255
Specular Strength 100%
Multiply Specular through Opacity on
Ambient Color black 0 0 0
Ambient Strength 5%
Opacity Strength 15%
Reflection Color 255 255 255
Reflection Strength 25%
Refraction Color 255 5 2
Refraction Strength 100%
Index of Refraction 2.5
turn Multiply Specular through Opacity OFF
Ambient Black needs no strength IMHO
IOR 2.5 is very thick glass. 2.50 is an IOR of Steel. Plastic 1,46 Thick Glass 1.5 + as a rule of thumb, my thumb> :)
Ok and how bright are you lights?
I would use those setting above with Uber Surface and set Translucency Colour to your diffuse colour and play with the Strength. I know that lets light through.
If you have trouble with getting a nice illumination try Ambient on the surfaces using the same colour as the diffuse and try a low value of 10% and see how that looks. That is as close as what mjc was taking about above by using different things together.
Diffuse Color 255 255 255
Opacity 50%
Diffuse Strength 100%
Ambient Color 255 255 255
Ambient Strength 500%
Opacity Color 255 255 255
Fathom off (I want the lamp to show)
Ray Trace on,
Accept Shadows On
Diffuse Ambient, Opacity all Active
intensity 1100%
color 255 255 255
Samples 8
Shadow Color 0 0 0
Shadow intensity 100%
Shadow Bias .1
Falloff start 0
Falloff end 5000
Falloff Decay 2
Tail light and turn signal UA Surface settings:
Diffuse Color 255 255 255
Opacity 50%
Diffuse Strength 100%
Ambient Color 255 255 255
Ambient Strength 300%
Opacity Color 255 255 255
Fathom off (I want the lamp to show)
Ray Trace on,
Accept Shadows On
Diffuse Ambient, Opacity all Active
intensity 1100%
color 255 255 255
Samples 8
Shadow Color 0 0 0
Shadow intensity 100%
Shadow Bias .1
Falloff start 0
Falloff end 100
Falloff Decay 2
Headlight Spot light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 255 255
Intensity 200%
Spread Angle 60°
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 25%
Shadow Bias 1
Turn Signal Linear Point light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 160 0
Intensity 50%
Falloof Start 5
Falloff End 15
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 50%
Tail Light Linear Point Light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 0 2
Intensity 50%
Falloof Start 5
Falloff End 15
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 50%
Shadow Bias 1
The glass on the lenses was originally set at 1.52. I changed them after reading through your tutorial here a few pages back, which suggested the 2.5 refraction setting. All the other settings (including the Ambient) are the settings created by the glass shader preset I'm using. The only other setting I changed was the refraction colors of the tail light and turn signals. They were originally set at 255 255 255 across the board.
Also, I have the Atmospheric Effects Cameras for DAZ Studio, but I haven't tried using that in this scene yet, and don't really know how, or what "camera" I'd need to use, if any. Would that help at all in getting the effects I'm looking for, and, if so, how?
Another question: Should I change the color of my linear point lights all to 255 255 255 and let the lenses alter the colors (if that's even possible in DAZ)?
Instead of building a custom shader...I built a custom headlight...
First, this thing is constructed to be a light. The housing and the lens have 'thickness'...they are both double walled. The lens is lenticular in shape, smoothed and has a fair amount of polys. Also, the normals are adjusted so both faces of the lens are pointing OUT of the light. It is divided into two material zones...and the inside and outside faces each have their own material zone. Both zones have a glass shader preset applied, but the opacity is stronger on the inside face and it has a displacement map applied to it. The housing has two material zones. The inside is set up like a mirror. The outside has the Ultimate Shader Pack Blue Chrome applied.
There is also a small cylinder, behind the lens, that has UberArealight applied to it. It also has Ambient set to a very pale yellowish color and 100%...depending on the angle it will show as a 'hot spot'...other times it doesn't show. There is also a constructed 'cone' to provide the beam. It has UberVolume with the dust preset applied to it.
I could probably play with the volume a bit to smooth it out, lighten it up and decrease the graininess of it...but this is supposed to be a 'quickie'/proof of concept thing. Also, I think a better glass shader is in order...and not a preset for the default shader. Also it needs a purpose-built displacement map, instead of just a 'cell noise' map...
Or build a custom shader...I think it's easier to build the lenses.
I've been watching this as I too was hoping to learn how to do the lighting effect
sorry, just gotta jump in here... easier, lol... he say's it's easier
for me easy is finding a freebie on sharecg
as much as I wish to learn how to do what you are suggesting it is not yet within my reach
maybe, a tutorial... if someone had time and was inclined to teach... would love to know how to build my own set of lenses with the lights
or maybe there is a similar tutorial available already if someone has a link???
just hoping...
Here's one with the glass displacement map and better glass shader..
Diffuse Color 255 255 255
Opacity 50%
Diffuse Strength 100%
Ambient Color 255 255 255
Ambient Strength 500%
Opacity Color 255 255 255
Fathom off (I want the lamp to show)
Ray Trace on,
Accept Shadows On
Diffuse Ambient, Opacity all Active
intensity 1100%
color 255 255 255
Samples 8
Shadow Color 0 0 0
Shadow intensity 100%
Shadow Bias .1
Falloff start 0
Falloff end 5000
Falloff Decay 2
Tail light and turn signal UA Surface settings:
Diffuse Color 255 255 255
Opacity 50%
Diffuse Strength 100%
Ambient Color 255 255 255
Ambient Strength 300%
Opacity Color 255 255 255
Fathom off (I want the lamp to show)
Ray Trace on,
Accept Shadows On
Diffuse Ambient, Opacity all Active
intensity 1100%
color 255 255 255
Samples 8
Shadow Color 0 0 0
Shadow intensity 100%
Shadow Bias .1
Falloff start 0
Falloff end 100
Falloff Decay 2
Headlight Spot light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 255 255
Intensity 200%
Spread Angle 60°
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 25%
Shadow Bias 1
Turn Signal Linear Point light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 160 0
Intensity 50%
Falloof Start 5
Falloff End 15
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 50%
Tail Light Linear Point Light settings:
Illumination On
Color 255 0 2
Intensity 50%
Falloof Start 5
Falloff End 15
Shadows Ray Trace
Shadow Softness 50%
Shadow Bias 1
The glass on the lenses was originally set at 1.52. I changed them after reading through your tutorial here a few pages back, which suggested the 2.5 refraction setting. All the other settings (including the Ambient) are the settings created by the glass shader preset I'm using. The only other setting I changed was the refraction colors of the tail light and turn signals. They were originally set at 255 255 255 across the board.
Also, I have the Atmospheric Effects Cameras for DAZ Studio, but I haven't tried using that in this scene yet, and don't really know how, or what "camera" I'd need to use, if any. Would that help at all in getting the effects I'm looking for, and, if so, how?
Another question: Should I change the color of my linear point lights all to 255 255 255 and let the lenses alter the colors (if that's even possible in DAZ)?Do you know what Index of Refraction is? Just because I used 2.50 for some really thick glass doesn't mean all glass will be 2,50. Look IOR up on Google.
Point Lights at 50% might need something like 200 + possibly 500 or more. I would remove the Area light surfaces as they will make it harder for the light from the points lights to shine through. Like I said use Uber Surfaces on the lens.
Fall Off Start and Fall End. Just keep to Start at 0 and end well 15 is 1.5 meters so try something like 500 - 800 5 to 8 metres.
Point Lights at 50% might need something like 200 + possibly 500 or more. I would remove the Area light surfaces as they will make it harder for the light from the points lights to shine through. Like I said use Uber Surfaces on the lens.
Fall Off Start and Fall End. Just keep to Start at 0 and end well 15 is 1.5 meters so try something like 500 - 800 5 to 8 metres.
OK, now, what about the color of the lights? Should I have the tail lights and turn signal lights themselves be colored or will the lenses alter the color to their appropriate color when they shine through?
here is a simple test I just did now.
Lens with Uber Surface
Diffuse roughness at 1.10 to make it more shinier.
Opacity 80%
Multiply Specular through Opacity OFF
Translucency ON, red lens diffuse map in the Translucency colour Channel at 50% Strength and a little Ambient for that added glow. Again I plugged in the lens red diffuse map in to the Ambient colour channel strength 10%
You can play about with adding reflection is needed but if you do set Multiply Reflection through Opacity OFF
One point light on White at default intensity and Shadows turned ON.
why use a particular glass shader where uber surfaces can work as good if not better...depending on the shader and those shaders are not going to be better than Uber Surfaces as they aren't proper shaders they are just Daz Studio default surfaces and what if that shader doesn't have the properties to enable what you want which these don't?
Well if you can't do what I showed above then yes probably. But there is nothing stopping you from setting up the surface for OFF and ON and saving them both as presets for easy applying.
Lower all your render settings and use the spot render tool and try it. I can continue to give advice that may or may not work and the best way to learn is to do. And if you only have a single thickness mesh on the tail and head lights then I suggest you use a Max Ray Trace depth of 2. The will give you two reflections, a reflection of a reflection which should do for an outdoor scene
why do you need 7 reflections of reflections, seems over the top to me. Do you understand what the Max Ray Trace Depth does? 2 it plenty enough to test, 4 for final renders.
That is way overkill on the max raytrace. As Szark said you only need at max 4. I do all my test renders at 2 and finals at 3-4 depending on teh scene. I have a scene that's all glass that I'm working on and only using 3