ORION_brick
Lighting is Key
So I am not an expert in any way but I've been wanting to create a graphic like this for a while to explain my lighting methods in rendering models through Mecabricks. Here goes:
1) This is the base HDRI Studio032 lighting. As you can see, it doesn't look like much. You can clearly see the model but the contrast looks off. Most of that is just because the model is on a solid black background and our brains can recognize that flat surround lighting on a solid background doesn't make sense. When this lighting is used with a "backdrop" that is also affected by the lighting, the image is normaly realistic enough.
2) I've removed the HDRI lighting and I'm starting here with the work lights on the boat. Normally, I would not start with the smaller detail lighting but I wanted to show what the lights look like on their own. Here, there are four "spotlights" each centered within one of the four work lights. The light radiates out in a cone but is not visible at it's origin.
3) I've added four "point lights" in the same locations as the spotlights and I've increased the power. This makes the lights look more realistic but it also increases the overall light in the scene and it does so outside of the controlled cone of the spotlights.
4) I've added in the Sun. Normally, I start with this as it is the most important to get right. If I am planning on using a background, I will include that here as well and do a couple of renders to ensure that the light agrees with the light in the background.
I have actually used 3 "sun lights" here with slightly different shades of white-yellow and slightly different strengths and sizes. The orientations are also spread a small amount. This helps create a bit of variation in coloring and shadow. I tend to change the strength based on the amount of white in the model. I go for an amount that makes the white shine but still shows the borders between parts and most importantly doesn't blend light grey and white into each other.
5) I've added in another boat in the background. I mostly felt that the shot seemed a bit too empty and full of holes (as opposed to empty but in select regions) but including other objects at different orientations gives the brain a better idea of the lighting and the depth in the scene. I also added a "fog glow" through the Mecabricks compositer.
6) Finaly, I've reintroduced the HDRI, but at a much lower strength. Even in areas hidden from our Sun, there is still light reflected from objects, or projected from stars or other lighting systems. It is subtle and mostly forgotten in the contrast of the Sun.
After all of this, I take the image into an editing software and add blurs on direct lights (like the worklights). The most important thing here is to experiment with the various lights and rendering tools.
Lighting is Key
So I am not an expert in any way but I've been wanting to create a graphic like this for a while to explain my lighting methods in rendering models through Mecabricks. Here goes:
1) This is the base HDRI Studio032 lighting. As you can see, it doesn't look like much. You can clearly see the model but the contrast looks off. Most of that is just because the model is on a solid black background and our brains can recognize that flat surround lighting on a solid background doesn't make sense. When this lighting is used with a "backdrop" that is also affected by the lighting, the image is normaly realistic enough.
2) I've removed the HDRI lighting and I'm starting here with the work lights on the boat. Normally, I would not start with the smaller detail lighting but I wanted to show what the lights look like on their own. Here, there are four "spotlights" each centered within one of the four work lights. The light radiates out in a cone but is not visible at it's origin.
3) I've added four "point lights" in the same locations as the spotlights and I've increased the power. This makes the lights look more realistic but it also increases the overall light in the scene and it does so outside of the controlled cone of the spotlights.
4) I've added in the Sun. Normally, I start with this as it is the most important to get right. If I am planning on using a background, I will include that here as well and do a couple of renders to ensure that the light agrees with the light in the background.
I have actually used 3 "sun lights" here with slightly different shades of white-yellow and slightly different strengths and sizes. The orientations are also spread a small amount. This helps create a bit of variation in coloring and shadow. I tend to change the strength based on the amount of white in the model. I go for an amount that makes the white shine but still shows the borders between parts and most importantly doesn't blend light grey and white into each other.
5) I've added in another boat in the background. I mostly felt that the shot seemed a bit too empty and full of holes (as opposed to empty but in select regions) but including other objects at different orientations gives the brain a better idea of the lighting and the depth in the scene. I also added a "fog glow" through the Mecabricks compositer.
6) Finaly, I've reintroduced the HDRI, but at a much lower strength. Even in areas hidden from our Sun, there is still light reflected from objects, or projected from stars or other lighting systems. It is subtle and mostly forgotten in the contrast of the Sun.
After all of this, I take the image into an editing software and add blurs on direct lights (like the worklights). The most important thing here is to experiment with the various lights and rendering tools.