Cave Scene Revisited...

[ThreeDBFX]

Hey All,

I've picked up that cave project I was working on some weeks ago. I'm still having a difficult time lighting it the way I want.

I want the main light source to be the fuse buring away, we're in a cave here, so there isn't much as far as light goes...I want the focus of the viewer to be on the dynamite and the crates....

For some reason Photoshop darkens the file...dunno why, but it's lighter as a straight render out of LW.


Any suggestions would be greatly apprciated.

Thanks

[adrian]

Lighting is not my strongest point either, but the image looks a little flat - have you moved down the ambient lighting from 25%?

I would have it around 5%.

The coloured light looks good, but there also seems to be a blue light off camera - surely if the light from the dynamite was bouncing off the walls/rock, it would still be yellowy?

This is a good scene - once you've got the lighting locked down, it will be very, very good. Just sort out that flatness.

Adrian.

[ThreeDBFX]

Thanks for the reply adrian.

The ambient light is at 0% and I added a blue fill light because I was trying to get the ambience of the dark cave....and blue is opposite orange. I'm not quite sure how to get rid of the flatness...Lighting is not my best subject.....

Anyone have an idea on the flatness?

Thanks

[CoryC]

Here are a couple of ideas regarding the flatness of the shot.

In the real world, if you lit a dark room with one small light source shadows would be much harsher. Your shadow areas are fairly bright so you have reduced contrast giving the picture a flat feel.

All the items are in the background. This is something people tend to do in photography a lot to. Try recomposing the shot with the main items in the foreground and let the rest fade into the background.

Hope this helps some.

[Oh Heck]

YOu may want to play around a bit with some different compositions as far as your set layout. YOu want the crates and flame as a main focal point, yet you have all the subject matter in the scene on the same level, so in a way I think they are all competing for the viewers attention. Move your main subject of interest closer to center, maybe even move it closer to the camera, and have your other subjects in the background(maybe with some DOF?) Try doing a closeup on the boxes with maybe just portions of your other items showing(the edge of the trolly and a wheel, lower part of the pickaxe..)


Edit:..interesting, says my post was done...tomorrow...;) is there a time zone selection somewhere in profiles?

[richpr]

It seems pretty bright for a fuse (not the fuse, but the light is spreads)... I have never lit the fuse of dynamite in a cave, (and then have the chance to observe it's lighting ;) ) but I suspect it won't add a lot of light to the cave...

Flatness can be caused by lighting and camera angles. With so little light you don't have a lot of choices. You would need to change the composition, as mentioned above...

[ThreeDBFX]

Wow!

Thanks a lot for the replies...some really great ideas here...I will sit down tonight and change the composition & layout...great idea! I will post an update as soon as one is available.

Thanks again for the great advice, everyone!

:D

[ThreeDBFX]

Hey All,

Here is an update on the cave scene....

Depth of field will be done in post...after the animation is rendered...will render as RLA sequence....

Keep the crits comin....

Thanks :D

[adrian]

Well that's sorted the flatness..... however now it looks a little dark. Although I was looking at the picture in a very bright room so that might have something to do with it.

Anyway, big improvement!

Will we get to see the animation?

Adrian.

P.S. Have you considered buying LightWave 3D 7.5 Lighting by Nicholas Boughen - this explains how light works and also gives examples. I was flicking through it in a local bookstore and was about to buy it until I turned it over and saw the price - £60!!! So I will buy it over the Net.

[ThreeDBFX]

Thanks for the reply adrian...

Yes you will get to see the animation, I will post it when complete.

I'll post an update as soon as I get one complete.

Thanks again.

[ThreeDBFX]

Hey jackcarter,

Thanks for the reply...knowone lives in the cave..it's more like an old abandoned coal mine, that someone has decided to blowup.

will keep updates comin....


Thanks

[ThreeDBFX]

Yep, blow it up.

I know it doesn't show...but this was created for one reason, to showcase an explosion. The environment was different in the early stages of the project so there was a lot more going on in the scene. Now, it's just going to be a big explosion!

I'm spending most of my time on the explosion right now...trying to get that to look as good as I can. So far all HV's and no stock footage of explosions here...so everytime I make a small change, it takes a while to render a test frame to see how it looks...


More to come.....