Racquet Ball Assignment

Iteration #5:  Really trying to nail down the shadow a little better.  Other than that, not too many more tweaks.  I did add a little bump texture to the ball to make it look a little more like the original.

Iteration #4:  Small tweaks.  Key light brought down and the right side wall is less sourcey.  Now the key light might need to fall off a little more gradually...

Iteration #3:
Fixed the back wall, but it seemed to dark.  Brought it up with a really low ambient, don't know if I like it or not.  Both images are below.

with ambient

without ambient

Iteration #2:
Solved the black edge problem.  Starting to get closer!  The back wall seems to be slightly too light in the corner, possibly along the entire bottom edge.  The foreground walls could probably come up a little too.

Original Image vs. Current Image:
The background is too dark, and the ball shadows are too light.  The bounce should be reduced.  The shadow is more intense underneath the ball, and it fades off faster.  The overall color of the light could be bluer/cooler too.

Here is a breakdown of my lights and where I'm at so far.

Key

Fill

Rim

BG Fill, Cool

BG Fill, Warm

Overall Fill

Bounce onto ball and floor

Intensified Shadow

Overall, I think its looking pretty good.  I thin there's something weird with the shader- it seems like there's a black line around the outside of the ball.  I think the right side wall is a little sourcy too.

Setup:  For the racquet ball assignment, I decided to use a spare box with the inside covered in white card stock as the stage for my racquet ball.  This way, it would be portable and the primary light source more controllable.  I got a clip-on reading light with a flexible neck so that I could position it wherever I wanted.  In order to soften up the shadow, I use a make-shift lampshade and a piece of paper towel to diffuse the light.  The reading lamp has an LED, so the overall light is bluish.