Lighting Pass #1

I put my main key lights into my scene.  There are also a lot of extra lights to bump up the SSS on the candles.  The glass in the frame is also causing some issues- I'll need to do 2 passes to make sure I keep both the reflections and the saturation/value of the fabric swatch inside.  I also set up raytrace reflections, so they are more accurate now.  I think I'll want a separate pass of the faux reflections too, so I can bump up the pewter's values a little bit.  Anyway, here are some images!

Current light set up.

Current light set up (w/o frame glass).

Pewter with faux reflections (old lights though).

Shader Update!

Played with the frame some more, and created a "fabric" piece inside the frame.  I'm still going to have to tweak as I start to light, but I'm just about ready to go.

Lighting Challenge: New Paintover!

Based upon feedback, I decided to redo my paintover to emphasize the motivated light from the lit candle.  I pulled some of the colors from my reference image.  I really like the spill of light onto the stone/wood surfaces the candles are sitting on, so I'll try to replicate that in my renders.  Overall, could be more saturated in the colors, but I like where the light is falling.

Lighting Challenge: Testing lights...

I decided to throw a couple lights into the scene so that I could have a basis for doing a new paintover.  This also allowed me to check over my materials to see how they might look with actual lights on them, not just an environment light.

I think my specs are too shiny for the pewter and ceramic vase.  I already toned done the candles and the plate, and they look better.  The frame still hasn't been touched, hopefully I'll get there in the next couple of days.

Lighting Challenge: Shader Update

Some images of where all my shaders are now.

Candles: Fixed the wick issue I was having on the turned off candles.  Reflections down a smidge?


Pewter: Looking good... may need to turn the dirt down a bit.

Closeup of holder.

View closer to size in actual size

Porcelain Plate: Added brush bristle streaks in blue rings around plate.  Still need smudges and fingerprints...


Incense: Created a burning incense shader.


Wood: Still needs some love- dirt, better bump, paneling, tone down specular?


Paper: Fix tiny splotches (make smaller)


Frame: Need to START!

Lighting Challenge: New Composition, pt 2

I brought my candles in a smidge, and cropped in a little.  I'm going to stick with this for now I think.

Lighting Challenge: New Composition

I've rearranged my composition again.  I decided to try and emphasize a center grouping, so the vase, plate, frame, and lit candle are positioned more together.  The other candles will be unlit.  This will clarify my light direction/source.  Later, I can light the other candles if there is time.  Here's the new composition.

Shader Update:

Candle- Feeling pretty good about it.  Will need to duplicate and make an unlit candle one without the incandescence on the wick.

Plate- Pretty good.

Vase- I'm happy with the ceramic feel to it, and I like the pattern around the center.  Will refine if necessary... dirt map?

Wood- Probably needs a second pass of dirt, grunge, fingerprints, etc, just to break up the wood texture.  Seams in table would be good too.

Shoji Screen Paper- Pretty happy with it, but the small bits of darker fibers need to be smaller- little too blotchy.

Metal- Still in progress.  I'm actually reworking some RSL code to get it where I want.  Need to hook up reflections.

Frame- Haven't started yet, since I just recently added it back in.

Incense- Haven't tackled yet, but should be similar to the wick on the candle.

Lighting Challenge: Light Key and Palette

For the initial shot, I really liked the original gallery image I found in the lighting challenge, so I'm going to harness some of those colors for my version.  The fact that there are 2 definite light sources- a warm glow offscreen to the left, and the blue moonlight from the right- will create a nice shift when the candles are blown out.  If I have time for the final lighting setup, it will be strongly directional from the left, almost monotone in the blue colors from my palette.

Lighting Challenge: Lighting Reference

Some lighting reference... I'm looking for early evening colors- reds, oranges, golds, light purples, blues.  

Shader Update

Added shaders for the candle wick and vase.  I played with the metal shader, but I don't like where its at right now.

 So I have added an environment light to the scene, and it helps the candles immensely.  I've also added shaders for the shoji screen, plate, and desk.

Candles- still need to handle the wick, and I think the light from the flame could travel a little further into the wax.

Shoji- I'm pretty happy with the paper part of the screen, though it might be a little too noisy.  I may need to bring the colors back a little, and possibly add a noise/dirt map to break it up more.  The wood is the PRMAN oak grain shader, just darker.

Desk- I used the PRMAN oak grain shader again, but I did break up the top of the desk with a checkerboard so I could create planks of different wood.  Its subtle, but I think it helps.  It might need a little more displacement in the inbetween plank cracks.

Plate- Pretty happy with the porcelain feel of the plate.  Maybe a little too reflective?  I'd like to add a pattern in the blue rim, but only if there's time.

Frame- still need to handle this...

Vase- still need to handle...

Incense- still need to handle...

Pewter- still need to handle, but I'm hoping I can steal from someone else's scene, at least to start. 

Environment Map- Currently an office scene, so I need to find an image that will work better for my scene.

Candle Shader

Progress on the candle shader.  I'm having trouble getting the light to travel through the candle smoothly.  I tried faking it with a ramp on the incandescence and a volume light within the candle, but so far, not sure if that works.  WIP images below:

With incandescence and volume light:

 

 

 

With Volume light only:

 

 

With only translucence/SSS:

 

Lighting Challenge: Camera Angles

Here is my main camera angle.  I pushed the frame slightly off the center mark- I don't want it to be the focal point of the piece.  I'm going to blur out the background slightly to help create depth.

In case my FX works great, here's another camera angle focusing on a candle.  The background will be significantly blurred out here.  If I have time, I'd like to add an animated wax drip- I think the wax going from hot to cold will present an interesting shading challenge. 

Lighting Challenge Reference

Started looking for some image reference of candles, Asian ceramics, shoji screens, candle flames, and smoke.  Also looking for general feel images too. 

Overall, I want a warm feeling for all of the materials, so I can offset that with the cooler night-time light from offscreen.  I want to bring in some violets and blues with my night colors, which will play off the yellows, oranges, and reds, nicely.

I also want to play up the geometric patterns in the image- shoji screen grid, porcelain plate, vase, picture frame. 

Shoji:  For the shoji screen, I was mainly looking for how light passes through the paper areas.  I'm going to keep it traditional colors- darker wood and off-white/cream paper.  I like how the 2nd image has blue sky light filling it at the bottom and slowly fades to warmer tones.

Candle: I think I need to bring an actual candle in for this material.  I want to keep its color pretty neutral, but warmer. 

Candle Holder:  I wanted a silver material for the candle holders, but still warm in tone.  Pewter seems to be the best option for this.  I want a wear level between this images.

Porcelain:  For the small dish in the foreground, I want to do a blue/white porcelain, but less detailed than the examples below.  I think I want a simple blue stripe around the edge or center flat area, possibly a patterned stripe.  I'm looking at the images below for circular pattern examples. 

Ceramic Vase: I really want something a little older in feel for the vase.  I like the geometric rough texture of the second image, but with more subtle warm tones. 

Incense Sticks: I wanted to make sure I had a few images of what incense sticks look like post-burning.  I may need to deform the stick on the plate and apply a second shader to it.

Frame: I'm going for gilt-wood + pattern for the frame.  Nothing ornate, but I like the warm sheen I'm going to get from it.

Picture: I want something older in style for the picture frame, a painting or a print.  If I can't come up with something that works in the scene, then I'm just going to leave it empty.

Candle Flame/Smoke Motion: