GI Joe or RealFakeGI: Decisions, Decisions

# 1 24-05-2003 , 03:12 PM

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Location: Sioux Falls, SD

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I've written about GI Joe here quite a bit and currently I AM using GI Joe in my movie. BUT... user added image

(isn't there always a big but in there somewhere?) I've been reading about global illumination and what I've understood is GI uses "no lights" - it's basically natural lighting. I know that RFGI uses no lights - it's just a shader that gives the illusion of GI without lights. I also know lots of you duders use GI Joe and it seems to be the most preferred of the two. What do you folks think? Which is better and what do you all recommend? My scenes are taking forever to render and it's geting frustrating not to mention, although it looks dannnnng good, if there's an easier, better looking way, I'm all for it... and no references to Mental Ray... I don't like MR! user added image

Thanks for your help in advance! user added image

Russell

Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

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# 2 26-05-2003 , 01:06 AM

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my method in making a fake gi is i create my own dome light (i use the tutorial at pxho.com) then i use the real fake gi. combining the two gives you a good looking gi with less time for rendering. hope it helps.

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our decisions-not the conditions of our lives
determine our destiny.

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# 3 26-05-2003 , 01:43 PM

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So are you using the GI Joe script or just creating your own dome set up? How many lights are you using and is the dome a complete sphere like GI Joe or is it just a half sphere?

Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

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# 4 27-05-2003 , 02:01 AM

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a half sphere, with 124 directional lights, the more the lights the greater the illumination, and don't forget to turn off the shadows, just create a single light for your sun and twick the shadow of it.

------------------------------------------------
our decisions-not the conditions of our lives
determine our destiny.

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# 5 27-05-2003 , 04:24 AM

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I tried Pixho's tut on creating that dome light set up but I couldn't even get past the first part of duplicating my directional light. I had trouble understanding his explanation on creating it. Did you understand it? Another thing I'm wondering is I'm trying to light an indoor scene using this technique and I have windows that would let the light come through but I wonder... do I place the room within the boundaries of the dome or do I allow the lights to poke through the walls a bit?

Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

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# 6 27-05-2003 , 09:53 AM

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dome light is only good in outdoor illumination, when you are lighting an indoor scene such as room you must have to consider the bouncing of light in order to fake the radiosity or global illumination, indoor lighting for me is harder than outdoor lighting.

the tutorial in pxho goes in these process:

1. create a directional light, select the toggle tool, move the light in z axis, make sure that the light is pointing in the 0,0,0 axis.

2. select the light, press w, press insert, move the pivot to the origin (you must press x in order to snap it to grid, press insert again to freeze the pivot in the origin.

3. while the light is selected go to duplicate option put value to rotate x = -10, no. of copies to 9, press duplicate.

4. select again light1 go to duplicate option reset the option, put value to rotate y = 10, no. of copies = 35, press apply.

5. select light2, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 12, no. of copies = 29.

6. select light3, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 15, no. of copies = 23.

7. select light4, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 18, no. of copies = 19.

8. select light5, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 20, no. of copies = 17.

9. select light6, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 24, no. of copies = 14.

10. select light7, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 30, no. of copies = 11.

11. select light8, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 36, no. of copies = 9.

12. select light9, duplicate option, reset, rotate y = 40, no. of copies = 8.

hope you understand now.

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our decisions-not the conditions of our lives
determine our destiny.

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# 7 30-05-2003 , 05:31 AM

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I've decided to just go with GI Joe - no RFGI... too hard to get the right adjustment. But I may incorporate it by production's end. Thanks for your help Oliver. I'll keep the things you said in mind for the future. user added image

Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com

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