Demo Reel Production - Page 3 - Simply Maya User Community

# 31 21-04-2008 , 12:47 AM

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I think this'll be the last update for the day.
Got my lighting set up for the kitchen area, so I tossed in a colour on the walls just to see what its going to look like on colour with the lighting as it is.

Also a few wires for those who might be curious.
Enjoy!

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# 32 21-04-2008 , 03:25 AM

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Hey alexanderH, I was checking your thread here and have a few comments for ya.

1. Polygons are fun, but not everything is polygonal. There are more straight edges in your models than a slide rule store. user added image

Make some organic shapes to break up the monotony and offset the angles.

2. Also concerning polys, try beveling a few edges. The main rule to remember when working with hard surface modeling is, unless you're making a razor blade, nothing should have razor sharp edges.

3. As for lighting - If that's what you're trying to center your reel on stop using the Physical Sun & Sky. As a lighting TD, you need to study all aspects of light, from color to temperature. It needs to be your lighting setup, not Maya's. Anyone can press a button to light a scene. Do it yourself. You are relying too much on Maya to do all the work. That is evident because I can see you have no interior lighting... anywhere.

Turn off all lights, then start with your main light source. From there, add fill lighting to soften shadow areas. Also, don't make all of your lights the same color. Lights aren't always 'white' - unless you're taking that trip to the big, pearly gates. :p

Good luck!

Dave Baer
Professor of Digital Arts
Digital Media Arts College
Boca Raton, Florida
dbaer@dmac.edu

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# 33 21-04-2008 , 10:17 AM

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Thanks for the crits and the comments dave, they are much appreciated. Just to let you know though, I am not using any default maya setups here. Infact I have created my own based on a whole lot of information I have read up on and after studying several different methods via tutorials.
I have an environmental sky casting FG into my scene. I have a directional light casting back light to lighten shadows and help give a more realistic daylight look. As I have had absolutely no training whatsoever in lighting, I am trying to learn it as I go, so if you've any help on that I would love it!

As for the modeling, I agree nothing is straight edged as I notice about everything around me these days, it sure is weird how you start to notice these things when you get into 3D. As in most of my scenes so far if I am doing straight edge objects and what not I do have items and props to help offset that. As I am still setting up the scene and trying to get my lighting/texturing done on quick renders I have not included any of these objects just yet. Though as I get further into that stage I would like to know what you think.

As for all the early subway station, well I think I bit off more than I could chew for the moment and yeah I agree, it looks absolutely ridiculous. But again I will keep in mind what you are saying when I get back to work on it.

As for my current lighting rig, it is experimental as explained before, and I am working with many varying methods to find which approach I like best and how to work with several different styles. As I said the only real light I have is a directional at the moment. All the shadows and light depth has been created by my environmental sphere (Not the subway, but nix that).

Thanks again for the awesome crits/comments they are much appreciated!

Edit:
I forgot that there are also area lights, you can see em in the wires. The area lights are at the windows providing GI photons for me as well.

Last edited by alexanderH; 21-04-2008 at 12:00 PM.

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# 34 21-04-2008 , 02:50 PM

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Some more light addition, tweaking, and fixing.
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# 35 21-04-2008 , 10:27 PM

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Okay, that's great. You can light from the exterior okay. But how about some interior lighting? There are no lights in the ceiling or any lamps for that matter. Try adding some of those and work from there.

Try using quadratic lights with intensities starting around 5K. See how those work. You may have to adjust them give or take, but remember, light is additive so the more lights you add to the scene the brighter things become.

Dave Baer
Professor of Digital Arts
Digital Media Arts College
Boca Raton, Florida
dbaer@dmac.edu

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# 36 21-04-2008 , 11:11 PM

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Originally posted by dave_baer
Okay, that's great. You can light from the exterior okay. But how about some interior lighting? There are no lights in the ceiling or any lamps for that matter. Try adding some of those and work from there.

Try using quadratic lights with intensities starting around 5K. See how those work. You may have to adjust them give or take, but remember, light is additive so the more lights you add to the scene the brighter things become.

Originally Posted by

Thanks for the great advice Dave.
I am going to do low outdoor lighting as well but am trying to get down a somewhat realistic daylight if possible. I will definitely keep that in mind when I get to adding light fixtures and using them to light the interior. As always I will update as I go. user added image

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# 37 07-05-2008 , 01:41 AM

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well we finally got a new teacher here at school, one who understands 3D... lol.
So anyways it's back to the drawing board overall. I've learned how to properly create a scene and composite it together instead of trying to make shit all in one file.... yeah not how we were taught before.. don't get me started.
So anyways literally had to start at the basics, creating a schedule first, and starting with research and concept creation today. So over the next 2-3 months we'll be starting clean and I will hopefully have a progress going of step 1 all the way to the end. So if/when I get some concept sketches done they will appear and it may be easy enough to follow this time user added image