i'ma rookie when it comes to cool lighting.... i have this forest scene and i want to create an effect similar to the one in this image.... anyone know how i can do that? i need to know what kind of lights to use, how many, options on them etc.... i really really suck at lighting :bgreen:

Attached Images

you can try spot lights with fog on it, you need to ray trace the shadow.

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

how do i achieve that fog effect?

darklink, just go to your manual, search for "fog spot light" and you find how to put fog in your light. or you could go there manually to:

using maya->rendering->lights and shadows->light effects attributes->light fog

you can really learn a lot by your manual if you are willing to invest a little time to open it up once in a while an search for things ...

Use a spotlight with volume fog. When you go to the light effects section of the attribute editor for the spotlight and click on light fog, use cloud as a texture for the light fog. Finally in order to see the fog you will need to select your light, click on the Show Manipulator Tool in the toolbox, click on the little blue circle till you get to the distance cones for the light, and then drag them beyond your object. You will still have to play with lgiht intensity and such like with a normal light, but to start try checking the Fast Dropoff box in the light fog attributes.


Hope that wasn't too confusing, I just got home

Darkon

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Red bellows of flame have blackened my stones
Convulsing my frame and cracking my bones
Hell's dragons of steel who roar in their chains
Crawl into my caves to suck out my veins.....

-The Mountain P.F.M.

Or create that effect in Photoshop, where you have much more control of it...in the case of the image obove that would work as well..even better than a fog-effect in Maya....and the rendertimes would be much faster...that's the way I'd do them (take a look at my turntable, and you can see a similar effect...you can find them in the WIP section)

cheers

b u l l e t