WIP HDRI Lighting

[Rico3k]

Before i start i'd like to thank pete draper for making the tutorial i used available.

Below is what i've been working on its for a module i'm studying at university, which is Lighting Techniques.

Basically for the module you can download a scene with or without textures as long as its not got a lighting solution in it. Your ok to use the scene for your assignment.

For example i could use Lighting Challanges scenes.

So anyway i went through the pete draper tutorial, and found it rather interesting so i decide to do my own but base it a little on the tutorial, i used the background image from the tutorial which is in the image below.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/hdri_wip.jpg

Any crits would be great cheers.

[perna]

It's good to know hdri. But what typically happens when people want to try new techniques that look cool is they go tooooo far, like you have now /images/graemlins/smile.gif The wooden table looks like it has been polished, glazed and waxed. It should only benefit you if you tone things down a bit there. I would think you may want this to look convincing, which is doesn't now. A reflection mask/specular map for the table would do well so you get some more surface texture in there.

[Rico3k]

Cheers,

I've lowered the reflection of the raytrace on the table to 10, also added the table texture to the specular map at 10 also.

results below

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/hdri_wip2.jpg

[Rico3k]

Just lowered the light from the light tracer, from 1.0 to 0.5 but i think its made the scene to dark.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/hdri_wip3.jpg

[Joao Sapiro]

the wood seems a mirror with a wooden texture,there is nothing that indicates that it is wood besides teh difuse texture /images/graemlins/frown.gif add some imperfections maybe ? keep it up ! hdri is fun to play with /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[pliang]

Might wanna turn down the reflections and some refractions to keep it more natural...in Maya I'd have the same issues if I allowed the settings too high.

[Rico3k]

Right thanks for the tips back, but i'm stuck now on how to try and make it look convincing.

[Rico3k]

I think i may have cracked it lol.

I lowered the brightness and contrast in the exposure control and the result.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/wippyyyyy.jpg

[EarthQuake]

Now its just dark, the material itself needs to just be less reflective, and you need variation in the spec/reflection textures for it to look more realistic

[Rico3k]

Cheers, i'll get onto that straight away.

[Rico3k]

another update

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/update.jpg

[rooster]

it looks the same with a different wood texture. Turn down the reflection on the wood is what people are suggesting

[perna]

Just make the fucking table less reflective before I do something terrible here!

oh. sorry.

[aesir]

i've seen wood tables that shiny before.

[Zephir62]

[ QUOTE ]
the wood seems a mirror with a wooden texture,there is nothing that indicates that it is wood besides teh difuse texture /images/graemlins/frown.gif add some imperfections maybe ? keep it up ! hdri is fun to play with /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe it's newly polished and waxed wood? :O I have wood that looks like that all around my house. Not everything has to be more than a year old...

[Cubik]

Newly polished wood is boring.

http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1323846037&size=l
http://flickr.com/photos/lipglossjunkie/142517763/
http://flickr.com/photos/allisonspics/1087374138/in/photostream/
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1047189424&size=l
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=305574497&size=o

vs flat, ultrashiny surfaces.

http://flickr.com/photos/squishedfrog/190368429/
http://flickr.com/photos/wirednerd/258191228/

The key here are really just keeping the reflections diffuse on the wood and some suble differences in how reflective the surface is...
Also, stop using stock 3ds max textures, you can come up with something better on your own.

[Rico3k]

The problem werent my reflections, it was the HDRI map the light from the window was causing it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/newwwy.jpg


just need to get shadows in the scene now.

[ppenguin]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem werent my reflections, it was the HDRI map the light from the window was causing it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well yes, kind of, the HDRI you use was basicly reflecting straight and directly from the table. Realisticly, woods will not reflect things that way. Which is why everyone were suggesting you to add some texture maps to your refrectivity, bumps/normals and specularity channel. That is to help break down those high lights.

[Rico3k]

Is this looking any better or have i gone wrong.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/hdri_wippy.jpg

I think it looks wrong as there is no light bouncing off the balls and hitting the table.

[nacire]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem werent my reflections, it was the HDRI map the light from the window was causing it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Rico3k/newwwy.jpg


just need to get shadows in the scene now.

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems to be the most believable image out of the bunch so far for me. Of course there are some highly super slick polished wood surfaces out there, but how many really don't have some level of imperfections. When trying to sell a 3d image as real the first thing you have to do is toss out the ideal of every line, corner, surface, etc. being absolutely perfect. This perfect world you display is instantly perceived as fake to most viewers and is a dead give away for 3d.

Try introducing some nuances into your maps such as discoloration, scratches, dust, smudge marks, etc. And make sure that your details are echoed through the appropriate maps to ensure surface fidelity. Give that a go with the settings in the image above and I think you'll find the image much more believable. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ppenguin]

You removed the high light completely from the last one : / that's not what we were saying.

In real life, everything reflects light "unevenly." Take a look at this image.

http://flickr.com/photos/benny_lin/253813019/
http://flickr.com/photos/benklemm/32652851/
Take a close look and you'll see that the white high light is not 1 single mass, but they are interupted with smaller areas without reflection everywhere... That is what happen in real world, and is exactly what you have to try recreate digitally. You control those reflectivity with grey scale image, breaking apart your high-light.

Try to learn what "you" can do with HDRI. Not just what HDRI can do for you. That's the real point of this whole thing.

[Zephir62]

[ QUOTE ]

This seems to be the most believable image out of the bunch so far for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope you're joking, as there is no type of common furnish that reflects so little and yet appears so perfectly applied.

If anything, ppenguin, gave some good references. If you're aiming for newly polished wood, what you had fit well. Otherwise ppenguin gave good ref. for under-polished wood.

[rooster]

I agree with Cubik, slightly worn surfaces look way more interesting. Is it really the point that you can get tables that look like that? it still looks really cg and is less interesting for it. He's producing an image at the end of the day that I assume aims to be realistic *and interesting, otherwise you'll glance at it and say 'seen that before'. Same with various renders you get of perfectly reflective metal objects like screws etc. I don't care if they exist show me some rust and dirt /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[hawken]

Hello everyone. I have lowered my comment down to ten

[Ruz]

well I like it as it is . nothing wrong with things looking 3d.
if it looks 'perfectly realistic' its boring.

[nacire]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

This seems to be the most believable image out of the bunch so far for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope you're joking, as there is no type of common furnish that reflects so little and yet appears so perfectly applied.



[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I think the ammount of reflection is very dependent of the lighting and environment, not just the reflective property of the surface. To me, it looks like the most convincing of all of them posted. Either way at the end of the day there are all sorts of visual possibilities that can be found in the real world.

[Cryocat]

It's possible that its just ultra hyper polished and waxed.... and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's perfection and mirror reflection makes it more unbelievable than it needs to be. Adding just a few details in the map could go a long way to improving the image's believability. A coffee stain in the diffuse and specular channels, or whatever, anything that breaks up that surface. Also the spheres seem to have melted into the table now, and are visually indistinct, one or the other has to change to make it an appealing image. Of course this is all assuming that you want the image to become a finished piece and more than just a completed tutorial.