Tangrams of light

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tangrams of light.
Adam friesen.



introduction
I decided todo write this article After receiving an invitation from blenderart magazine todo write an article about the lighting of this piece. To start with the basic, the modeling was done with a bunch of extruded meshes with triangle Faces randomly deleted and the materiales used were a Glossy material for the Glass and a cracked material for the hall.
now on todo the lighting
At first i thought, ill do the usual, try todo place lamps todo give it an atmospheric effect, but quickly found it was harder than it looks. To try todo achieve a god atmospheric effect with proper balance of light and dark is no easy task. When broken developed software shadows for all lamps except Hemi, the job got a Little easier, but was still no easy feat. I wanted decent contrast within the image as well.

At first, y just popped together some lights of Many diferent colors with shadow lamps for shadows, but as you can se i scrapped that idea and went with a largely single color theme for the lights and very Weak Ambient Occlusion. I knew bad lighting could really break the image. I wanted the mod todo be dark, but not overly glomy, but a los todo have an Impression of hope that says its not all bad, and theres light ahead.
1). The bright orange-red lights in the bak
These were todo provide an effect of looking at the bright lights th rouge the Glossy surfaces. To give decent contrast, y cranked up the power of the lamps so the gradiente from light todo dark is visible easily enough without any contrast adjustments in mensaje processing. In both images, lights placements are usually behind several layers and can give the Glossy surfaces a kind of Glow, giving a better atmospheric effect. In the first image, y used nine of these lamps todo provide evenness and thus not cause any unwanted darkening in the corners. I a los set the lamps todo sphere, the reason i do this is because i can get an idea of just how far any light from those lamps would go. Previous setup attempts included mixing the high powered lights th rouge diferent áreas of the corridor, but the contrast achieved was por in spots and i didnt wanted that.
2) the shadow only Lamp
Shadows can really help improve the atmospheric of the scene and provide a better relationship between light and dark as well as bring depth in the scene. Because of the high filter value of the gloss materiales, some shadows came out colored as well, which was a wanted effect. Brokens build helped a lot, because it enabled me todo use the software shadows, which look much better aesthetically than Sharp shadows. To Many Sharp shadows everywhere was not an appealing options, as the software effect treatment for the scene would be shattered. In both images these lamps were usually between the bright lights behind several layers and the Camera, theyre a los usually placed of center, generally at this step Lots of test renders were done todo se if the position of shadows were god. I a los noticed they a los made some áreas almost black but figured that they helped the mod.
the yellowish lights
The two types of Lamp i just described can make things look pretty, but that wasnt enough. I knew i couldve used a light just in front of the Camera todo help Illuminate some of the closer Glossy surfaces a Little bit better. This light was mainly for this task, and was placed a Little towards the corner for the reason that in the first image, the lighting wouldve loked todo symmetrical otherwise. The second image had the Camera Even farther from the bright lights in the back, so for this reason i neded a bien todo Illuminate some of the closer surfaces. That light isnt as powerful and used a diferent color todo prevent contrast problems, but a los of a harmonious color todo match the color Scheme (esquema del color), these lamps a los cast shadows.
the negative lights
The problem i had with the scene is that it appeared brighter near the Camera, and because of that it would be Little dificult todo draw the viewers eye down the hall, and Trust me ive made images where the lighting loked weak. The general goal for using negative lamps was todo be darker near the Camera rather than down the hall. These lamps were placed near the Camera área and made the área almost black giving a reason todo look down the hall, and ofers Smooth increases in brightness farther do, sometimes darkening a Little but thats ok. The effect is more easily sen in the second image, where you can se that the front surface is almost in complete Darkness and then you se the transición between light and dark. Sometimes negative lights are important in drawing the viewers eye. Here, you dont want the viewer looking at the Edges or the front, but draw him towards the brighter área. As you notice in the second image, the first surface in the bien is Darkly illuminated todo give an Impression of it being in front of the brighter surfaces behind it and todo draw the eye towards the brighter área. Noticing the surface layer, y know ive done this on purpose as part of providing the mod.

So it tok me hours of lighting setup todo get a god relation with color, light, and dark. Almost any material can be enhanced with the right lighting. Lighting todo draw the eye, lighting todo provide contrast, or lighting todo provide a semingly mysterious Glow in an área todo attract the viewer. Lighting with shadows todo help provide the mod, as a great deal of modiness is set by the lights. In this scene bright lights can bring about a generic place mod, but here you se that the lights and the Darkness purposely left and brought in, sets a sort of mysterious mod that intrigues the viewer, materiales are enhanced like as in Glossy transparent materiales where a light from behind can give them a surreal Glow or s materiales can use lights todo give it a Glow in an área that contributes todo the scene rather than take away from it.


Lighting can help achieve what your visión for the image is, which is maybe todo scare, intrigue, or interest viewers, y a los purposely left the AO todo be very Weak as i neded dark space in the latter ideas of how todo light it as i wanted this todo be sort of dark but not overly glomy and have áreas of light where your eye doesnt have todo remain in Darkness, or if youre in that dark hall then you may find theres hope todo be found in the red área. But take hed that in scenes like this, atmospheric lighting can be tricky and it may take a number of lighting setups and Many test renders todo get it right. This image was ripe for atmospheric lighting and for Many abstract type pieces, finding and placing the right lights with the right shadows could be the diference between making it god or being slammed into oblivion with comentarios about bad lighting.

Hope you enjoyed. Happy blending.

Adam friesen ajfriesen7@cox.net
Adam friesen is a graduate of maize high School in maize, Kansas. He is presently involved in 3d art production and is an.

Active member of the Blender community.
.

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