Candle Renderings by Will Gibbons

Will Gibbons · August 30, 2015, 05:04:50 PM

I wanted to create a candle-lit scene such as what pops up on google if you search 'candle-lit scene'.

I created the attached rendering with a setting of 'max samples' set to 500.

1. I'm getting white pixels that look like errors. I've messed with samples of materials as well as ray bounces, indirect bounces, caustics, GI, ground illumination... tried different materials. What might I be overlooking?
2. I'd love to add some opacity to the flames which I think are an emissive light material... but thinking that's not possible, correct?
3. I wanted to output the candle flame only on its own render layer, but can't get that to happen. The background image always has the flames visible. Also, can't hide them because then the light would be missing. Hoping there's a better way than duplicating them, rendering one pass with them 'hidden from camera', then another with just the flames and compositing in PS.

Any criticisms or suggestions would be great. It's my first interior rendering although it's not a typical one. Looking forward to getting this one dialed and creating another interior.

edwardo · August 31, 2015, 04:34:21 AM

Hi Will. I don't think you can do this in one pass. I suspect you might have to do one pass for the main scene (with reasonably accurate light emitting from the candles, and that light(s) being physical and turned to 'invisible'). I'm not sure where to start modelling and rendering the actual flame for that pass - I would be more inclined to just photoshop that on.

As for your white pixel/articles, have you tried "interior mode" since your testing KS6? I don't know the science behind removing these articles in some scenes, but i often have problems with parts that are reflecting light but are too rough with not enough samples. It would be nice if KS had some sort of optimisation wizard for us not-so-technical people - hit a button and all settings are optimised, but as low as they can go in any given scene.

Sorry, I don't really know what else to say.

E

Will Gibbons · August 31, 2015, 04:52:06 AM

Thanks edwardo,

I appreciate you weighing in. I'll try the couple of passes like you mentioned. I admit, I only thought of that approach late last night when I didn't have time to do any more. I've actually got the flames modeled, so I'll render those out and doctor them up in Photoshop.

The white artifacts still were there after trying different lighting modes. I did try interior too. I'll mess with it. I know it's one of those things that some of us have issues with, even with a decent amount of experience.

Interesting idea about the optimize feature. I could also see that being really helpful for someone with a machine that doesn't have the horse power to 'test' a bunch of options a really high sample rates.

Thanks for the comments! Cheers.

Will Gibbons · August 31, 2015, 01:50:36 PM

Here's my first traditional interior rendering.

Would love feedback/suggestions. Kept this one small and the samples lower than I'd have liked to, but I've only got 12 cores.

I guess my next step on these would be to focus on more detail shots... I'd really like to up my game here, so some challenges would be fun. Maybe we can get the speed render contests going again?

Also, I want to get better at texturing. Any great tutorials/resources for creating high quality textures would be awesome. I'm specifically thinking about fabrics and flooring. I seem to have a tough time creating/choosing a decent looking floor and wall material.

Cheers!

Speedster · August 31, 2015, 04:29:00 PM

Interior is neat. But it's missing the color palette and glow created by the light of the sunset. Play with a clown and photo filters? You don't want to change the lighting color temperature, just create the cast sunset glow into the space.
Bill G

Will Gibbons · September 01, 2015, 08:23:42 AM

Thanks Bill. Great point! Will see if I get to it!

Jslowsky · September 01, 2015, 11:47:31 AM

Hi Will,
Well for the candle setting you have 3 significant objects (candle wax, glass, metal) that all require their own set of rules to make them appear realistic and appealing but since the subject matter is the candles let me give you some advice from my experience. You need to approach it as mentioned before in layers; one for the candle wax, the opacity of the candle wax, the self illumination of the wax itself (to fake that it is a sub surface material), the flame, the blur that goes on the belly of the flame, the wick (which should be jet black), the rim light on the outside of the candle stick and that about covers it. Here are some of my textures and examples how they work together. I would first try doing one candle only... nothing else in the scene until you get the results you desire, then move on. Hopefully this helps.
John

Will Gibbons · September 01, 2015, 01:24:43 PM

Quote from: Jslowsky on September 01, 2015, 11:47:31 AM
Hi Will,
Well for the candle setting you have 3 significant objects (candle wax, glass, metal) that all require their own set of rules to make them appear realistic and appealing but since the subject matter is the candles let me give you some advice from my experience. You need to approach it as mentioned before in layers; one for the candle wax, the opacity of the candle wax, the self illumination of the wax itself (to fake that it is a sub surface material), the flame, the blur that goes on the belly of the flame, the wick (which should be jet black), the rim light on the outside of the candle stick and that about covers it. Here are some of my textures and examples how they work together. I would first try doing one candle only... nothing else in the scene until you get the results you desire, then move on. Hopefully this helps.
John

Hi John,

Thanks for the in-depth explanation. Just to make sure, the two images of candles you attached are your renderings of candles or reference photos? If they're renderings then I'm blown away. It all makes sense, and sounds like I need to break the problem into smaller steps and ask myself how to achieve each tiny little bit of the object. Sounds obvious when stated, but it can be easy to fall into the rhythm of trying to get everything with one export.

Thanks. I'll see what I can do when I've got some time. Also, thanks for sharing the resources.

Will Gibbons · September 01, 2015, 04:18:53 PM

@Jslowsky

I've tried playing with the assets you attached. I figured out the flame to a degree... still confused on how to use the attachments to get the glow effect on the candle. Are you able to explain how/where to use them more specifically? Or is there a breakdown of how you've done this in the past elsewhere you can direct me to?

Thanks,