LIGHTING AREA EVENLY

[Jonathan1981]

    I have a part with a cutaway section with some mechanical metal/plastic internals that need to be highlighted and lit evenly so that the mechanism is clearly visible. I've tried different lighting methods, such as different lighting environments, adding in light sheets, spotlights etc. to highlight the area, but I can't get the clear look I'm going for. Just looking for some suggestions...

I've included a rendered image and the original solidworks file

[Esben Oxholm]

Hi Jonathan.

Can you share the KSP with us?
In that way we can try and light it using the exact same materials that you have and perhaps troubleshoot the problem.
I had no problem lighting it when importing the raw model.

Cheers,

[DriesV]

Hi Jonathan,

I can see a few issues here.
1) The lighting environment seems to have a fairly low contrast.
2) The internal part is very dark with low reflectivity.
3) All edges are perfectly sharp.

Addressing these three issues will make the section much easier to read.
Attached is a sample ksp (KeyShot 7) and rendering.
I used Rounded Edges to simulate edge blends. This will help to highlight the edges of parts.

Dries

[Jonathan1981]

Here it is. Thanks.

Hi Jonathan.

Can you share the KSP with us?
In that way we can try and light it using the exact same materials that you have and perhaps troubleshoot the problem.
I had no problem lighting it when importing the raw model.

Cheers,

[Jonathan1981]

This is much better, definitely in the right direction. So you just used the "3 Panels Straight 4k" lighting environment? I'd love to get a little extra light exposure to that black shaft part. Really interesting regarding the rounded corner technique, I think this helps ALOT. This is just an example model. I couldn't share the real model, the internals are a little more complex, but I'll try it out, I think it should help. Otherwise we're just going to go with colored internals for differentiation purposes.

Hi Jonathan,

I can see a few issues here.
1) The lighting environment seems to have a fairly low contrast.
2) The internal part is very dark with low reflectivity.
3) All edges are perfectly sharp.

Addressing these three issues will make the section much easier to read.
Attached is a sample ksp (KeyShot 7) and rendering.
I used Rounded Edges to simulate edge blends. This will help to highlight the edges of parts.

Dries

[Esben Oxholm]

Here it is. Thanks.

Hi Jonathan.

Can you share the KSP with us?
In that way we can try and light it using the exact same materials that you have and perhaps troubleshoot the problem.
I had no problem lighting it when importing the raw model.

Cheers,

Thanks. I think Dries has got you covered though. I haven't got anything to add

[mattjgerard]

I sometimes use very low power practical lights to highlight areas that just need a little more love. I'll use a plane emitting off a single side or a sphere for a more omni directional light  to add a few photons into corners and crevices and to highlight parts. It takes some tweaking and bumps the render times, but in a pinch it can help.

Now if we could get an option to exclude/include certain objects from certain lights, that would be a game changer.

[Jonathan1981]

    Thanks everyone, trying some of these suggestions out on the real model and there's a significant improvement. I really like the fillets used to create highlights and differentiation, works like a charm. That will be a game changer for cutaway sections from now on...great tip DriesV!

   I've brought in some light balls for extra highlighting (applied emissive neutral, 30), I click off visible to camera but they don't disappear, not sure why..

[mattjgerard]

    Thanks everyone, trying some of these suggestions out on the real model and there's a significant improvement. I really like the fillets used to create highlights and differentiation, works like a charm. That will be a game changer for cutaway sections from now on...great tip DriesV!

   I've brought in some light balls for extra highlighting (applied emissive neutral, 30), I click off visible to camera but they don't disappear, not sure why..

Hmm, they should disappear, that's the whole point. Check the front/back emissive settings as well, sometimes it is just about nailing down the right combination of settings that make things work while not making any sense