New User Needs Interior Lighting Help

Started by Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com, January 04, 2017, 06:12:50 PM

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Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com

Hi Everyone-

This is my 5th or 6th attempt to get a really good interior shot.  The improvement between #1 and #2 was very large and another big step was made on my 3rd attempt and I watched the interior videos, but the improvements have stopped.  So I am looking for any advice.  I am happy with the model and the renderings are accurate, but they lack the punch I am hoping for.  They are a bit hazy and flat.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  And if you need any other information I am happy to supply...

Thnaks,
Dan

TpwUK

Hi Daniel - Here's a few tips that might help ...

Make sure your scale and KeyShot units are appropriate
Use lumens and not Watts as a light bulbs power
If you are going to use a HDRi image as the main lighting source then play with contrast and brightness along with rotating the image to get the best lighting strength and angle, even if the image gets blown out or over exposed don't worry as this happens in real life photography too.

Martin

Will Gibbons

Hi Dan,

I wanted to share with you a couple of resources that should take your interior rendering skills from good to excellent! And they're free.

This webinar:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50qIeiKqPTA
This Quick Tip:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kNu4DEKeg

Speedster

You're off to a good start, but understand that interiors can be a challenge.

Here's my two-cents worth...

The countertop grain is really huge.  Scale it down, using some web images as a target.  Also, add a VERY tiny bit of roughness to soften the reflected light from the windows.

The floor planks seem a bit wide to me.  They appear to be about 18", and normal would be more like 6" to 8".  A scaling issue.

The drop lights are a problem, in that you have an emissive light source within them.  Try dropping the lumen (yes- use lumens, not wattage!) brightness.  Also, try another shade color, like a grey glass or soft orange, or something that contrasts with the general lighting.  Test between Glass and Solid Glass.  Add a TINY bit of roughness to them.

Be sure to use "Interior Mode", and (my preference, although others use Max Samples) use Maximum Time.  You will have to experiment with the time, but as an example I would use about 20 minutes on my 32 cores.

Keep at it!  It's a wonderful design and model, and the learning experience will be very valuable down the road!

Bill G

Will Gibbons

Also, to add to Bill's suggestions... the glass material you've got on the light pendants looks like it's non-refractive. Make sure you check the 2-sided checkbox if using that material... or use the Solid Glass material instead. That'll offer much better results.

Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com

Thank you all so much. 

TpwUK - my model's scale was not set correctly, and everything is now in Lumens.  I did start pumping up the brightness (still need a little more).

Will - The quick tip on the light was a great help.  I had tried to use it but never knew you had to direct the light.  I downloaded Sketchup to try and make some of the lighting planes in the model.  And I changed the glass and pendents.

Speedster - The tip about scale (material scale) was very helpful.  And I have applied that to more items, along with glass and roughness really made a difference.  And, thank you, I now have core envy... 

Please see the attached results from your tips.  I will keep you posted with the results as they come.  If you have think of or have any other info, please drop me a line!

Thanks,
Dan


NM-92

Looks way better ! Chech the marble texture, you have some noticeable tiling there. Other than that, there was major improvement in your scene.

Will Gibbons

Like Nico said on the marble... use a marble procedural texture, or material from our KS Cloud Library... much more flexibility without tiling.

Also, to brighten up the scene, if you'd like to, you can add a large plane, apply an area light material to it and place it right under the ceiling and turn it down quite low, and make sure it's invisible to camera... that'll fill out your lighting a bit. If it's an enclosed space, use interior mode, and I'd make sure you have some light coming in from the HDRI. Interiors take some practice, but you're well on your way!

Esben Oxholm

Great improvements.
Also, you should apply an opacity maps to the leave-material on your plants ;)

TpwUK

Quote from: Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com on January 06, 2017, 07:32:06 AM
Thank you all so much. 

TpwUK - my model's scale was not set correctly, and everything is now in Lumens.  I did start pumping up the brightness (still need a little more).

Will - The quick tip on the light was a great help.  I had tried to use it but never knew you had to direct the light.  I downloaded Sketchup to try and make some of the lighting planes in the model.  And I changed the glass and pendents.

Speedster - The tip about scale (material scale) was very helpful.  And I have applied that to more items, along with glass and roughness really made a difference.  And, thank you, I now have core envy... 

Please see the attached results from your tips.  I will keep you posted with the results as they come.  If you have think of or have any other info, please drop me a line!

Thanks,
Dan

Like I said before, don't be afraid of the HDRi becoming over exposed, the one you are using has a very bright area, use the environment rotation to bring that to where it can flood through the windows, take contrast down to say 0.5 and brightness to 3 or even higher.

Martin

Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com

Thanks again everyone.  Still working and everything mentioned has been very useful.  I am putting these here if other new users want to see the result of the advice, and  track their own progress. 

note - I didn't add roughness to the counters, which will eliminate the mirror bleach out affect of the light from the back door.

Daniel@DesignSpaceDC.com

The only difference between the two images is that I added a few spheres into the model (did this right in KeyShot).  I then assigned a light profile to the new geometry and specified that the sphere itself should not be viewable in the camera (still leaving the affect of the light).   Still tweaking things but it a great way to get rid of dark shadowy patches in corners or between items.

NM-92

Hello Daniel. You can say this technique of adding spheres works for getting rid of dark spots on your room, but beware of getting inacurrate shadows. You can uncheck "visible in shadows" options to prevent the new light source to cast any shadows in the scene and just serve as a fill light. Also, you can notice right in the side of the wood cabinet that the light source is too strong. Reducing it's size or decreasing the intensity will help solving these. Your scene is getting much better, so these are just some tips in case you want to keep working on it. Great work.

bdesign

The "Visible in Shadows" option is a bit misleading in its title- it does not prevent objects illuminated by the light source from casting shadows, it prevents the actual geometry (sphere in this case) that the light material is applied to from casting a shadow.

Cheers,
Eric

NM-92

Quote from: bdesign on January 15, 2017, 08:55:27 PM
The "Visible in Shadows" option is a bit misleading in its title- it does not prevent objects illuminated by the light source from casting shadows, it prevents the actual geometry (sphere in this case) that the light material is applied to from casting a shadow.

Cheers,
Eric

My bad ! Ctrl+Z :D Is there any way to prevent shadows on the objects illuminated then ?