This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Creating Lights
As in nature, illumination in 3ds max is the product of a complex interaction of lights and objects. To participate, lights and objects must be placed so that there is a direct line of sight between them, and objects must be renderable.
3ds max 6 offers four basic types of lights (Figure 11.5):
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Omni light—Radiates light in all directions from a single source point.
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Skylight—Simulates diffuse outdoor lighting from the dome of the sky.
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Spotlight (target and free)—Illuminates an area within a cone, similar to a stage light. Target spotlights point at a target that you aim. Free spotlights have no target, so they can be maneuvered more easily.
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Directional light (target and free)—Like spotlights, directional lights use a cone of illumination, except that the cone sides are parallel. This is because directional lights have parallel rays, while spotlights spread light from a single source point.
You create basic lights in the Lights branch of the Create panel (Figure 11.6).
New to 3ds max 6 are the mr area omni and the mr area spot light types. Designed to work with mental ray, max 6's advanced new ray tracing rendering engine, these lights are variations on the basic omni and spot light types. To learn more about mental ray, please refer to the 3ds max 6 New Features Guide and the 3ds max 6 User Reference.
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Figure
11.5 The basic light types. Free spotlights and free directional lights
look the same as their targeted counterparts, minus the target box.
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Figure
11.6 The Lights branch of the Create panel.
In addition to the basic light types, there are two types of lighting systems that you create in the Systems branch of the Create panel:
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Sunlight system—A hybrid light source that combines a free directional light with a Compass object to simulate the position of the sun as it moves across the sky over time.
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Daylight system—A hybrid light source that combines the direct light of the sun with the scattered light of the sky to produce realistic outdoor lighting that changes over time. Daylight systems use an advanced type of lighting called photometric lights by default (see sidebar).
By default, shadow casting is turned off for basic lights and turned on for lighting systems. Ambient light, the diffuse background light of a scene that fills in shadow areas, is turned off by default.
When you start building a scene in 3ds max, the default lighting has no direction. No matter which viewport you look in, the light appears brightest on the sides of the objects that face you. This lighting configuration was designed to make modeling easier, as the object facing you in the middle of the viewport is always fully lit.
There is a second default lighting configuration that places two omni lights along a diagonal through the world origin, from top-left-front to below-right-back. This lighting is more realistic and interesting.
Photometric Lights
Photometric lights simulate realistic lighting based on physical measurements of light intensity. 3ds max offers eight types of photometric lights: target point lights, free point lights, target linear lights, free linear lights, target area lights, free area lights, IES skylights, and IES sunlights. For more information on photometric lights and their settings, see the 3ds max 6 User Reference.
Lighting requires a bit of finesse. To make the process easier, you will start by creating a practice scene, and then add lights to it until the scene is fully illuminated.
To create a practice scene:
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Rotate the Perspective view so that the front of the grid is parallel to the bottom of the viewport (Figure 11.7).
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In the Perspective viewport, create some light-colored objects and place them near the origin. Then place a white plane underneath (Figure 11.8).
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With the Perspective viewport still active, open the Viewport Configuration dialog box by right-clicking a viewport label and choosing Configure, or right-clicking any viewport control button.
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In the Rendering Method tab panel, check Default Lighting and select 2 Lights (Figure 11.9). Then click OK.
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Change the Perspective viewport to an ActiveShade viewport by choosing ActiveShade Viewport in the Rendering menu, or by right-clicking the viewport label and choosing ActiveShade under Views.
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In the Front viewport, zoom out and pan so you will have plenty of room to place lights around the scene.
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Choose File > Save, and name your scene Practice.max.
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Choose File > Save As, and name your scene Practice00.max. This will serve as a back-up copy in case you accidentally save over your scene.
The light colors of the objects will make it easier to see the effects of light.
The ActiveShade viewport renders the scene (Figure 11.10).
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Figure
11.7 When you build a scene on a grid that is parallel to the viewport,
it makes it easier to position lights around it.
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Figure
11.8 The practice scene consists of light-colored objects.
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Figure
11.9 This setting creates two default lights that you can later add to the
scene from the Views menu.
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Figure
11.10 The ActiveShade viewport renders the new default lighting.
Like other objects, you create light objects by clicking and dragging. As soon as you create a light, the default lighting is turned off and the new light illuminates the scene.
A common way of lighting scenes is to use a bright key light for primary illumination of a scene, and one or more fill lights to make the dark edges of forms more discernable.
In the next three exercises, you'll create a spotlight for your key light and an omni light for your fill light, and then add a direct light to serve as an accent light.
To create a target spotlight:
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Open Practice.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Target Spot.
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In the Front viewport, click in the upper-left corner to create the spotlight. Then drag to the center of the scene to create the target and aim the light (Figure 11.11).
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In the General Parameters rollout, enable Shadows (Figure 11.13).
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Save the scene as Practice01.max.
The spotlight illuminates the objects within its cone. The default lights are turned off (Figure 11.12).
The objects cast shadows. If the ActiveShade viewport does not show the shadows, right-click in the viewport and choose Initialize from the Tools quad menu.
The viewport is redrawn. Shadows appear in the ActiveShade viewport and in rendered views (Figure 11.14).
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Figure
11.11 A target spotlight has a source, a cone of illumination, and a target.
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Figure
11.12 The cone of illumination delimits the pool of light.
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Figure
11.13 After enabling shadows for the spotlight.
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Figure
11.14 The objects cast shadows based on the position of the source.
There are many parameters you can adjust on a light, but the settings that you usually adjust right away are the intensity, color, position, and aim. Additional light settings are explained in the sections on shadow casting and controlling illumination.
To adjust a target spotlight:
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Open Practice01.max.
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Select the spotlight.
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Open the Modify panel.
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In the Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout, increase the Multiplier to 1.25, or just enough to brighten the scene without washing it out (Figure 11.15).
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In the Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout, click the white color swatch.
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In the Color Selector: Light Color dialog box, select a color using the Blackness, Hue, and Whiteness sliders, or type in the RGB or HSV amounts (Figure 11.16).
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In the Top viewport, select and move the light so that it is about 30 in front of the scene (Figure 11.17).
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Right-click on the light and choose Select Light Target from the Tools 1 quad menu.
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Move the target to the origin. You can do this easily by right-clicking the X, Y, and Z spinners of the Transform Type-in boxes on the status bar, while in Absolute mode.
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Render your scene to see the result (Figure 11.18).
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Adjust the light further until you are satisfied. Then save your scene.
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Figure
11.15 The Multiplier increased to 1.25.
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Figure
11.16 Selecting a color for the light.
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Figure
11.17 After positioning the light to the front of the scene.
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Figure
11.18 After repositioning the light and its target.
Omni lights are made up of a single component that radiates in all directions. They are the simplest type of light to create and control.
To create an omni light:
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Open Practice01.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Omni.
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In the Front viewport, click in the lower-right corner to create the omni light (Figure 11.19).
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In either the Top or Left viewport, move the omni light slightly in back of the scene so it is opposite the spotlight (Figure 11.21).
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In the Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout, reduce the Multiplier of the light to around .5, or just enough to dimly illuminate the dark sides of the objects.
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Render the scene to see the result (Figure 11.22).
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Save the scene as Practice02.max.
The objects in the scene are lit from below and to the right. The plane does not block the light because its surface normals face away from the light (Figure 11.20).
TIP
To add the two default lights to the scene, open the Viewport Configuration dialog box by right-clicking on any viewport control button. In the Rendering Options area of the Rendering Method tab panel, enable Default Lighting and 2 Lights. Close the dialog box and choose Views > Add Default Lights to Scene. Two omni lights named DefaultFillLight and DefaultKeyLight are added to the scene, and can be adjusted like any other lights.
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Figure
11.19 After creating the omni light in the Front viewport.
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Figure
11.20 The scene is now lit from below right.
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Figure
11.21 After moving the omni light into position.
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Figure
11.22 The key light and fill light illuminate the objects from the front
left and back right.
Free lights are aimed without using a target. This makes them easier to animate.
Free spotlights and directional lights are created with a single click. The light is automatically aimed at the grid of the viewport in which you clicked (the construction grid).
To create a free directional light:
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Open Practice02.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Free Direct.
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In the Top viewport, click on top of an object that you would like to highlight.
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In the Front or Left viewport, move the directional light above the object.
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Open the Modify panel. In the Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout, reduce the Multiplier of the directional light so that it doesn't bleach out the object. Try a setting of around .5.
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In the General Parameters rollout, check On in the Shadows area to enable shadow casting for the directional light.
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Select the spotlight. Then reduce its intensity multiplier to around 1.1.
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Render the scene to see the result (Figure 11.25).
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Save the scene as Practice03.max.
The free directional light appears in the viewport on top of the object (Figure 11.23).
The light singles out the object with additional illumination (Figure 11.24).
TIP
Decreasing a Multiplier setting to a negative value causes a light to remove illumination from a scene.
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Figure
11.23 Place the free directional light directly over an object.
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Figure
11.24 When you first set the directional light, it may be too bright.
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Figure
11.25 After adjusting the lights and turning on cast shadows.
A skylight acts as a dome of light to create the illusion of outdoor lighting. No matter where you place a skylight, it always illuminates the scene from above.
To create a skylight:
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Open Practice.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Skylight.
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Click in any viewport.
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Choose Rendering > Advanced Lighting > Light Tracer from the menu bar.
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In the Advanced Lighting tab panel of the Render Scene dialog box, choose Light Tracer from the drop-down menu.
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To make the scene more realistic, choose Render > Environment and change the Environment Background color to light gray.
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Click the ActiveShade viewport to activate it.
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From the Main toolbar, choose Quick Render (Production).
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Save as Practice04.max.
The skylight appears in the viewport (Figure 11.26).
The Light Tracer rollouts appear and become active (Figure 11.27).
The scene renders line by line. When it is done, the skylight diffusely illuminates the scene from above. Faint shadows gather below each object (Figure 11.28).
TIP
To increment a file name by +01, click the plus sign (+) in the Save File As dialog box.
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Figure
11.26 Placing a skylight in the scene.
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Figure
11.27 The Light Tracer controls skylights.
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Figure
11.28 The skylight diffusely illuminates the scene from above.<
A sunlight system is a combination of a free directional light and a compass rose that sets the orientation of the system. Ray-traced shadows are on by default.
To create a sunlight system:
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Open Practice.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Sunlight.
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In the Top viewport, click and drag to create a compass rose of any size.
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Move the cursor up or down to set the orbital distance of the sun. Then click to create the light (Figure 11.30).
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In the Control Parameters rollout, set the time, date, and time zone for the light. You can also set latitude and longitude, or pick a location by clicking Get Location (Figure 11.31).
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Open the Directional Parameters rollout in the Modify panel, and uncheck Overshoot. Then increase the Hotspot/Beam until the cone of illumination encompasses the entire scene, so that shadows will appear throughout.
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Click the ActiveShade viewport. Then click Quick Render (Production).
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Save as Practice05.max.
In Control Parameters rollout, the time and date control the position of the sun along with a geographical location (Figure 11.29).
Sunlight floods the scene. The ray- traced shadows are crisp and precise (Figure 11.32).
TIP
After creating a sunlight system, you change its settings in the Motion panel.
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Figure
11.29 The Sunlight system positions the sun according to the time, date,
and geographical location that you set.
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Figure
11.30 The compass sets the direction; the light illuminates the scene.
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Figure
11.31 Picking a new location from the list.
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Figure
11.32 Sunlight casts crisp shadows.
A daylight system combines sunlight and skylight into one integrated system.
To create a daylight system:
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Open Practice.max.
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In the Create panel, open the Lights sub-panel.
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In the Object Type rollout, click Daylight.
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The Control Parameters rollout appears. It looks just like a Sunlight System rollout.
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In the Control Parameters rollout, set the time, date, and time zone for the light. You can also set the latitude and longitude, or pick a location by clicking Get Location.
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Choose Rendering > Advanced Lighting > Light Tracer or press 9 on your keyboard.
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In the Advanced Lighting tab panel of the Render Scene dialog box, choose Light Tracer.
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Choose Render > Environment. Then choose a Background color for the sky.
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In the Exposure Control rollout, choose Automatic Exposure control from the drop-down menu. Then Activate the ActiveShade viewport, and click Render Preview (Figure 11.34).
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Adjust the exposure as needed. Then click Quick Render (Production).
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Save as Practice06.max.
In the Top viewport, click and drag to create a compass rose. Then move the cursor up or down and click to set the orbital distance of the daylight assembly head (Figure 11.33).
This positions the sun in the sky.
Sunlight and daylight illuminate the scene (Figure 11.35).
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Figure
11.33 The compass orients the daylight assembly head to the location.
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Figure
11.34 You adjust exposure in the Environment dialog box.
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Figure
11.35 The final scene is illuminated with both sunlight and skylight.