Uplighting outdoor trees

[Muggle]

Hi all,

Lighting is a very intense area and sadly my expertise is next to none, but every now and then I have to do a render which is a night scene and where the trees in an outdoor event are uplit. I struggle with this every time, and was hoping that someone could literally just be kind enough to give me a formula that I could punch in. The colour is not a problem, but I just cannot seem to get the light (spot) to go as high as I want it to, or be as bright as I need it to be.

Thank you very much.

[Fletch]

Please post example scene, so that we may assist you.

[Muggle]

As you can see by this - any and all help more than welcome. Thank you so much.

[Fletch]

Here is the scene with four sizes of trees with different lighting setups. These were the first trees that came up in the 3DWarehouse when searching the words "Palm Tree".
Also the environment setup for moonlit evening.

USE RENDER SETTINGS LOW FOR TESTING, AND MEDIUM OR MEDIUM+ FOR FINAL IMAGE.

Here is a Swimming pool at night scene. Or this updated scene from the same thread: Pool at night scene for download

LightedPalms.jpg (335.24 KiB) Viewed 8783 times

[Fletch]

The pool scene linked above was in Twilight V2 format. So here are both scenes combined for Twilight V2.

A Lighted Pool at night SketchUp model scene with Lighted Palms included in Twilight Version 2 format.

Hope it helps. I suggest increasing the power for the underwater pool lights. Try doubling the power. If you still want stronger lights, then double again.

This scene was rendered with Alternative AA setting to keep render time relatively fast, but increase quality of Anti Aliasing.

[Muggle]

Thank you. I actually need the uplight though to be much brighter than those. These are special event renders and the lighting used in the events is pretty intense. I will read your reply in detail and which honestly I have not done as yet. (Early morning rush to get out, and wanted to reply before taking off.) I will also have to experiment until I get the correct formula.

Having to even research what "efficacy" in the context of lighting meant though, should give you a really good idea of my lack of knowledge on the subject of lighting. But... always willing and eager to learn.

[Fletch]

You don't need stronger lighting than I have provided, actually you can get the lighting info for the light fixtures you are actually using in the event and find out the actual lumen output of the fixture. You can also get the precise degree kelvin color and input that.

What you need is to remember that the virtual camera is based on real world physical properties - and you need to increase exposure to accomodate the lighting, just as you would with a real world camera. Tone mapping is the best kept secret of CG artists - exposure/tone mapping for your image is what will give you the most realistic output.

You may have to adjust the sky and sun(moon) strength, here I halved the sky and sun strengths after increasing the exposure and lowering the gamma in the tone mapping.

Here is an example with "Exposure" algorithm and one with "Linear" algorithm.

[Muggle]

Thank you. Sharp learning curve but I'm game. The clients though don't care about accuracy re the lighting. They just want to see a "pretty picture" of what the event is going to look like. Indoor lighting I don't have a problem with and for that I use LightUp for SU to get the intensity of the colour that I am usually aiming for. I have not had much luck with getting those effects with Twilight. Their renders are lovely and subtle, but not as dynamic as I am usually aiming for. I will persevere however. Attached are two more renders but for which I used LightUp for SU. It's not easy (at least for me) when you are teaching yourself something in an area in which you have no experience, but I guess we all have to start somewhere. Thanks again.

[Fletch]

I've added another image to my post above for tonemapping example.

Check out the Volumetric Lighting thread:
Subject: Concert Lighting (volumetric)

[Muggle]

Will do. Currently wearing the hat of "Maker of Christmas" but once things settle down I am going to go at it hammer and tongs. Thanks Fletch. I have done the Twilight course on Linda.com, but will check to see if they have an updated version. I know it's all about practice, practice, practice. All the best to you and yours.