The final artefact will be looking at a 3D Package called Shade 7 and also looking in depth at its Image based lighting procedures that allow for realistic rendering with little effort. The experiments will involve the same model(s) for the consistency element and then also look at how lights are created, and how they react with images to create imagery that is realistic. That is to say the highlights and shaded areas on a model look consistent enough to follow real world patterns.
For this experiment a model of a woman posing shall be use, the complex geometry will then allow a user to easily define where the shaded area can be seen on the rendered images. The model is one of many from the ‘Poser’ collection that can be purchased through the internet. Figure 1 below shows the initial render with the default shade lighting.
Figure 1. Rendering time 160 seconds.After creating a point light in the scene the areas on the model that blocks the light have instantaneous shadows placed on the geometry. The point light in Shade works the same way as an omni light in 3D Studio Max, which is the light source is emitted from a certain area and is then spread equally in all directions. Attenuation is easier to control in shade as the light works on a cross hair and the range of lit area is equal to the end of the cross hair. Figure 1 below demonstrates the outcome of the light source on the model.
Figure 2. Rendering time 240 seconds.The lighting system in Shade allows a user to adapt the light source in a manner that creates both varying and unusual coloured renders quickly and easily. The light colour can be affected by placing a map on top, much like how theatre performances use different lighting colours to suggest different moods and times of day. An addition to this is how a light can be set up to illuminate an object from different angles, fine tuning a light can allow a user to produce an effect where an image can be projected onto an imaginary sphere that surrounds an object. This allows a map to project onto an image alongside highlights and shadows to create various colours and moods in the scene. This can be altered in the background section seen in Figure 3.
Figure 3.Not only can this spherical image create an overall projection but can also be split in two sections, upper and lower hemispheres. This method enables a user to have various coloured projections and intensities on a model creating various lighting results depending on the position of the light and distance to the object it is. However the colour of the projected light does influence the coloured surface/texture of a model. In Figure 4 below are two renders placed side by side
Figure 4.The lower hemisphere has a projection of the map on the lower sections (shaded areas of the model due to the light source being high up) whilst the upper section is unaffected thus leaving the original texture of the model to be seen. The upper hemisphere can be seen clearer and is vast compared to the lower section. Due to the colour of the map being quite green in areas this affects the colour of the model however this can be bypassed by setting the upper and base colours to white (Pure light). However to generating different colours for both lower and upper hemispheres can allow a user to dramatically change the mood or colour of the model. This can be seen below in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Rendering time 226 seconds.The colour of the hemispheres were set to yellow and orange and the combination of the two then created a skin/clay colour that can be seen. The renders have consistently been around three and a quarter minutes and the overall results have been positive.
