Poser Lighting Question

July 6th, 2006, 09:23 PM

Hello there,

I'm sorry if this question if noobish and if it causes anybody to lose I.Q points.

I've been using Poser for a few years but I've only been using it to create people which I would then import into Bryce.

A few months ago I made the leap from Bryce to Max and I've started working on a little Star Trek short for a friend of mine. After seeing the difference between the TOS bridge mesh in MAX and Poser, I've decided to render my bridge scenes in Poser. I imported the MAX version of the TOS Enterprise bridge into Poser however I cannot seem to get the lighting in Poser to illuminate the set. Regardless of how I position the lights I get the creepy "horror film hallway" illumination. Creepy is good... I like creepy... just not when it's on the bridge of the Enterprise.

I know there is something I'm doing wrong - but I can't seem to figure it out and the few Poser tutorials I've found online make no mention of lighting.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated and will result in the restoration of any I.Q points that may have been damaged by reading this post.

Kai · July 8th, 2006, 08:04 PM

what version of Poser are you running?

July 9th, 2006, 09:34 AM

I'm running Poser 6.

Kai · July 9th, 2006, 04:02 PM

hmm okes I can help then

(lighing before six is to much of a pain in the ****)
can you post a pic of what your getting and lets see what we can come up with

July 9th, 2006, 08:00 PM

Here's an image of my 'haunted Enterprise' bridge.
LOL

I'm wondering if perhaps the mesh of the bridge is too small and that if I scale the size up a lot, then the lights will be 'inside' of the bridge. When I check my lights they seem to be above the set that I'm trying to illuminate.

evil_genius_180 · July 10th, 2006, 12:55 AM

I'm no Poser user, but yes, it would make a huge difference if the lights were above your "ceiling." Then said "ceiling" would block said lights and, since that set has "skylights," you'd wind up with something like that with all of those crazy shadows. If you had a bridge with a full ceiling, you'd probably not get any light at all on the bridge itself.

Kai · July 10th, 2006, 11:05 AM

hmm ok
switch to Pointlights, put them just under the bridge ceiling and turn on raytracing..

also, I'd use 4 lowpowered points (North South East West) starting at about .25 and slowly ramp them up until you get the desired level.

July 10th, 2006, 11:16 AM

Thank you both very much.
Kai, I'll try what you suggested and with luck I'll get the results I need.

I'm not used to being stuck during a creative project.
It's nice to know that you can post a question here and not have people call you stupid.

BTW Kai... I like your enhanced Dune quote.

evil_genius_180 · July 10th, 2006, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fretslayer

Thank you both very much.
Kai, I'll try what you suggested and with luck I'll get the results I need.

I'm not used to being stuck during a creative project.
It's nice to know that you can post a question here and not have people call you stupid.

BTW Kai... I like your enhanced Dune quote.

Remember, the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked. And, we won't allow people to get by with calling people stupid for asking a question, even if they wanted to. It goes against everything this forum stands for. We're here to help, not belittle someone who is seeking advice.

July 10th, 2006, 01:46 PM

Thank you both, very much.
Kai, that 'pointlight' did the trick.

I'm at a loss for words other than 'Thank you'.

When I am finished with my animation I'll be sure to share it with you if you'd like.

evil_genius_180 · July 11th, 2006, 10:30 AM

Ugh, animation.

I'm sort of low-tech, slow internet connection and all, so I wouldn't mind seeing some still shots. Animations just take a huge bite out of my ass when I download. However, I'm sure some other users would love to see the animation.

July 11th, 2006, 10:34 AM

Well, when I do an animation I always make 1 version that's a high compression WMV file so people with slower connections can still check it out. I'll still make some screen shots available for you though.
When it's finished it will be something like 20-25 minutes in length.

evil_genius_180 · July 11th, 2006, 01:48 PM

Cool. I like screenshots.

One of these days, I might invest in a faster connection, after I invest in a better computer.

August 12th, 2006, 11:55 AM

I have been using poser and 6 for quite a while now and even though i have never released any final renders to the public i have gone back to some of my "old" stuff to do some lighting work with the way described above in similar scenes.
I think i might be that little bit happier now about showing them off

Hell its good to know there are people who dont mind answering noobish questions and making someones lives a little easier and less frustrating