Author Topic: In Render Hidden Lights, to add an Exclude list  (Read 2581 times)

2021-06-21, 21:10:23

lupaz

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It'd be very helpful to be able to exclude some lights from the "render hidden lights" checkbox, like the sun and environment.
This would be helpful when working on interior scenes with a sun. When you isolate the object IR shows an over bright image, obviously. If we could exclude certain lights from the "render hidden lights" checkbox in render overrides, we would avoid the need of changing the exposure when isolating objects.

Thank you.

2021-06-26, 09:15:13
Reply #1

Aram Avetisyan

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It'd be very helpful to be able to exclude some lights from the "render hidden lights" checkbox, like the sun and environment.
This would be helpful when working on interior scenes with a sun. When you isolate the object IR shows an over bright image, obviously. If we could exclude certain lights from the "render hidden lights" checkbox in render overrides, we would avoid the need of changing the exposure when isolating objects.

Thank you.

This is not a scenario you would face a lot and it may bring more confusion. Having some lights hidden to not show/light up but having them in the mentioned include/exclude list will just make it more time consuming and confusing. Currently the best way to do it, I think, is to turn off the sun directly from Corona Lister when having an isolated object (requires the same amount of tweak/clicks as adding it to an include/exclude list) or through Select by name, filtering non-light objects and controlling them or having a selection set for the specific light you want to be on with the isolate mode, selecting them first then the object(s) you want and isolating.
For checking materials, lighting etc. for specific objects some workarounds can be found or made directly in the scene e.g. having a temporary box with some lighting for quick studio check for the object.

Regards,
Aram
Aram Avetisyan | chaos-corona.com
Chaos Corona Support Representative | contact us

2021-06-26, 16:38:00
Reply #2

lupaz

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Thanks Aram.

This is not a scenario you would face a lot and it may bring more confusion.

I find myself in this scenario almost in every project to be honest.
You can see it in this series of tutorials where he has to change the exposure every time he isolates an object.

Once instance is minute 6:33 of this video, and even clearer at 22:47 when he actually says that he can't work in isolation mode because the exposure is crazy.

ab_channel=CoronaRenderer


Having some lights hidden to not show/light up but having them in the mentioned include/exclude list will just make it more time consuming and confusing.

What I was suggesting is to include the sun/sky in the exclude list of the "Render hidden lights". This would need to be done only once at the beginning of the project. I'm not sure I understand how that would be more time consuming.

Currently the best way to do it, I think, is to turn off the sun directly from Corona Lister when having an isolated object (requires the same amount of tweak/clicks as adding it to an include/exclude list) or through Select by name, filtering non-light objects and controlling them or having a selection set for the specific light you want to be on with the isolate mode, selecting them first then the object(s) you want and isolating.

All these solutions force you to do this every time you isolate and object. As mentioned above, adding the sun/sky to the exclude list would have to be done only once for the entire project.

Thanks.


2021-07-11, 15:23:09
Reply #3

Aram Avetisyan

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If I understand your workflow correctly, you mostly have Sun+Environment light, as physical as possible (not using fakes such as big lights in front of windows), some inner lights in different places of interior, you work and adjust the whole scene from views/cameras for which the exposure is adjusted accordingly (through VFB or overrides for CoronaCamera), e.g. -2EV, and you want to isolate an object to work on it separately, yet you get a high exposure (with -2EV) for the isolated object in open air. As I understand the point/problem here is the exposure, seen picture and not specific lights contributing to it.

What you suggest is
• Having "Render hidden lights" enabled, so you see your isolated object with (some) interior lighting when Isolated, yet the Sun and Sky are excluded.
• Having a list named maybe "Isolation mode include/exclude list) next to it
• In the list you want to exclude Sun and Sky and maybe other lights also, so they are not visible/rendered when in Isolation mode.
 
I believe this is not a very good solution to the "problem", more precisely the situation, and the points I mentioned earlier will come in to play.
Here is why:
• Let say you are working on a table in the scene's living room, with no isolation mode, there are both the sun, environment, interior lights which contribute to the whole lighting and you make the adjustments on it.
You isolate the table, your suggested solution is used, in this case you see the isolated table lit by only the interior lights, Sun and/or Sky are excluded. This will bring almost completely different lighting and inconsistency in table's shading, modeling workflow, I believe.
• Let say you are working on a table in the scene's living room, the lights are in the "render hidden lights" include/exclude list and the isolation mode is working as you want, then you decide to isolate and work on a chair in bedroom. Bedroom and living room are lit differently from environment light (e.g. living room has bigger windows and hence more lighting from outside), the walls, floor plan and other elements also contribute to this difference and you get into isolation mode with chair, where again the Sun and/or environment lighting are excluded. This in my opinion will bring the need to adjust the lights in the list again for the chair. And even if you manage to tweak it the way you like, you exit from isolation mode and the environment and sun get back and contribute to the lighting to the chair in a way, different from the table in living room (you are not "visually" sure what exiting isolation mode will bring in different cases). I hope you get my point of inconsistency and confusion.

Here I think the best thing is to just adjust, well, the exposure, e.g. I have -4.5 for exterior when isolating and revert back to the interior exposure after isolation. I worked like this a lot and it was never a problem. This exposure thing can even be solved easily if you have CoronaCameras in the interior with their per-camera exposure override and having a separate EV for VFB when isolating, so no changing is needed.
Or another tip from me: I generally create selection sets for isolation purposes or just name the interior cage (main blocks of interior, floor, ceiling, walls etc.), which is the main thing affecting the exposure of the interior in general, in a way that it's easily selected (or just grouping its components if needed), select it and then select the object I want to isolate it with and isolate. That's it. It brings both the "Render hidden lights" option's and lighting consistency's benefit for the objects' shading/modeling.
In general, if your scene is not too heavy and you can quickly see updates in IR for the object you are working on, with all the objects being visible, having a good control in viewport movement, panning, zooming, virtual walkthrough etc. is the best option to go with. I would recommend getting deft with it, if you are not already.

Regards,
Aram
Aram Avetisyan | chaos-corona.com
Chaos Corona Support Representative | contact us

2021-07-11, 19:17:05
Reply #4

lupaz

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Fair enough :)

Thank you for the tips.
I'll try them out.

Best,
Guido.