Chaos Corona Forum

Chaos Corona for 3ds Max => [Max] I need help! => Topic started by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 15:06:44

Title: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 15:06:44
Hello, ive been using corona for like 1 month. Ive been loving it, altohugh my boss loves clean lighting renders where there is no sun but just light, the problem is that i cant reach the result that he wants to, ive tried severous hdris, only sky map (without sun), sun, daylight system, etc,.. but i cant find how to do it.
how to do such a lighting like this? there is no sun and the scene has much lighting
(https://cdn.corona-renderer.com/img/features/quality/artists-apartment-living-by-artem-lutay-073df7a6a6.jpg)

heres another reference of the result that i want to achieve.
(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/80/db/90/80db900583032c544cf828696b29e417.jpg)

hope you can help me, nice renders for everyone :)
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: TomG on 2020-01-30, 15:23:42
Can you share an example of what you ARE getting? That would give people an idea on things to change that would help. Thanks!
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 16:09:52
this is a preview of a project that we are working on, its to yellowish i know
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: maru on 2020-01-30, 16:24:28
That could be easily a matter of post-processing. Have you tried tweaking the VFB post settings, such as contrast, highlight compression, and others?
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 16:32:58
ive tried it but never reached that realistic point, i dont know what else to do :/
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 16:53:53
my boss often says "i want sunlight not sun rays" i assume that she wants corona sky map only and not the actual sun, altough sometimes i dont have enough light on the scene it ends to dark in some spots, and not much variation.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Designerman77 on 2020-01-30, 18:15:48
Hey Gabiru,

I remember that this type of lighting gave me sleepless nights at the beginning until I realized that in most cases it is simply brute-force post in PS, Lightroom, etc.

If you look at photos... you will almost never see such "idealistic" lighting.
As ligt travels in a room, it will always decrease... significantly.

So, don't make yourself crazy trying to achieve the perfect look in 3D.
With photography its the same. Your Raws mostly look dull, grayish, etc. But then comes post... and ahaaa... wonders happen. :)


However, one can get close to this look by pumping up exposure, so you flood the room with light, use a bit of highlight compression and filmic highlights on a relatively high amount (0.5+) .
Cranking up compression reduces your dynamic range a lot... not nice... images get flat then. Use it as minimal as possible and better push up the filmic.


Hoping it is helpful.


Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: mferster on 2020-01-30, 18:28:06
I am fairly confident that they are also using large flat planar flood lights outside the windows flooding light into the scene and not relying on exclusively on an hdri or sunless skydome to achieve this look.

Then it's just a matter tonemapping and/or luts.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 18:49:14
here is another example that my boss likes, yea i kinda believe that to achieve this result i have to work around with plane lights instead real lighting, but im not sure if thats correct
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/b39921f38096ea029e0bdb005ef4988e/tumblr_puggjqEJdz1reom72o3_1280.png)
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: cgbeast on 2020-01-30, 20:11:50
Add corona rect lights in the windows...see if that works.  Or find a overcast hdri that gives you some decent ambient lighting.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Designerman77 on 2020-01-30, 20:41:05
Artificial lights in front of windows is a NO NO... I once read in a Corona forum. :))))
On the other side... photographers sometimes use this technique in reality, too.
However, I don't like to fake light like that. Maybe some reflection "boards" in the room here and there help.

Also be aware that the angle of your HDR sun plays a big role.
To steep... only super bright at the windows. Too flat... long shadows are projected on your walls.
HDR sun angle from 35 - 50 degrees is nice and fills your rooms with light.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: TomG on 2020-01-30, 20:54:02
Well, an HDRI or Sky is easier to sample than individual light sources, as lots of clever things can be done to speed that up. And in this case, I believe the desired lighting can be achieved by using an HDRI or Sky, so that would be the optimal way to go.

Placing lights in windows where there is no environment lighting (sky or HDRI) and where portals aren't used shouldn't be any harder to sample than any other light sources in the scene (but not as fast as env lighting), so if you need the result for artistic decision and you are ok with slower render times, then go ahead - combining that *with* portals or env lighting as well is likely to slow things down more though, and that is the real no-no.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-01-30, 21:11:08
well i see that a good discussion is going on, and with a lot of different opinions and techniques, i admit that im even more confused at this moment ahahah :)
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: JViz on 2020-01-30, 21:21:46
it's fairly simple. whether you use plane lights on the windows or a coronasky in the environement slot, you will get more or less similar results, planar lights might give you more control but in my opinion, they add a level of complexity you are better off without.

go physical as often as you can. meaning use what the world uses. use a coronasky map not planar lights. next, add a colorcorrection on top and desaturate it until you get that white and clean light you want.

now expose your scene to the correct level. compress the highlights (reasonably), 2 as a maximum. adjust your exposure again. don't worry about the dark areas that might be in the scene.

save that image as tiff 16bit. then use cameraraw to add contrast, lift the shadows and reduce the blacks, reduce the highlights and increase the whites. those are the rule of thumb but you can change them as you want.

there are other methods but this one is the simplest- to an extent.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: JViz on 2020-01-30, 21:22:49
if you send me your scene I can set it up for you in a recipe that almost never fails. for that look at least. I would be glad to help
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: arcrawler on 2020-01-31, 10:38:51
Just do it in PS.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Bormax on 2020-02-05, 17:42:43
if you send me your scene I can set it up for you in a recipe that almost never fails. for that look at least. I would be glad to help

Hello
I have the same kind of requests about lighting concerning almost every interior project I work on. So could you help me with my scene, please?
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Gabiru on 2020-02-05, 20:35:35
more references of the look i still want to achieve

https://jg.photography/project/casa-monte-olivete/
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: JViz on 2020-02-06, 09:39:03
if you send me your scene I can set it up for you in a recipe that almost never fails. for that look at least. I would be glad to help

Hello
I have the same kind of requests about lighting concerning almost every interior project I work on. So could you help me with my scene, please?

sure, but I could only give you the rules, the rest is practice and it's on you to do that.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Bormax on 2020-02-06, 19:12:38
if you send me your scene I can set it up for you in a recipe that almost never fails. for that look at least. I would be glad to help

Hello
I have the same kind of requests about lighting concerning almost every interior project I work on. So could you help me with my scene, please?

sure, but I could only give you the rules, the rest is practice and it's on you to do that.

Thank you!
Here is super simplified model of the apartment. White walls, dark wood floor (like on attached picture..). Client's request - a lot of natural light! But I always get dark gray ceiling. Only option I found is to put sun to low position, but in real life this place surrounded by very high trees which will block this evening sun light :( And the pretty wide roof over terrace blocks Sky light.

BTW if you'd like to get that floor texture you can get it here http://flooringstudio.esignserver2.com/gallery.do - pretty useful site
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: mikula on 2020-02-10, 08:52:35
Im quite confident what you should try is overcast hdri:

https://hdrihaven.com/hdris/category/?c=overcast&o=popular
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: JViz on 2020-02-11, 11:30:17
if you send me your scene I can set it up for you in a recipe that almost never fails. for that look at least. I would be glad to help

Hello
I have the same kind of requests about lighting concerning almost every interior project I work on. So could you help me with my scene, please?

sure, but I could only give you the rules, the rest is practice and it's on you to do that.

Thank you!
Here is super simplified model of the apartment. White walls, dark wood floor (like on attached picture..). Client's request - a lot of natural light! But I always get dark gray ceiling. Only option I found is to put sun to low position, but in real life this place surrounded by very high trees which will block this evening sun light :( And the pretty wide roof over terrace blocks Sky light.

BTW if you'd like to get that floor texture you can get it here http://flooringstudio.esignserver2.com/gallery.do - pretty useful site

I'll check how we can improve this. DM's!
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Bormax on 2020-02-11, 15:15:01
I'll check how we can improve this. DM's!

Thank you!
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: sprayer on 2020-02-11, 16:18:20
And you don't like the result with simple sun+sky setup? This is bad example for white interior though as it have too small windows for light

(https://i.imgur.com/3fpNnPc.jpg)
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: Bormax on 2020-02-12, 18:56:03
And you don't like the result with simple sun+sky setup? This is bad example for white interior though as it have too small windows for light

(https://i.imgur.com/3fpNnPc.jpg)

Thank you! Your picture looks really white, but now it feels like this house is flying in the air because of such a uniform light  coming from the terrace :) In real life trees around are blocking horizontal light, and probably this is the main problem in this project which needs many pictures from this room, so faking this light is not solution because surrounding is visible through the terrace window very well (at least I couldn't achieve this whiteness keeping objects outside of windows and on the terrace not burned out).
Thanks again, it was interesting to see your attempt. Would be interesting to know how you achieved this look and try to use your setup in full scene to see how it works there, if you don't mind of course.
Title: Re: Corona clean lighting
Post by: sprayer on 2020-02-12, 21:30:04
I did't save the scene, there is nothing special, sun+sky default values, sun light from back direction so you do not see shadows in the room. Bright background because i do not touch the terrain, just reduce saturation of green mat because of it was green bounce in interior, if you place foliage it will be better but yes it may still be bright because of that terrace, too low roof and small amount of light from street. So i was change a bit tonemaping, exposure about 1.5, increase highlight compress, contrast 3 and lut. Do not forget to add portals