Lamp shade lighting

[d03boy]

Hey guys I need some help. I created a scene with a desk, computer, lamp with a lampshade. I need to know how to make the lampshade glow like light can pass through it a little bit. If I change the opacity, then you're able to see through it easily which is not what I'm looking for. If anyone can help me out here, thanks.

Joe

[g69]

ummm... did you try the opacity of the material?
and could we please see some renderings?

[d03boy]

Originally posted by g69
ummm... did you try the opacity of the material?
and could we please see some renderings?

When I change the opacity of the material I can see through the material which isnt what i want.

I'll try to post a render.

[:: sigma ::]

I would suggest to try one of the following to achieve the proper effect.

Either try translucency which will need some playing around with parameters until you get a realistic result...and lead to slightly longer render time as it requires raytracing
or use self illumination (best results with a map applied to the self illumination channel of the material). Then you have maximum control about the result...but you have to work on the texture of course :)

greetz, ::sigma::

[d03boy]

I'm not sure how to edit the material to make it look real, and playing with the % settings doesn't seem to help a whole lot. How do i do the translucency thing?

[Eric_Cartman]

Why is there a black spot under the lamp?

Here is how you should do it.

Create 2 target spotlights. Place them both where the lighbulb is. One should be pointing up and the other down. Now adjust the hotspot so it matches the hole (top hole for the light going up and bottom hole for the light pointing down).

[:: sigma ::]

d03boy, let me explain what i thought of when i was writing about translucency:

basically translucency enables a material to be light from the back side (a lampshade for example :) ). In 3ds max you can enable this feature by choosing a raytraced material. go to the extended parameters section of the menu and choose a translucency color other than black (= no translucency). this is the color the side of the object not facing the light (dependent on the intensity of the light of course) - in your case the outside of the lampshade.

the following image should illustrate the whole thing. The upper render is without translucency enabled, the lower one is rendered with translucency. the rest of the scene was unchanged.

p.s.: sorry for the shaddow under the lamp eric_cartman, this is caused by the lamp's base...and i didn't care about correct lighting in that little example :o

[d03boy]

Great info guys.

Sigma: So the only way to turn the amount of light showing through is to turn the light down?

[d03boy]

Would either of you know any good lighting tutorials to make realistic lighting? I can model stuff, but havn't worked with lighting yet.

[:: sigma ::]

i don't think that turning down the light is the very best option...just adjust its brightness so that it fits your scene's demands. then adjust the translucency color. darker -> less light is transmitted, lighter color -> the lamp shade appears brighter.

[d03boy]

Well the problem with adjusting the translucency is taht it doesnt allow me to because I chose a map for that because it was only showing the map on the inside of the lamp shade at first. So I'm confused as to what to do now...

[d03boy]

Still looks like crap, but here's my update. Gimme some more tips please.

[Cic]

Well first of all you should exclude the lamp body from the shadows... It doesn't look realistic when there is a shadow there...

[Psistorm]

you might want to increase shadow lightness, so you dont have the all-black shadows in your scene. makes things look more real :)

[tobes]

You might like to take the silly colourful pattern off the lampshade, it looks like it'd belong in a baby's room, not in an office (maybe you like that kinda crap?).

to me it looks like the lampshade has no texture, and you're expecting it to look like it's glowing. Make a texture so the lampshade looks like a woven material, give it a bump map, some colour, and muck around with some self illumination settings.

[d03boy]

I agree that the lampshade looks like it doesnt belong in an office while its lit up, but when its not lit up its really dark and it looks normal. I will try texturing it, or trying a different material.

[g69]

Originally posted by d03boy
I agree that the lampshade looks like it doesnt belong in an office while its lit up, but when its not lit up its really dark and it looks normal. I will try texturing it, or trying a different material.

did you try faking it by throwing in some more light?

[d03boy]

Not yet.

Working on some other stuff ATM.

[rmmt]

I followed the hints and tips that you people gave (except excluding the body from the light).

I have one problem though. As you can see in both pictures, the lamp shade has support and the shadow of this comes out on the shade. Also, the shadow of the lamp shade is too sharp - actually all shadows are too sharp. How do I make that less defined; more realistic?

[Stubby-]

Im looking forward to see the result, im fiddling the problem myself at the moment

[rmmt]

After about a week in the forums and searching for better renderers, I think the answer to the problem lies beyond max. It seems that to get more realistic shadows we will need a renderer like Brazil. More costs, again.

[fasth]

I followed the hints and tips that you people gave (except excluding the body from the light).

I have one problem though. As you can see in both pictures, the lamp shade has support and the shadow of this comes out on the shade. Also, the shadow of the lamp shade is too sharp - actually all shadows are too sharp. How do I make that less defined; more realistic?

One way of getting the shadows less sharp is using area shadows.
Also, you don't necessarily need a GI renderer.
try using more lights. Build your own GI.
Try setting up some lights along the lampshades outside, and 'round the support and stuff and see what that gives you. You can do quite a lot of changes with just the standard lights, you just have to think around a bit.
Also, there are a number of lighting tutorials out there that takes up the issue of faking GI.

In this tutorial
http://67.15.36.49/team/Tutorials/Jenns3pt_tut/3ptlighting.asp
(I didn't look farther than at 3dtotal.com) You see the use of the three point light setup, where one light makes the others shadows less visible and etc.

You could try this too:
http://67.15.36.49/ffa/tutorials/max/striplight/striplight.asp

...also, google is your friend :)

And perhaps I'm way off from what you need here, but... well... hehe, yup.

Edit: also, if you decide that you must use GI, either you can use the skylight+light tracer combination in max OR use vray free, which, ibviously, is free. I'd recommend you to try not using third party renderers though, it's more fun to try to do it yourself :)

Another thing, I created a videotutorial (very quickly done) some time ago (pretty long)
anyway, here¨s the link:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/6794189/
just press download to desktop there.
Try doing like that but instead of putting the helix so it covers your whole scene, put it all the way up the lamp and fiddle around a bit. :)
lighting can be fun! :)

[Henry_B]

ok, here is a tutorial of translucency.
i think this is what you are looking for, let me know if it helps

http://www.3d-resources.com/3d_studio_max_tutorials/using_translucency_in_3ds_max_tutorial.html

[Vinny74]

If you are then I'll let you know how I did it.
It took me ages to work out how to make it cast shadows if something is placed between the shade and the wall.

[rmmt]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm after! Please share it with us :)

[Vinny74]

The lamp shade uses the Architectural Paper - Translucent material as a base. The Glass Lume goes in the MR connection shadow slot (to let the shadows through correctly) and the Transmat Photon in the Photon slot (to let the right amount of G.I. light through).
A MR omni light is then placed in the middle using ray traced shadows.

Try playing with the Glass lume to get the required amount of shadow allowed through the shade.

Let me know if you would like the scene.

[cacapis]

Thanks a lot Vinny! Great help

[floordog]

I found a lamp they be exactly what your looking for. It produces in excess of 500 lumens, and you are allowed to use any color photo. Send them a digital image file, and they produce a large color laser transparency embedded in a screen. This is assembled with both opaque and clear polycarbonate screens for the transparency you want. They are the only product I know like what you describe. Also the images are inexpensive and can be easily changed for the lamp. The name of the company is Luvulamps.com TRy the name of the lamp on an English search engine for more info: "luvulamp".

[unolampshades]

for your lampshade problems, you may visit our site here @ http://unolampshades.com/. Feel free to ask some questions. Browse our collections of gorgeous lampshades. Hope I could see you there. :)