Topic awaiting preservation: Comping Multi-Passes #3: Lighting (Page 1 of 1)

This time around, a mere 4 renders:
1. Alpha
2. Lighting pass #1
3. Lighting pass #2
4. Ambient with GI tossed in just for fun

Your job, should you choose to accept, is to composite it all together.

My personal challenge for this one is seperate controls for the lighting. Things like brightness, colouring, and other little things. All of those tweaks while keeping the lights seperate, yet mix well where they meet in the middle. Maybe even shadow tweaks that don't affect the opposite light too drastically.

Believe me, this is not easy.
I've been messing with this on-and-off all day and I have a buttload of notes.

Consider putting the lighting passes on top of the ambient GI render and setting both to Multiply. Well, that will work for one light, but the top layer will seriously mess up the other.

Comping one lighting pass with tweaks is easy - doing two is a whole new world of pain. What fun!

multi-pass 3

Cant say I liked this one as much as the last. Mo' channels is better

Awww, mannnn... some druids cleaned mine off. Or maybe it was the weather.



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Bleah...

You are right, Moaiz. Need more channels. Next one will have more. I promise.

Here is mine with tweakable coloured lights and everything. A bit harsh because I was a bit extreme with the tweaks. Now, it may look funky, but I've been up and down it and it's correct.



The challenge for me was that the lighting passes were just plain ol' grey. In the ambient/GI pass, there is some colour compliments of Simbiont. In a normal lighting pass, that kind of texture stuff is left in. For this, being that the lighting passes are grey, that means that the lighting pass is not only lighting, but a layer mask. Not exactly easy, but done with Blend If. Pretty much exactly like that D-Map masking thing I did when Blend If was brought up a some months ago.

When I get the gumption, I'll post the technique. Hopefully soon because a tweakable layer mask is a handy thing.

For the next one, I'm thinking caustics...

moaiz: great composite.
warjournal: could you add a zBuffer pass in Multi-Passes #4, thanks in advance.

Mathieu "POÏ" HENRI

[This message has been edited by poi (edited 01-01-2004).]

errr..., I've read a few tut's, read the help file, and apparently have become too stupid to understand.

When adding a mask it says to control click and drag the layer... but I dont understand what to select, where to drag it, or how to make it into a mask.

Whereas others get this...

I get...

Several tut's say masks are easy and powerful once mastered... Butttt, I am missing an obvious initial selection or menu command that apparently everyone else finds self evident .

Anyone have a "tutorial for goober" that covers the most basic setup of masks that they could share?
[edit]here's my latest attempt;

[/edit]
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Bleah...

[This message has been edited by UnknownComic (edited 01-01-2004).]

I dont know where a tutorial is on the web but personally, I dump each of the passes in the channels, name them so I know what each is. Then I load them up in layers to mask off what I want to reveal. With the channel loaded its layer>add layer mas>reveal or hide selection. Various blend modes should get you the effect you're looking for. Most of the basic concepts needed are covered under doc's hands-on tutes, then hit up gurus network for more.

UnknownComic: A really useful thing to know is that when you Alt click on the thumb of a mask in layers dock, you can edit it in B&W and do whatever you want and especially paste some B&W images

Mathieu "POÏ" HENRI

Ah HA! That's what I was looking for;
Select Mask, copy it to clipboard,
Alt Click the Mask Thumb...
paste...

Alt click...

Damn, where's my pen... I need to write this down.

[mutter] alt click, alt click... where the fuck can I write that down[/mutter]

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Bleah...

[This message has been edited by UnknownComic (edited 01-02-2004).]

Or you can just load your selection, and then paste into selection (Ctrl+Shift+V) and that will automatically create a mask for you.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

[Edit] Almost forgot the most important thing about this... Thanks guys! I appreciate the help.[/Edit]

Is that how you loaded the mask thumbs in your psd? I guess its a terminology thing. I was getting cught up by "loading your selection" type comments... Is that the same as select what you want to use [ie the black] as a mask, copy, then paste.

I can manipulate the layers and such... but the fact that I couldnt get the b+w image into the mask thumb was hanging me up. It was just one of those things that messed with my head...

I'll probably forget next week, but it is good to know for right now... LOL!

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Bleah...

[This message has been edited by UnknownComic (edited 01-02-2004).]

I na'so good at 'splainin...here is the psd of the last one,(8 meg zipped). cc_2.zip

If you flip over to the Channels palette, you'll see the channels in there. When I say "load a channel/selection" these are what I'm talking about.

Read up on Channels or Alpha Channels and all will become clear.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

UC, read through Back Doors written by our own Steve.

Here's the tweakable layer mask I mentioned:



Layer Set > Mode: Linear Dodge (add)
-- Ambient Pass, clipped to Lighting Pass
-- Curves to tweak the Lighting Pass, also clipped to Lighting Pass
- Lighting Pass, the bottom of the Layer Set
Layer 3, just a layer filled with black for Linear Dodge to add to.

Double click Ambient Pass to bring up the Advanced Blending Mode thing. Go to Blend If > Underlying Layer. Hold alt to split the slider on the left and bring it all the way to the right. So, anything black underneath this layer will show through, and shades of grey will fade appropriately.

Feel free to toss in a Channel Mixer, HSB, or something to colourize the light if you feel the need.

This past weekend I've been reading like a maniac about certain things. Once I get a few more things figured out, the next compositing challenge should be up to par with some of Pixar's tricks. Good stuff.

Just to help clarify on the terminology issue -

"load the selection" is the same as "select what you want" except that "load the selection..." is more encompassing, as it can be done several ways, and is more correct, as "select what you want" is kind of vague and could mean a variety of things unrelated to the type of selection we are talking about here.

ctrl+clicking on a layer will select that layer's transparncey.

ctrl+clicking on a channel will load that channel as a selection.

Once you have the selection active, you can click the little button at the bottom of the Layers pallette to add the selection as a layer mask to any layer.

And I will also very highly recommend the 'back doors' tutorial by Steve - top notch stuff.

Thanks again for the info... this is all very good...

Pixar stuff?

That should be cool.

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Is This Thing On?

Bleah...