The Light Is Important

Electro-Elvis

I have made a little demonstration. It shall prove, that everybody can use only a few Bryce objects in a very simple scene and get quiet good looking results, if only he chooses the lighting carefully.

All the objects, textures and lights are out fo the box from Bryce 7.1. Pro. No modifications are made. (Except the wall which uses a texture I made by myself). The only impressiv difference between the both scenes is the lighting.

The 1. scene uses the Bryce sun, in the way a Bryce novice probably would illuminate the scene. It does not look very convincing, at least not like an indoor scene.

The 2. scene uses no Bryce sun at all, but two additional light sources. A sphere fill light and a parallel light with a gel. With just this simple change you get a far more interesting and a more realistic picture. ;-)

David Brinnen

The results are indeed impressive. Out of curiosity, how do the render times compare?

Horo

@electro-elvis - exactly. A crappy scene nicely lit is better than a great scene crappy lit. Your example shows this very nicely.

Electro-Elvis

David Brinnen said:

The results are indeed impressive. Out of curiosity, how do the render times compare?

I must admit, they are quiet different: The first scene with the Bryce sun needed only 15 seconds. The second scene with the fill and the parallel light about 35 minutes plus the same time for the anti-aliasing once more. That's the price you pay, I guess.

Rashad Carter

Great example, Elvis! Lighting is always the most important consideration. But often, we are in far too big of a hurry and just want the render to finish so we can move on to the next project. All I do is think about lighting. I agree with your observations so far.