Decent lighting set up to show of models
 

Hi,

I'm looking for a way to show of models on a turntable. I get the basic principles of 3 point lighting, different light settings, GI and FG, but all my efforts in rendering are awful. I've looked for tutorials without finding anything decent (basic FG, stick this HDRI image onto a half sphere, very basic 3 point set up) to move me further.

Can someone give me a quick rundown on a decent setup to show of a model on a turntable?Or point me towards some decent tutorials even. Got to get some lit quickly for uni.

(I gather that they mainly use FG and HDRI with additional lights, and I've been trying this with images I've downloaded, but the results are not good. My best results have been just with an area light as main, spot as back and spot or directional as fill.)

cheers

gubar

Have you tried adding a light card or two? :x

Do you mean a plane to show in reflections/bounce light? If so, no I haven't, though I should get the basics correct first.

gubar

If its just the models that you want to show off, detials etc, an ambient occlusion render's pretty good for that.

I would agree with Steve on this, for showing off details on a model then doing an ambient occlusion render in Mental Ray is ideal.

On the otherhand to show a fully rendered model with colour I would try:

HDRI Map
1x Directional Light (Main Light)
3x Ambient Lights (Fill Lights)

Then start to adjust the intensities, I would suggest 0.5 for the main and 0.2 for the fills. As I have recommended the use of a HDRI Image, and also render with MR and FG.

Cheer for the responses guys,

looking into ambient occlusion just now and will try that lighting set up.

Seems the best way is to use a surface shader with the ambient occlusion material, giving it a go if there's a different way/shader set up let me know.

cheers

gubar