Hello everyone,
I have downloaded the svn folder and upgraded to ver 15. I have made some progress on the first scene that I have undertaken. It is (sequence)1_03_01. Here is a jpg image of the original lighting situation and my version. The original rendered in 2:25 @ 720x405 9 passes; and my one in 3:55 @ the same settings. The only adjustments were to the lights themselves and the global ambient color. I also removed the fake rim-light materials. The main lighting was done with a dummy light model that is constrained to the boat with lights as action objects. I hope that I have made an improvement.

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I have a few questions about what would be the best way to replace the lighting in the original scene since it is mostly done in actions: first should I just the delete the action or just deactivate the action object light; and secondly, should I use light lists? I think it may decrease render times if the lights were excluded from the ocean model. I would also like to know why lighting in an action is preferable to just placing the lights in the choreography. It is not a problem to work this way, just curious.
There is still a bit of work to be done to match the animation and the change of mood when the ork approaches and the boat capsizes.

Javier

I think it's improved. In fact, you can now see Trots leg poking through her dress! Let me know when you're finished and I'll fix that.

Just a tip....keep an eye on the script to see if the scene is set at night.

You could just delete the action off the (in this case) boat model in the chor. Then drop your action on to it.
Will the sea still be lit if it's excluded? If so, then yes use a light list.
Lighting was put in an action many sets are set over multiple scenes. It's easy just to drop the action on the set. I don't know if it applies in this case though.
Animation work required? Noted.

Cheers.

Hi Ken,
Thank you for the tip about the script. I had not checked for details like that. Yes I noticed her legs too, but I thought I had not simulated the cloth, or something, before rendering. As for the actions that create the original lighting, there are a bunch of them and they are applied to several models in the scene. So it is not as simple as deleting the action associated with the boat. I only asked because I would hate to ruin some other effect just to relight the scene.
I would exclude the sea from the shadow-casting light and use another non-shadow light to illuminate it so it would look the same only render faster.
By animation, I meant changing the color and intensity of the lights to match the feeling of danger in the scene as well as alter the look when they go underwater. It seems like the ambient intensity is already animated to create this effect. I would just be syncing the lights to it.

Javier

Looks good so far.

I think it's an improvement too!


Unless you plan to re-light all 99 scenes in the movie, or at least check them all by rendering a few frames from each, please do not remove the fake rim-light material from any of the models. (If you want to check evey scene, then you can disregard this)

Instead, you can do one of two things if you really want to turn off the effects of the fake rim light:
Option 1: Use the "Turn_Off_Fake_Rimlight.act" action I just committed to svn. It is in the Data\Actions folder. When you drop a new Action on a model shortcut in the chor however, the previous action automatically changes from "Hold Last Frame - ON" to "Hold Last Frame - OFF", so before you add the new Action, check the previous action to see if its Hold Last Frame property is supposed to be ON or OFF. Then fix it if needed after you apply the new action. The models I found that have the Fake Rim Light material applied to them are: Pon, King Krewl, Grasshopper Bill, Witch, Trot, Scarecrow, Gloria. I just tested the action with all these models and it works. I did have to save and close/re-open A:M the first time I applied it in a chor for it to take effect. But after that, it worked without having to close A:M.

Option 2: Drill down in the model shortcut in the chor and turn the Gradient's "Edge Threshold" property to "0" in the material. See image:
Click to view attachment

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About why most of the general, overall lighting of the sets was done in an Action.
At the time it seemed like the best way to ensure consistency in a multi-year multi-person project where many shots use the same set. Like Ken said, you can just drop the lighting Action onto a set in a new chor and it will match the lighting in all other scenes that use that set. - I am beginning to think that doing the set lighting in a seperate Model, instead of in an Action, may be a better route. At least then you can see your changes immediately in the chor instead of having the press the [Space] bar and wait a minute or two for the Chor to update.

However, this particular set (the Whirlpool set) is only used in this one scene. So if you want to delete all the lighting actions and do all the lighting in the chor from scratch, that is fine. It will be MUCH easier!.
You have to be careful with some of the sets though, because they are used in many different scenes.
You can use light lists if you want to.
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The issue with Trot's skirt penetrating her leg is a little troubling. That was fixed when I rendered it the first time ... Oh well, that is just one of the many mysteries ...
Click to view attachment

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If for any reason, you want to see the animatics, which are broken down by shot (project number). Here you can see which sets belong to which project.
http://www.holmesbryant.com/files/video/sc...of_oz/animatic/

Here is the url for all the draft renders. These are broken down by Sequence, so you cannot tell which project number you are looking at, only the sequence number.
http://www.holmesbryant.com/files/video/scarecrow_of_oz/

I've replaced the old "SO_Lighting.pdf" file on svn with two new PDF files. Hopefully these will make it easier for you to tell which projects use which sets and which sets are used in more than one project. There are a few ... um ... anomalies ... but for the most part it should be pretty clear ...
Lighting breakdown by Set: http://project.hash.com/movie/so/active/da...ting_by_Set.pdf
Lighting breakdown by Shot: http://project.hash.com/movie/so/active/da...ing_by_Shot.pdf

Thank you for all the detailed info Holmes. I think that I will just leave the fake rim-light material as it was originally. These scenes are cumbersome already and I wouldn't want to be adding more layers of complexity without it being necessary.
The draft renders and animatics you made are also helpful, because they allow the context of the scenes to be seen more clearly. Thanks.
Currently I have made a model to control lighting. It is simply a series of nulls parented to one main bone. There are two nulls for each light; one as a 'translate to' target and one as an 'aim at' target. I then create a new action and place the lights as action objects. In this way the lights are easily repositioned without affecting the scene at all. Also the same model can be used to create many different lighting situations simply by changing the action. In practice it seems to work well, but I have a question: is there are way to make light lists from lights that are present in a chor only as action objects on a separate model? I can't seem to figure out how that is done or even if it is possible. Unfortunately I am still learning the ins and outs of this new incarnation of AM.
Thanks again.

Javier

I do not think it is possible to make light lists from lights in an action. I think I tried getting that to work once and, if I remember right, I might have actually done it, but it gave AM serious fits, so I had to start over. If you want to use light lists, add those particular lights directly to the Chor.

Nice work, Javier! Looks brighter. Well, I don't know how this would look like but I'd try to make the ocean lighter/darker as it approaches the horizon to give more depth.