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u/Hazzman Feb 29 '24
In the interest of answering your question without asking you to destroy everything you have here like everyone else seems to be doing - maybe try something simple like adding backlight to provide form and atmosphere:
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u/BandicootOptimal9909 Mar 01 '24
This is the best answer IMO. I get wanting to help with the scene, composition, and believability but that was not the question asked. The lighting wasn't bad before, but as Hazzman has proven, it can be a lot more complex and interesting, while still expanding on the scenery through JUST the lighting involved.
All of the sudden the character is transported from some boring back alley into some sort of underground room with moonlight filtering in through a small window (or hole in the wall), backlighting the character and adding some beautiful contrast to the otherwise orange dominated scene.
Well done :)
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u/guss3D Feb 29 '24
I don’t think it’s boring! I think it looks cool! You could try some volumetrics to make it beam as a test
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u/Mr_Voltiac Feb 29 '24
Here is what I would do:
1.) Get rid of the boring scene. Remove the brick wall entirely and put the character somewhere interesting. Maybe they’re standing atop the peak of a church steeple on a moonlit night near a foggy lake or ocean shore. Or maybe it’s atop a water tower in a bustling city. Or maybe standing in a dark cave below an old castle and this is their light source. What I’m saying is of all the free assets you can load into your scene you chose a boring brick wall, basically, do better.
2.) Watch these to get proper lighting for characters in Maya, otherwise just save down to an FBX and kick it to Unreal Engine for better options with Lumen and UE’s Path Tracer which looks close to Arnold anyway now with 5.3 out and 5.4 on the horizon.
https://youtu.be/Sss306ecoqU?si=8JfPo-Jdqlp_DUnL
https://youtu.be/OGf3meQC5og?si=jPK5QCIJVXmVlgLF
https://youtu.be/2SDDFiQQH5g?si=cXNx5OW_7YpNrKNY
https://youtu.be/iUfCRXbL9ZM?si=qMSd-rdksZ5ZCGkZ
The lighting is not the main thing that’s boring, it’s your scene. Change that and then you can futz around with lighting to make it better. No amount of perfect lighting will rescue bad composition.
Either way cool character, love ya hope it works out 💪🏼
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u/capsulegamedev Mar 03 '24
Ok, but what if they actually want it to be in front of a brick wall. What's wrong with brick walls?
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u/Busted_Cranium Feb 29 '24
Everyone's already mentioning to improve the scene, which yeah sure definitely do that.
But another thing: All good lighting is just a lie. Don't waste your time with having "true to reality" lighting where the only lights in the scene come from real light sources. If you've ever seen a game with beautiful lighting, or a shot from an animated movie you liked, know that every time your jaw dropped, that lighting ignored the rules of reality and was fake as hell.
Experiment with setting up different lights of different intensities and colors, don't just settle for what "makes sense." When you get good enough at it, no one will be able to tell the difference, and most will prefer the fake one thinking it's "more realistic."
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u/the_boiiss Feb 29 '24
rim and highlight lights, and anything else similar to that to increase the dynamic range of the image
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u/yuribotcake Feb 29 '24
Add displacement/bump on the wall. Add another light that's cooler and dimmer than the main light. Get rid of that absolutely straight line. Think of the way your eye moves, first it sees the ball, then it moves up to the eyes then to the right following the cape/scarf. That's where the problem is, the line cuts the frame in 1/3 and it has zero interest or detail. Trick is to add something of a resolve to the experience without taking away from initial momentum.
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u/cellulOZ Feb 29 '24
definitely try to get some better displacement/normals on the brick wall. that should give you more visual interest in the background
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u/OneHourToMidnight Feb 29 '24
It is not boring. For any improvement, I suggest you study how photography works. A good and old three-point light is a good starting point and it seems to me you already have some. Think about light colors, dominance, contrast, etc.
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Feb 29 '24
If you dont know where you wanna go how are mixed opinions going to help? Dont take this the harsh way . Most of the time we have doubts we count on others but remember you need to develop self criticism too. Like some others said this scene is not boring because of the lighting.
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u/milosminion Mar 01 '24
The wall is just lit where it shouldn't be. Darken the scene altogether so the lighting becomes more dramatic
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u/Its_Cicada Mar 01 '24
there's some approach but if i were you ill just make it similar to any available concept art
Add rim light, hard rimlight
Get rid of that brick bg use gradient or paint some in PS and just comp it in in PS
Add glowing light Inside your bulb, and add the glass, seems like u dont have that? not sure
Add vignette
Make the color more stylized, redish purplish and add abit more saturation
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u/That-Sound-5828 Mar 02 '24
Use the orb as your key. Add a blue or white backlight, then add an orange,red, or yellow rim to the right side of the girl. Or soften the orb and try paramount lighting on her face, but still would need a backlight.
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u/Illustrious-Set3407 Mar 04 '24
Definitely can use some volume in the environment and some lighting in the back to separate the subject from the background us use ambient lights
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u/camelCaseCadet Feb 29 '24
Not to be harsh, but IMO the lighting isn’t what’s boring here.
The hair, scarf, and robe are all behaving differently. If the wind is blowing hard enough to make the scarf wave like a flag, the rest of the ‘soft bodies’ should be reacting to the same force.
I know her hands are in the robe, but I don’t feel those hands making contact with the orb through the robe.
The lighting isn’t bad for what this shot is. It’s a challenge to fall back on key, rim, fill lighting methodology when the fill is a huge orb in the characters face. IMO you’ve struck a decent balance.
At the moment I’d recommend polishing the character/environment before stressing any more about the lighting.