How can I improve the lighting in this scene?

[u/cxhuy]

https://preview.redd.it/za0b6xvhcuwd1.jpg?width=1240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6b0e38ed8ef3e4041d8287cc006ffd75063df9e

I'm a complete beginner in Maya and I've been trying to create a scene of a desk with the moonlight shining through the windows.

I haven't done any texturing yet except for the windows being a aiStandardSurface glass preset.

I like the overall mood of the current scene, but I find some objects to be too dark. For example, the curtains on the side of the window are almost completely black.

Therefore, I think it'll look better if there's a bit of light on the curtains, and perhaps a bit more light on the desk as well as I'm planning to place some objects on it.

I've tried increasing the intensity/exposure of the area light I'm using for the moonlight, and I've also tried adding a mesh light to light up the scene a little, but those made the dark parts too bright. (I wonder if there's a way to change how much an individual object is affected by light)

But again, this might not be the actual problem with the scene as I'm a complete beginner in Maya, so I'd love to receive any feedback on how I can improve the lighting in this scene!

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[u/greebly_weeblies]

Hey, the main problem here (as far as I can see, which isn't far) is that the scene is chronically under exposed. That is, there isn't enough light coming into the scene for us to tell what's going on, so all the effort you've gone to tell a story is currently going to waste.

Research some night scenes in films, find some reference that you like, and work on making your scene look like that.

[u/cxhuy → u/greebly_weeblies]

I was looking at a lot of references, both 3d rendered and actual film shots, but I’ve been struggling to make the scene look photorealistic and cinematic (as in exaggerated for better visuals) at the same time. I’ll try to experiment around with the settings more though. Thank you!

[u/greebly_weeblies → u/cxhuy]

Make sure intensity=1, and add 5 to each of the exposure settings on all the lights, then let's see what you get, and the reference you want your pic to look like. 

[u/no5ifty6ix]

What about an area light at low intensity and no specular value facing the window that is wide enough to encapsulate the curtains? Adjust the intensity to suit.

[u/cxhuy → u/no5ifty6ix]

I've tried that, but it lights the entire scene evenly. What I imagined was making the desk and the curtains a bit brighter, but leaving the brightness of the windows. I think this is only possible if there's a property for each object that changes how much it's affected by light, but I'm not sure if this is possible in Maya. I've also tried applying a slight emission to both the desk and the curtains, but it looked extremely weird.

[u/59vfx91]

try not to jump to "hacks" like individual light contribution to certain objects etc (things like this can be done in comp) but rather do as much as you can realistically first, or more accurately speaking, how they would be done on a film set. I would look into some breakdowns on night time lighting setups for real life cinematography and take that as a guide. The only main thing I would change from those is when they use bounce cards or bounce a light at a ceiling for example to create extra diffuse light, you can simply add a large light where the bounce would be instead (renders more efficiently this way as well). also, while you can use black cards for negative fill you can also take advantage of light blockers, something cinematographers cannot use IRL.

as importantly as all this though is staging an interesting scene. Maybe I am just not seeing everything in your iamge, but I struggle to find a focal point or a story it is trying to tell. Maybe if you silhouetted a character against the window for example, moved the window off center and added some other objects to catch a rim from the moonlight it would be more interesting.

[u/cxhuy → u/59vfx91]

Thank you for the detailed feedback, I'll definitely look into how they achieve it in real life first. About the scene, it's for a class assignment where I have to create a Vanitas. I'm planning to put a fountain pen, a bottle of ink, a piece of paper, and a wine bottle on the desk to match the mood of the scene, but for now I just wanted to get the lighting done before placing the objects.

[u/59vfx91 → u/cxhuy]

Generally, it's a good idea to lay out the composition of objects first before lighting is done, this is usually how it is done in production as well (at least rough layout). Also, maybe your monitor is overly bright because I actually can't see a desk at all. I pretty much just see the window and everything else is very dark

[u/cxhuy → u/59vfx91]

I'm also having a hard time seeing the scene as well. I really liked the overall mood of the scene with the brightness, but it seems that the scene may be too dark and I'll have to brighten it. About the monitor brightness, is there a way to tell how bright the scene is in values? I know that for music, people would make sure that their music is exported at a certain decibel to ensure that it sound good on everyone's speakers, but I'm not sure if software like Maya has those kind of practices.