XOP15 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hello Team, Does anyone have any tips for lightbulbs and rendering them ? I am trying to achieve the glass bulb effect shown in the attachment, my previous attempts just look like globes or spheres, any tips gratefully received Dave. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted July 31, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted July 31, 2017 If you're going to get THAT close, regular glass reflectivity and transparency for the bulb, with a glow texture applied to the separate filament geometry inside. No backlit effect on the bulb glass if you want it to remain transparent as it is in this image. In the Indirect Lighting options for the glass texture, make sure to enable Portals so that it properly calculates light passing through the bulb surface. Indirect Lighting will need to be enabled in your renderworks mode in order to see the glow texture properly. 1 Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I'd try and Image prop with a few small line lights. 1 Quote Link to comment
AlanW Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 (edited) There is a video in VW that I saw with just this item and also a coiled cable in a corner of an old room, will look or maybe Louis will recall it. Will look around. Edited August 1, 2017 by Alan Woodwell 1 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Wasn't there something like a coiled row of balloons to in the VSS video section ? 1 Quote Link to comment
JBenghiat Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Have you looked at Building Services/Realistic lamps? That might not be as decorative as you would like, but could be a start. If you're refining a reflexive texture, having an environment to reflect and a specular light source can make all the difference. -Josh 1 Quote Link to comment
EAlexander Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 (edited) I just took this on last week, but in Cinema 4D with Corona renderer, not Vectorworks. Make sure you are working with real world scale. Make sure your glass envelope has the correct thickness. So much of this is in the lighting - it's all about the lighting! There are what looks like three soft boxes lighting your example - warm light from the left and right and a cool top light. You can see it in the reflections. Probably need to get the glow on the filament working well in post via aftereffects or photoshop. I used a luminous texture in Corona with Bloom and Glare effects turned on in the camera. Attaching my attempt. Good luck - it would be a tricky thing to get right in renderworks. Edison Bulb model by Fabiovalle3D via Turbosquid. Edited August 3, 2017 by EAlexander 3 Quote Link to comment
mjm Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 EA: So many helpful tips in your post above, thanks. It IS all in the lighting! Quote Link to comment
XOP15 Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 Hi Guys, Thanks so much for all your posts and tips, this has really helped me, Some of the tip produces great results but render time is huge, I'm still tinkering to find a happy balance....... My project has 22 hanging light bulbs so render time is important, hopefully i'll be able to post my final result here soon, Thanks once again Dave Quote Link to comment
scottmoore Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 If you are doing that many, clearly the lamps are going to be fairly small and if render times are important, then I would use an image prop. I've done this a few times and it works. It's not nearly as elegant as some of the above suggestions but you can get the point across. Perhaps a little post work to tart it up. These are trade-offs, but that is what I would suggest. Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 (edited) This is where "Lens Effects" in C4D could be used. They're sort of like image props for lights. (I'm sort of surprised this hasn't been wish listed. It would be useful for many visualization needs in VW.) KM Edited August 5, 2017 by Kevin McAllister Quote Link to comment
mjm Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 20 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said: This is where "Lens Effects" in C4D could be used. They're sort of like image props for lights. (I'm sort of surprised this hasn't been wish listed. It would be useful for many visualization needs in VW.) KM OMG!! I'm ready for that in VW NOW! Quote Link to comment
Markvl Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Any results @XOP15to share? Quote Link to comment
XOP15 Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 I wish there were results to share, Bulb has been sidelined as the project changed, will still try to model it though for my own findings & learning Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted October 3, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2017 Wanted to see how close I could get to that render from scratch in a blank doc in 20 minutes, the answer was this, lol: But i'll take it all the way through tomorrow most likely and add the filament, glow, cabling and a real environment as opposed to this quick studio-ish background reflectivity and share the image and file I end up with. 2 Quote Link to comment
XOP15 Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 HI Jim, Thats not bad for 20 Mins, I would think it would take me about 20 hours just to get to that stage ! I look forward to seeing your finished render, was all this done in VW ? Thanks Dave. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted October 3, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2017 Yup this is raw VW, an eyeballed sweep for the body of the socket off of your image, i didn't try to trace or anything just slapped the shape together. A few extrudes and tapers added for the knob and knurled collar of the socket, the knurling i got with a quick displacement mapped texture, i COULD have done it with Surface Array for more precision but that would have taken me much longer. Then a render style with a studio light background and a refractive glass transparency and glass reflectivity for the bulb. Attaching the WIP (Don't judge my madness too harshly!) but I absolutely botched the bulb shape with a misplaced Deform of a shell object. I'll redo that part from scratch, Im sure I can match the bulb shape perfectly including the little nub at the end with some more effort. For the filament i plan to use a NURBS curve derived from some duplicated 3D loci to get that 3D zigzag pattern, then a super thin extrude along those curves to get the filament and we'll see how the light from making that glow plays against the shelled glass bulb, which is the part i'm really interested to try. For the cable, probably a new Cloth shader type on top of an extrude along path/helix spiral combo. Edison_Bulb_-_WIP1.vwx Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Popular Post PVA - Admin Posted October 4, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2017 Glow on the filament didn't turn out too shabby! Spent maybe another 30-40 minutes poking and prodding, honestly the bulb body took me the longest because I wasn't (and still am not) happy with the little nub on the end. The final render once tweaked was only a few minutes but I didn't keep close track of the render time. Nothing crazy though, under 3 mins I think: Just had to amp the filament light appearance up a smidge with a Renderworks camera set to add Bloom and a bit of Exposure to the viewport. The geometry of the filament could easily do with a little more fleshing out, adding the supporting thin glass rods and non-glowing wire but I mostly just slapped the filament itself together as a proof of concept. The cable was a simple Model > 3Dpowerpack > Helix Spiral that I duplicated with the rotate tool to give it a twin. More could be done here adding a few shadowless caustics-only light objects to get some caustic effect, more detailed background, or a few decals to get the sort of smudging you see in the original, but for now it's bedtime. File attached for dissection, please feel free to use any and all parts of it for your own work. Edison_Bulb.vwx 6 Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Kesoon Chance Posted October 4, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 4, 2017 Brilliant Jim! Quote Link to comment
markdd Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 This is great. I like the Burr texture most of all! Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 (edited) A great challenge and here's my attempt! Didn't take long to model but honesty you could take all week tweaking the rendering. I spent about 90 minutes on this not including rendering time. The final render at 300dpi on a sheet layer takes 10 mins. Somehow Jim's is livelier.. Cheers, Peter Edited October 5, 2017 by Peter Neufeld Couldn't help myself post a better image. Rendering does that to you. 3 Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 6, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 6, 2017 Wow. Impressive. And great timing too as I am designing a restaurant right now where I will be using bulbs like this. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted October 6, 2017 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 6, 2017 On 10/5/2017 at 3:00 AM, Peter Neufeld said: Somehow Jim's is livelier.. That might just be my addition of a Glow effect via the Renderworks Camera. It makes the reflections shining off the glass and the glow of the filament "pop" a little bit more. In scenes with white surfaces, polished surfaces, or anywhere light glints off a reflective surface it seems to add quite a bit of character without adding a lot of render time. You're looks a little more authentic/period than mine however, I like it! Quote Link to comment
XOP15 Posted October 6, 2017 Author Share Posted October 6, 2017 Hey Jim, Looks brilliant, really really smart....... I love the filament glow too, thanks for the post of your file too, I'll have a good look through it Cheers Dave. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.