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- Like David and others, I have also enjoyed the thread on lighting and would
- like to see more discussion. For those of you working on your lighting: when
- was the last time you tried your hand at a B&W scene in Lightwave? I had a
- real epiphany with my lighting when a client requested a series of B&W
- animations, a task made simple by LW's camera panel. When I had nothing but
- grayscale to work with, I found I could really concentrate on the play of
- light and shadow. I believe my color work has improved because of what I
- learned during that project.
-
- On a related note, if you're seeking film lighting references, check out the
- work of the German Expressionists and their imitators, or any of the great
- noir titles. I've particularly learned a lot from the lower budget noirs,
- because their production limits were often similar to the limits we face in
- Layout. As two examples, anything directed by Edgar Ulmer or produced by Val
- Lewton will be useful *and* entertaining.
-
- One thing I find myself using a lot in LW is a spotlight with an extremely
- wide cone angle, with the cone edge angle set to the same value. Set the
- intensity fall-off of the light to some non-zero value (depending on your
- scene). This gives a nice approximation of, and can be used much like, a
- Softlight. (In fact, most of the lights in my scenes are spotlights, because
- of the increased control you have over these.)
-
- Arn
- AMcCon@aol.com
-
-