Lightworks Materials in ArchiCAD Renderings

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My name is Elizabeth Freeman, and I work for GSG Architecture in Casper, Wyoming. Our firm recently updated to ArchiCAD 9.0 and as the Interior Designer, I spend quite a lot of time on rendering areas of our models. I have found that ArchiCAD 9.0' Lightworks Rendering Engine is a VERY useful tool and I LOVE the results! I almost feel like throwing away all my sketch pens and markers!!

I have a question for the Lightworks experts out there: Do you know where I can get a more comprehensive guide on how to use Lightworks in my renderings? I would really like to know more about the materials classes and parameters and read definitions on what they do and how they will impact my resulting image.

I also have a question regarding the Archives. I have checked out the Lightworks website at http://www.lightworks-user.com/downloads.php and it was like Christmas with the amount of archives you can download!! However when I try to load some of them in my materials dialog by hitting the “Load Settings from Archive” button, they don't show up? For example, BenjaminMooreImpervex309ExteriorGloss.lwa appears empty

Do the archives in Lightworks contain more than just shaders? For example InteriorLightStudios.lwa and ObjectLightStudios.lwa appear empty, but the name indicates they may contain lights and objects.

I am also having problems with the appropriate method of generating overhead lighting? Please see the attachment. I find that my renderings look far more realistic when I don’t include a picture for a background, or when I leave the ceiling off. When I do use a ceiling, my renderings are flat, and dark? Is there some sort of scientific method to alleviate this problem? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks so much!!

[Dwight]

You'll be waiting for my next book "LightWorks In ArchiCAD."

Working on it now.

Just finished a series of interiors with the same ceiling problem. A problem faced by every photographer.

You'll want to use a window light aimed straight upward to illuminate your ceiling from about 6 feet - use mauve or bluegrey light. This is your savior in any shaded or dark situation - corners, too.

Think like a photographer.

Say hello to the ghost.

the .lwa not being shaders can't presently be employed in ArchiCAD.

you'll find a background photo works better when you map it as a material on a billboard as a "constant" emitter.

Call me at 604-266-7322 if you need to discuss this further.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Elizabeth wrote:
For example, BenjaminMooreImpervex309ExteriorGloss.lwa appears empty

Welcome, Elizabeth!

The BenjaminMoore LWA files will not work with AC 9. I have recently been in touch with GS support about these, and apparently in spite of being marked as "free", they contain certain information that requires a different license than is built into AC 9. The official term from LightWorks themselves to me and from GS is that AC 9 is not "LWA enabled" ... which in principal means we shouldn't be able to open LWA files. But, of course, we can open most of the architectural textures, metals, and more ...as well as the archives that AC 9 is delivered with.

Unless GS themselves post more information on this, I will keep the ac-talk community informed as I hear more information.

Just one quick tip on your image: the vertical woodgrain on the top arch of the window casing really stands out. As there isn't an easy way to get a satisfactory wood grain for an arch, you might use one of the LW shaders and set the turbulence up so that it just looks noisy and without noticeable grain lines.

Cheers,
Karl

[Dwight]

ArchiCAD has only licensed the "basic," "architectural" and "industrial" functionality - there might be others, but not all of the LWA categories.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your helpful hints! I have gone back through my model and revised accordingly. It is refreshing to get opinions other than my own!!

As for the lighting on my ceiling (or previously known as the ghost?) I have been working on getting a more accurate rendering! Thank you for the tip of the mauve and bluegrey light tones. I have to say my best rendering as of yet, includes both tones, in different lamps. I did find that if I stuck to one tone for everything, there would be too much color from the shadows.

I'm very interested in your new book Dwight! Do you have an expected completion date? Anything that can help me tackle the science of appropriate lighting applications excites me! Dwight, can you tell me if you will be covering lighting modules in your book? I would like to create such modules that contain typical lightning for interior shots, so that I can drop them into any project and adjust them to suit. Is this even feasible?

As for the scientific method of lighting, I am finding that it is a guess and check process. With the rendering that I'm working on, I have looked at it as a photographer might, and I'm curious how to avoid such dark shadows. Is there any way to decrease the shadow casting or lighten the shadows, without increasing the amount of lights in the drawing?? Or is there some sort of light ratio that one could use to get the appropriate amount of lighting in a particular scene?I have been directing lights to the ceiling, the floor, and dark corners as well as any other area I find too dark. I currently have approximately 15 lights, and I can't help but think it's a little bit excessive for such a small area.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing back from you!

[Dwight]

Think like a photographer would: Completely disregard the contribution actual architectural light sources make to the scene, except for their modeling shadows, and use the three light types - the key, the model and the fill. The window object light is the way to do the fill - specific to dark areas in the view. It tilts from straight down to straight up - an ideal source of soft light.

Architectural lighting is bad - this is why we have dark areas in a rendering where they don't appear in reality - the eye darts around a room scene in reality, making micro-changes in exposure to compensate so that our memory of the space is complete even if individual augenblicks aren't.

You might make a "module" to drop lights into a scene pre-positioned and set, but this isn't accurate, just a starting point. Probably worth dropping an uplight and some diagonal down-aimed windolites into a module. Any scene needs experimenting, as any photographer would do, moving the lights around to make shadows fall in the least detrimental places. Almost every room I "shoot" needs uplighting for the ceiling, for instance.

Think of what the photographer did on your last commercial shoot - how they altered the space to make it suitable for photos: Boosted ambient, filled shadows and diffused sunlight entering through the windows - illustrators must take the same approach.

Casper is the ghost. [haha.]

[Vitruvius]

I had a look at the LWA site posted by Elizabeth - wow! What a great resource.

I downloaded the Interior Light Studio - but there's nothing on how to use this???? Any tips or guidelines I could refer to?

And Dwight, when is your Lightworks rendering book planning to launch? I bought your previous book 'Rendering with ArchiCAD' and found it a great resource.

Cheers, Cameron

[Balazs Simonyi]

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=25086#25086
Sponsored by Dwight

[Anonymous]

Hello!

Well I'm at it again! I'm currently working on another rendering for a presentation. And my question this time is: is there a trick to re-sizing the archive materials?

For example, if I was to use a marble tile, and place it as the shader for my floor, it doesn't come in at scale. It is far too big, and it really can't be fudged!

Any help on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank You!

[Anonymous]

Elizabeth wrote:
Hello!

Well I'm at it again! I'm currently working on another rendering for a presentation. And my question this time is: is there a trick to re-sizing the archive materials?

For example, if I was to use a marble tile, and place it as the shader for my floor, it doesn't come in at scale. It is far too big, and it really can't be fudged!

Any help on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank You!

In the material settings dialog is a a place to define the size of the texture image. For example an image of 18 courses of bricks should be set to four feet high (assuming 6 courses in 16"). As I recall they default to 1 meter high.

Oops, I responded too quickly and didn't notice you were referring to the LightWorks engine.