Using Pushee-Ri's lighting scenes

Some users have asked me if I really use the Iray Lighting Scenes that come with my projects to create the promotional images.

Yes, I have!

Below I will explain how I proceed after completing a scene to get acceptable lighting. The image on the left shows screenshots of the most important settings.

The first thing I do is turn off the "Move Light" (see below). Then I turn the different spotlights on and off and test combinations (2 on, 2 off etc). You can switch the spotlights on and off using the eye icon in the "Scene" pane.

If the lighting still doesn't satisfy me, I turn on the "Move Light." This is a light emitting sphere that I push through the scene. Sometimes this results in very dramatic lighting.... and sometimes it just adds to the plastic look of older 3D models. Create light emitting Iray objects ↗️

If I still don't like the lighting - with or without "Move Light" - I try to change the intensity of the individual spotlights. To do this, I select the spotlight in the "Scene" pane, switch to the "Parameters" pane and experiment with the ➔ "Light" settings "Luminous Flux", "Intensity" and "Beam Exponent" of the selected spotlight.

When I finally like the lighting, I experiment with the "Tonemapper Options" in the "Render Settings" pane to possibly get a few more improvements. Most often I work with the settings of "Crush Blacks", "Burn Highlights" and "Vignetting".

As you can see, I don't use fixed settings but test and experiment until the lighting fits the scene and my expectations. This is much more exciting and interesting than just using things / settings as they are. Give it a try!