Question

Hello
I want to create a nice 3D scene to show some 3D models.
How I should manage the lighting to made models appear quite 3D!
Some thing like Solidworks!
How many light source I need? Directional or position? Where? What kind of material for bodies?

Answer 1

I do this kind of stuff for fun, so here’s what I can say about the different types of lighting techniques:

1. Directional lights act like the sun; their rays are parallel, so they might look strange when in the wrong context.

2. Point lights are (obviously) points. They have no shape, and just emit rays out of a single point in space. They are invisible, but don’t give realistic results (as point lights don’t exist in nature).

3. Area lights are flat objects which emit light, like those umbrella things they use in photography studios. They are visible if they are in the camera’s view, and they create quite realistic results. Usually they’re squares or rectangles, but circles work too.

4. Mesh lights are actual 3D objects which are used as lights. These are the most realistic, but the hardest to compute and render. They look not too much different from area lights, but are useful in some situations (like making a glowing lightbulb).

I do this sort of stuff (as my username suggests), so here are a few tutorials on how to do lighting in a studio fashion:

• Studio Lighting Tutorial: http://www.yafaray.org/documentation/tutorials/studiolighting

• Examples of Different Types of Lights: http://www.yafaray.org/documentation/userguide/objects#Lights

• Creating Nice Materials: http://www.yafaray.org/documentation/userguide/material
• Tons of Other Tutorials: http://www.yafaray.org/documentation/userguide/

If you want the best results, ditch OpenGL and get an unbiased rendering engine, like the free LuxRender.

And for a good 3D modelling program (to import your 3D scene to render), try the free program Blender. It’s my favorite 😉