Week 3

In this week we learnt about the different types of materials that can be put on objects to make them appear more lifelike. They simply define an objects look, color, texture, glow, transparency etc.

We learned that the primary driving force for materials is color, however there are several ways to describe the color of a material; the three main forces are ambient, diffuse and specular.

To simply explain this; Ambient color is the color of a material when it is exposed to ambient light; it will appear this color in indirect light or shadows. Diffuse is the color of a material when the object is exposed to direct light and specular color is the color of a shiny objects highlight.

As you can see from the explanations above, materials are reliant of lighting and lighting in 3ds max is one of its most important aspects. Light is everything! By light we see and by light we show. Light shapes the world around us, and defines shape, color and texture.

Lighting in 3ds max copies techniques used in photography and film making. Lights are placed around a scene to illuminate. Your scene and what’s in it dictate to some degree at least, which lights to put where. At a basic level you want your lights to illuminate your scene. Without lights your cameras have nothing to capture. Lighting is the backbone of CG; it’s how you light your scene that will make or break it. Lighting requires a lot of experimentation and patience.

Things can go wrong if there is too much light in your scene or if you do not have enough. This was the main problem I was having when I started experimenting with light. Putting to much light in your scene will flatten your image and lose details in form, while too little light will make it go muddy and gray and lifeless. A perfect balance must be found, like a photographer you want your image to have the best exposure, the richest blacks and the brightest whites, to create a deeper sense of detail. The light and shadow should complement each other and the lighting works to show off the features of the objects in your scene.