This might help ..... Go on and try some.

[LordLouis]

showing some good spirit, sigh.
I think I'm going to start with the digital stuff now, I cannot hide forever
/and yeah I know about the ring, but the top was swallowed by my scanner, i swear.

[ChristerMLB]

Tried out some. The twelve-sided one was really hard.

[LordLouis]

digital painting is still driving me nuts.

[ChristerMLB]

I think they look good. Did you sketch up guides on a layer below?

[LordLouis]

Nah, I didn't.
I just watch ctrl+paint alot

[mEgA fLeeCe RaIn]

These are interesting studies lightship, in your 4th image on the 1st page the cast shadow on the vertical standing cylinder doesn't line up with the core shadow. The cast shadow has to start where the core shadow hits the floor. You show good improvement with the basic forms on the red and green background, they have nice reflected light thats for sure.

I almost forgot to mention that Scott Robertsons DVD on matte surface shading is really good for rendering basic planar and round geo forms, in fact I bought all 3 of his matte sureface shading DVD's, he explains things very, very well and he's very helpful with demonstrating everything.

[Lightship69]

Hi there and thanks for the input, I hadnt noticed that, and to be honest I still cant see it. This could be down to the beer consumed recently so I will look again with a clear head later.

The point you may have missed however is that the shapes are for people to try and draw with a pencil and paper, when you understand these lights and shadows and indeed the the way the light strikes an object and the shading of these basic forms it helps you with the more complex things you do later on mate.

So if you are a whizz at this 3D lark then please feel free to add the best ones you can do and help folks alond with the fundamentals.

thanks for posting and all the best

[albino-Z]

Excellent thread. Just looking at those bounce lights gets me in the mood for rendering practice.

[Saramel]

Thanks guys, these are great for practice!!

[Lightship69]

Nice start Saramel, keep them coming they help they really do!

And good work everyone, keep em coming, please feel free to post better reference ones if you find them or can render them, these will stand us all in good stead however many or few that we do.

all the best and keep posting

[dmal]

Hey folks,
I have rendered all trying to use a set value scale.
with using 1 specific shade for each area.

what do I need to work on?

[Fullmetal-Animator]

Just got a wacom tablet for christmas so I might give painting some of these a shot. Awesome stuff for lighting practice.

[Madame360]

wow thanks this is really really helpful

[Mr. Corlan]

Here's a few photos of mine, maybe someone will find them useful.

[Lightship69]

Hi Guys

I would like to say another big thank you to all who have added to this resource and I hope that many of you are using them.

If any more of you have photos like those brilliant ones that Mr. Corlan put up then please feel free to add them to the thread they will be gratefully accepted and used by many. Then you can bask in that warm glow of knowing you helped your fellows on the road to greatness.

all the very best to all of you, and here are a few more interesting shapes and shadows to play with.

[Fullmetal-Animator]

Awesome studies, lightship. Very informative.

I'm wondering what kind of render settings you used in 3ds Max (It looks like that program). I'd like to create some test renders using reflected light of my own, particuarly with the colour ones posted by thegiffman if he'd be so kind as to share as well.

[Lightship69]

Hi there Fullmetal, nice of you to comment matey.

The program I'm using for these isnt anything as expensive and flashy as 3d studio max, I cant afford that I have another expensive hobby to pay for!! (Kids)

I am using Bryce 5 at the moment and its joyously simple to use and setup, but the interface is a little quircky and weird for some tastes. If you send a private message to Giffman I am sure he will tell you everything you need to know.

As for the Bryce stuff in simple terms I just played around with the surface on the last lot to get both reflections and shadows, then played with the light sources and light colour and just kept adjusting until I got to a point where it was near to what I was working for. I am sorry this isnt really as helpful as you were hoping for but if you look in the forum list there is a section on 3D so have a poke around in there and I am sure you will find loads of help.

Thanks again for the comment and all the best with your art mate, and if you get some stuff you like then post it in here and we can all have a go at drawing them.

[Fullmetal-Animator]

Thanks for replying. If I have anything to contribute then I'll be sure to do so.

And a word on 3ds Max, you can easily download the software for free on the autodesk education community. Full version of the software is available to students (or anybody else for that matter) and the UI is easy to learn and use. Even if you aren't a student you can easily put down a former college or university when setting up an account so you can download it free either way, but nobody does that *honest*.

But yeah, 3ds and Maya are commonly used in the industry for modeling and animating, at least here in Ireland, and they're worth having since you can get them without spending a penny nowadays. I guess Autodesk are handing it out like this because the only ones that would get the most out of a paid license are studios.

And a link: http://students.autodesk.com/

[Fullmetal-Animator]

This might not be a hell of a lot to contribute, but on 3ds Max I've been playing around with some render settings for glass orbs.

They're set up with standard three point lighting but the results seem to work. So if anyone wants to paint in photoshop with these or crit them in terms of lighting and whether or not they're 'convincing' feel free to do so.

[Lightship69]

Hi matey

Its worth a go!! I reckon that could be quite interesting to attempt, go on you first though!!

all the best and thanks for trying mate

[sktch]

Nice thread!

I have questions for those who are very familiar with this topic. Is the reflected light always present? Are there circumstances in real life where this reflected light is not visible like the 3D examples in the original post?

[Artimatum]

My attempts..

[Fullmetal-Animator]

Nice thread!

I have questions for those who are very familiar with this topic. Is the reflected light always present? Are there circumstances in real life where this reflected light is not visible like the 3D examples in the original post?

I'm no science expert, but light does tend to bounce on surfaces in real life all the time. One assumption that can be made is that the stronger the light source, then the more evident the light's reflection on surfaces is going to be which will consequently effect how strong shadows appear.

Though that may also depend on how many light sources (diffused lights especially) there are since chiaroscuro style painting and lighting tend to use very strong light and very deep blacks with little reflections and rebounds evident (just look at Caravaggio’s paintings and Clint Eastwood’s films such as Letters From Iwo Jima). Colour may also be a factor on how much light is reflected since dark surfaces tend to absorb light and heat while brighter ones do the opposite.

I guess the short version to my answer would be; it depends on how many surfaces the light is going to bounce off of. Then again, it could be a lot more complicated then I made it sound.

[artenemy]

This thread is awesome!Thank you so much for starting it - I am just copying on color paper with black and white grey scale images of the simple shapes before I start into color - and there are few questions I wonder if somebody could answer to - it would be very helpful!
So...when we have a sphere everything is fine,but then - when we go to the pill shape ( I have no idea what would be the real name of this shape) or the doughnut I have troubles with the top light - it looks to me like there is a lighter border just next to the background - is this an illusion?Also I just want to confirm - is the occlusion shadow just a hint?If we have to gradually distinguish the values - the terminator would be darkest,then the occlusion,then the halftone?Would the halftone spread in same value on both sides of the terminator?

[artenemy]

So...just to show that I am actually really working things from this thread
photoshop

[Lightship69]

Yes mate the torus is a pig to do sometimes but just observe it and carefully put down on paper what you see, that's one of my problems i tend to put down what I want to see or what I think I see and that's when it goes wrong...................

i am glad you like the thread and are getting something good from it, that's why I started it and also why they stickied it, which I still get a warm rosey glow from ...LOL.

all the best and keep posting your questions, there is always someone around who will take a stab at answering them.

[nodeerskulls]

my god this thread is grand
i've just been spamming your posts here with thanks as much as i could xD

worked on these all morning
they're my pride and joy, especially that multi-faceted thingie (which i figured out how to draw technically with less effort) and the toruses/torii (sp?)

they're newbie as fuck, but
i be damned if i don't love them just because i put so much work in them xD

[heavenwill]

Useful one, i'll use some of that !

[leRuben]

Great thread! Here are some of my workout-objects as a small contribution - might be of use for some of you.

[Lightship69]

Hey thanks man and to everyone who adds to the thread, its all good and it all helps to do these from time toi time.

have a go all of you and get posting.