What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

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maeglin1
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What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:47 am

Can anyone advise me on what camera film to use while rendering. I just want a generic answer. Thanks.

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Polinalkrimizei
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Polinalkrimizei » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:46 am

Hi maeglin1, and welcome to the forums :-)

As you might guess there is no "general" response function for all purposes, it really depends on the look you want to archieve. As in reality, the different "films" affect colour, brightness, contrast...
I find myself using the agfacolor-vista-200CD a lot for neutral, but not boring look.

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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Zom-B » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:05 am

I use "agfapan-apx-400CD" most of the time, it is also quite "boring" but has a little more contrast then linear and has perfect whites using Whitepoint E!

Your Question would fit very good in the Help subforum, no idea why you put it here btw....
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Oscar J
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Oscar J » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:12 am

I like using the agfapan-apx-100CD - it gives you a very neutral image, which gives you a lot of freedom to spice up the images in PS afterwards.

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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:15 pm

Thanks for your advice. I really like the Indigo system of following camera methods. It makes sense.
I like this image by Sarah Dorweilier. I tried writing to her for advice.... but her site is in German. Hence no response. What camera film will mimic this?
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Sarah Dorweiler 1.jpg

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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:21 pm

Zom-B wrote:I use "agfapan-apx-400CD" most of the time, it is also quite "boring" but has a little more contrast then linear and has perfect whites using Whitepoint E!

Your Question would fit very good in the Help subforum, no idea why you put it here btw....
Wow. I love your portfolio. All the images are great but what I like most is the: Hettich Küchen Messevideo
picture (the black kitchen drawing). How is this achieved? I have not even tried rendering yet. I am reading all literature first and help videos and trying to understand it intellectually first. I have given myself 3 months to make a great portfolio of a new website.

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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Zom-B » Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:15 am

Hey mate, thanks for the kind words.

The Project you relate to is quite old, actually 4,5 years ^^

It is rendered in C4D using Ambient Occlusion instead of lights for a uniform lightning and fast render times.
I did a lot way better animations since then, but am not allowed to show them on my website :/

If you aim to start 3D and have a portfolio after 3 months then you have a really hard time in front of you mate!
Most of us are doing that stuff for years and are still getting better and better by each project, learning new stuff...
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Jeff Hammond » Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:38 pm

i usually use portra 160NC.. punchy with minimal post work.. (plus that's what i shoot in my cameras (or 400))

here's one that's rendering right now with portra.. i'll do some white balance fine tuning tomorrow once it finishes but you get the idea:

Image

i also save a reinhard version as it seems flattest with most info to work with if you're going to go hard in post (maybe most like a RAW file).. but 4-5 times i'll end up using the portra version with some slight curves adjustments.

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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:00 pm

Thanks Jeff,

Great image....thanks for sharing it.... I look at things as a painter....

The structure seems heavy....I would put more shadow on the bottom part to give a feeling of weight.
My background is Fine Art painting so I think in terms of anchoring things down so they don't look static or seem to float.

I noticed everyone uses different film. This is good in my eyes because it shows individuality. Everyone sees the world in a different way. I like imperfections cos the world is full of imperfections. But the eye tries to balance everything and make it right. An interior design tip is: Create symmetry and then gently break it.
Your pillar are making you look hard in the centre. I would break that illusion by having only two lights on the left ceiling and shadow on the right.... or the other way round. This would gently break the symmetry and give more depth to the picture.

I would also put some red and yellow in the whites to harmonize the whole image.

This is my opinion....and I have alot to learn myself about this software. I am a beginner.

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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:26 pm

Jeff Hammond wrote:i usually use portra 160NC.. punchy with minimal post work.. (plus that's what i shoot in my cameras (or 400))

here's one that's rendering right now with portra.. i'll do some white balance fine tuning tomorrow once it finishes but you get the idea:

Image

i also save a reinhard version as it seems flattest with most info to work with if you're going to go hard in post (maybe most like a RAW file).. but 4-5 times i'll end up using the portra version with some slight curves adjustments.
I tried your setting Portra 160NC. Work pretty good.
Your "image" reminds me of the boat inside the Cairo museum.

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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Jeff Hammond » Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:50 pm

fwiw, my 'product' isn't renderings or graphics or whatever.. i'm a design&build carpenter doing skate(board)able structures..

this image is 1 of 6 being used in a presentation pdf and it does get cropped in some.. I'm using rounded rectangle borders and the ratio is more square than the rendering so only a small slice of the pillars will show and the light recesses aren't in it either.. but i can't just move the pillars&lights etc around as they're really there (this is a real house drawn at true measurements).. this structure in particular has to fit in this portion of the house but it will only be there for ~8months then it moves to it's actual space.

i don't know.. i'm not saying having great images isn't important to the overall presentation package but maybe if you saw the whole deal and knew what the project was all about, you'd see that whether or not optimal shadowing has been used in one of the pictures falls pretty low on the priority list.

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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:53 pm

Jeff Hammond wrote:fwiw, my 'product' isn't renderings or graphics or whatever.. i'm a design&build carpenter doing skate(board)able structures..

this image is 1 of 6 being used in a presentation pdf and it does get cropped in some.. I'm using rounded rectangle borders and the ratio is more square than the rendering so only a small slice of the pillars will show and the light recesses aren't in it either.. but i can't just move the pillars&lights etc around as they're really there (this is a real house drawn at true measurements).. this structure in particular has to fit in this portion of the house but it will only be there for ~8months then it moves to it's actual space.

i don't know.. i'm not saying having great images isn't important to the overall presentation package but maybe if you saw the whole deal and knew what the project was all about, you'd see that whether or not optimal shadowing has been used in one of the pictures falls pretty low on the priority list.
Sorry, I wrote the first thing that came into my head. After I sent it I realized my comments where nothing to do with what the thread was about....and you were trying to be helpful. Thanks.
At first I thought is was a boat hull, then I thought it was stadium stair. Now you explain it is a skateboard ramp. Now it makes sense.
I started as a carpenters apprentice aged 16. I had to make tea and sweep the floors and fetch tools. He was the last of a dying breed of true craftsmen who had a real love of wood. He always told me: "Always look for the finish!" and I remember those words in everything I do.

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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Zom-B » Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:28 pm

maeglin1 wrote:What camera film will mimic this?
Well, I would sugest you try some out and and get a feeling for them :)
There is also this mighty post processing possibility that you don't seem to have on your radar!
Before the Lady gets to many credits, the scene is from BBB, a former Indigo user ;)
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/int ... max/643848

He for example does great stuff (now with vray): http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/
But I remembered some blogpost from him: http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/2013/09 ... -beta-fun/
Here you can see how much a image can gain from simple post processing in a 2D tool :)
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maeglin1
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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by maeglin1 » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:48 pm

Zom-B wrote:
maeglin1 wrote:What camera film will mimic this?
Well, I would sugest you try some out and and get a feeling for them :)
There is also this mighty post processing possibility that you don't seem to have on your radar!
Before the Lady gets to many credits, the scene is from BBB, a former Indigo user ;)
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/int ... max/643848

He for example does great stuff (now with vray): http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/
But I remembered some blogpost from him: http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/2013/09 ... -beta-fun/
Here you can see how much a image can gain from simple post processing in a 2D tool :)
Are you the Indigo Police Squad???
Thanks for the stuff. And wow... Turbo Squid is really the bomb. I like her stuff alot. Very polished.
I am aware of the other guy you mentioned: Betrand Benoit. I only discovered him a few days ago. I really am excited by the possibilities of CG. And yes, Indigo alone is not enough for me.... Post processing is what interests me most.... how I can push the image further. What I want to see most is a CG designer like the ones above that do it for amazing (out of this world) architecture. Going down the road of HR Giger.... who originally inspired me to go to art college in the first place. It's funny how you go full circle to your roots.

This is a site I found very helpful for PP architecture: http://www.alexhogrefe.com/

Ich schickte sie zwei private e-mails ... aber sie wollte gar nicht antworten. Haben Sie sie erhalten?

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Re: What is the best (general) camera setting to use?

Post by Zom-B » Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:14 am

maeglin1 wrote:Are you the Indigo Police Squad???
I sometimes simply care to much :?
maeglin1 wrote:Ich schickte sie zwei private e-mails ... aber sie wollte gar nicht antworten. Haben Sie sie erhalten?
Google translate? to who is this directed?
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