Direction of Light using Ambiance Occlusion

[jmart714]

Is there a way to change the direction of the source light when using Ambiance Occlusion. I've set up a scene that has no lights in it, I just want to use Ambiance Occlusion for light, however, it seems like the source of light is directly above the object. I need it to come in from the side, but I'm not sure there is a way to do this.

 

My other option is to use lights and turn on Radiosity?

[Fuchur]

Is there a way to change the direction of the source light when using Ambiance Occlusion. I've set up a scene that has no lights in it, I just want to use Ambiance Occlusion for light, however, it seems like the source of light is directly above the object. I need it to come in from the side, but I'm not sure there is a way to do this.

 

My other option is to use lights and turn on Radiosity?

 

Radiosity will increase the rendering-times heavily...

You've got more options so... for example: Why not rotate all the objects?

Use Spotlights with soft-shadows created by z-buffer-lights, etc.

 

There is no "click and go"-option like AO, but you can create nearly any look with z-buffers too and the renderingtime will be sooo much shorter.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[robcat2075]

is your object on a ground plane? The light may appear to come from above because that is the least occluded direction for the all-over light to come from.

 

The ground plane blocks all ambient light from below.

 

Show a picture if you're doubtful, but that's generally the way AO looks.

 

If you want a hazy light source that really comes from a direction, create an "area light" by putting a light on a a path constraint that zig-zags across some shape that you want light to come from. Render with multi pass, set your motion blur to 20% and set the ease on the path constraint to go from 0% at 0:00 to 20% at 0:00.2 (that's 1/5th of a frame)

[jmart714]

Thanks guys. I'll look into these options. I thought about rotating my camera and all my objects, but I wasn't sure if I was missing something with AO. Looks like I've got some testing to do.

[Xtaz]

The simplest way to do it is to put a decentralized ground above the object ( project attached ) ... the result is this ..

ao.zip

[zandoriastudios]

You can use an image for the illumination, instead of global color--so just use an image that defines the direction of the light.