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Navigation: HDR Light Studio - User Guide > Light Properties Panel > Filters > Diffusion

Example 3 - Lighting through Tracing Paper

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Some subjects, like jewellery can benefit from a nice diffuse lighting setup. Photographers create this effect using a medium like tracing paper, placing it between the lights and the subject. It controls the reflections seen by the subject too.

karl taylor shooting a ring lit through tracing paper
Example from: www.karltayloreducation.com/jewellery-photography-top-tips-for-how-to-photograph-jewellery

koloskov shooting through tracing paper
Example from: www.photigy.com/school

Using the Diffusion blur filter in HDR Light Studio. We can now mimic this effect using higher blur values. This gives the appearance the lighting is being viewed through a diffusing medium like tracing paper.

Here is an example render with the HDRI map used for lighting. Note how diffuse the lights are.

ring with soft lighting spherical diffusion

However, the light sources on this HDRI map are actually hard edged but have all been diffused by the blur.

The dark circle represents a dark area at the top of the tracing paper cone. This does add a little contrast to the lighting seen by the ring. This is not blurred.

soft lighting for jewellery hdri

Here is the HDR Light Studio project set up to achieve this.
The root Light List is to the left, and the contents of the Composite Lights is expanded towards the right.

lighting setup lights through tracing paper

You can see how the hard edged lighting within the Composite Light has been blurred and softened. The great thing about this blur effect is that it is totally dynamic. You can move lights inside the composite and see their blurred effect live on your 3D scene.

 

 

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