No other plugins. LightUp is the first that I installed. Re the floor. Remember these "renders" that I do are for events. Once I export the 2D image to Photoshop, I still have to add gobo lighting to the floor, and possible other custom elements that are either composited in, or which I will hopefully be able to draw as components myself in the future, if I ever get that good. I can't just add something that is not there because it looks better in the render. Not that you have the time, but if you look at the website named on the pic I sent you via Yousendit you will get a better idea I think of what I am up against. So it might look plain and featureless in it's initial stages, (this was actually a pretty simple event, only one of three for the same company on that day) but still gets worked up a lot more on leaving SU. In addition, my boss (who also happens to be my nephew) is very particular about his clients seeing only exactlywhat they are getting, so that there is no "But it did not look like this in the render?" later on down the road. So far and using just Photoshop in the past, the comparison between the finished event and the render have been spot on visually but not as dramatic as the finished event with the lighting.
There is a lot of lighting done at these events. The bland floor above was a day thing. That circular wall in the back though is glass, and after leaving SU there is another light reflection plug-in that I use in PS that would have added the light and shadows coming from that wall of glass and cast the pattern on the floor. My images don't end with SU. The vast majority of events are done at night, indoors and outdoors and lighting plays a very big part. A lot of gobos, patterns, company logos, etc. Take a peek at the website, if nothing else I think you will find it entertaining. Adam, I really love LightUp - seriously, when I do get it to work on my quick smaller models as mentioned, it is AMAZING, and this is why I am so desperate to find out what's wrong, what I am doing wrong, put an end to the crashing and finally stop annoying you with my constant whining. π
Attached is an image that was done totally in Photoshop before I started trying SU, and how much cooler would it have been had I been able to do it in SU, use LightUp to add some realistic lighting (this is most certainly not) and render it out. The clients don't really care about scale, these are not buildings where accurate size is imperative. It is more about visual impact and the ad nauseum overstated WOW factor. LightUp can help me provide this. I feel badly about all this yakkity yak, but maybe my issue can help someone else at some point.
GDP.jpg