Practice: AO Study 1 (2D)
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The Shading Course

Module 2 - How to See Light Effects

Practice: AO Study 1 (2D)

927
Mark as Completed

Practice: AO Study 1 (2D)

927
Mark as Completed

Overview

In this assignment, you'll start taking your shading skills to the next level by understanding Ambient Occlusion (AO) at a deeper level.

Materials Needed

  • The project image.
  • A red colored pencil, or a digital painting application.

Steps

  1. Download the project file and A) print it out or B) open it in your preferred digital painting application. 
  2. Assuming diffuse light from the sky, indicate, in red, where you think the occlusion shadows are.
  3. Check the solutions afterwards.

Duration

This project should take 15–30 minutes to complete.

Notes

This discussion board is available for premium students.
Newest
Roland Karafa
The one that is floating,i was unsure if there is occlusion shadow or not
@rfrimpong3
I graded myself and I have question please from the notes above, is it implying that only ambient light have Occlusion shadow? Because I thought direct light can also have occlusion shadow in its scene.
Woo Joo
7mo
I think shadows created by direct light are called "form shadow" or "cast shadow". In this assignment we look at AO, and AO refers to "Ambient Occlusion", specifically focusing on the shadows created by ambient light.
@marq777
8mo
Lighter red are the parts I missed.
@kotka
10mo
Not sure if I'm missing something but I found no 3D version of the worksheet, only a 2D. I see a lot of people here post a 3D version... I feel that AO is a lot easier to understand intuitively than core shadow.
@drnature
10mo
I got confused a bit too, is this what you were looking for? found here https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/practice-simple-ao-study/downloads
Derek Adams
Samuel Sanjaya
My attempt and the fix after seeing the solution. I wonder why the box concave part has shadows in it? I thought the light source suppose to come from above.. Any feedbacks will be greatly appreciated..
@alcyonair
2yr
hArtMann
2yr
Eager to do the next Ambient Occlusion assignment!
@cindygs
2yr
Romain Decotte
Hi @Dorian Iten! Here's my simple AO study :). T'was good fun! Happy new year! Cheers, Romain
Dorian Iten
Well done! 👏 :)
Thieum
2yr
Norbert Grill
Karlo H.
2yr
Tess Enarsson
Here is two of three. What about the side of the cylinder? AO or not, and if, where and why?
Charles Litz
I did this for this exercise on ambient occlusion and after watching the solution, I am a bit confused, especially about the cube. Like I don't understand why the hole on top should be so dark and why the occlusion shadow spreads so widely on the base plane :/ Maybe watching the modules feedback will help
Bradley Forbush
I did the simple ao assignment in graphite, on computer-print out paper. I assumed there was a lot of ambient light, thereby making the shading and shadow very subtle. I actually broadened the occlusion shadow in this, my 2nd version. (I didn't spread the shadow beyond the circumference of the objects in my first draft). The paper got a bit crinkly when I did this. I had trouble imagining a shadow around the base of the cube, considering light would be flowing all around the object and it was flush with the surface plane.
Bradley Forbush
After watching Module 2 review, I modified my drawing and added a bit more occlusion shadow to the forms. Its still subtle, but I think its much better.
Chris Bodary
Here is my simple AO study assignment done in graphite. J haven’t checked the solution yet, but I do feel confident in my thought process. the cube being close, (touching) the floor plane would be quite dark occlusion but with nothing else blocking ambient light from above, the side planes should stay fairly consistent. The planes in the indentation will likely receive less ambient light as they are in a tighter space exposed to less AL. Also the planes are much smaller therefore will appear to the eye to be darker relative the larger side planes. the cyclinder and the sphere were much simpler to think about, though I should check the solution before O get too confident….
Chris Bodary
Revised after going over the solution. In the box, I missed the cast shadows that are sort of tapered due to the multiple directions of light casting shadows from different angles. I also didn’t account for how much “coverage” AO contributes to the shadows. I’m glad this exercise revealed that me. Also so I can see it in life, I set up a test study subject at work where we have multiple light sources from high up ceiling lamps and skylights and windows as well as white peg board walls. You can see the shadows cast in multiple directions and the inside “walls” of the tape are quite dark.
@selenitis
2yr
The cube gave me a bit of trouble ngl, I'm still not 100% sure I understand how the ambient occlusion works with the indent in the top.
Kwame Alexander
Well, here's my first attempt at this. I wasn't sure if I should draw directly on the images, because they already have shadows. Just in case, I drew mine from scratch.
@ivat
2yr
Hello :) I learned a lot from this exercise but there's one thing that bothers me. In your solution for the block image, upper indented part is much darker than the rest of the shadows and I'm not sure why. I understand that it's inside and not exposed so much to the light as the rest of the cube but it still looks a lot darker.
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