3D Lighting & Rendering

See also: Blender, Matte Painting

Types of lights

• Directional - large amount of light in single direction
• Point - Small area of light with unbiased direction
• Area of light - Sizeable area in a specific direction (location and direction)
• Spot light - Small area of light in a specific direction (location and direction)

Arnold Settings

• HDRI - High Dynamic Range Images
  • 360 image that projects the lighting of a real world scenario onto a scene

Methods

• 3-point lighting
  • Most common and effective
  • Great for characters and objects
  • Consist of 3 lights,
    • Key light - sets overall mood, any size
    • Fill light - fills area, typically accomplished using HDRI
    • Rim light - seperates background from object

Mechanics

• Volumetric Lighting
  • Adds fog/other particles for lights to move through
  • Known for god rays
• Light size = Shadow softness
  • Smaller = Harder
  • Larger = Softer
• Shadow hardness
  • The intensity of lights/shadows can dramatically change the impact of the image
  • Hard shadows more clinical/harsh/professional
  • Soft shadows warm and friendly

Lighting Styles

• Low Key Lighting

  • High divide between values
  • Feels underexposed
  • Black/very dark background
  • Emphasizes light areas
  • Less is more, 1-2 lights, primarily an area light
  • Rim lights are very impactful

• Neutral Lighting
  Even divide between values

• High Key Lighting

  • Low divide betweem values
  • Feels overexposed
  • Positive & professional look
  • Common in enterprise entertainment, photography, product renders etc.
  • Ambient lighting is imp;ortant, HDRIs are very impactful
  • The more the merrier
  • Typically a light background

Camera Variables

See also - Cameras in 3D

Focal Length
changes how flat or distorted your camera portrays your subject. Changes FOV

Aperture
Control the focus of the scene - the lower the aperture the blurrier the scene is.