3D Lighting
The Dark Side Of 3D Lighting…
December 21, 2011
3D Lighting is without a doubt THE single most important aspect of your renders. It will either make or break your image. If you master this skill alone, you’ll elevate your images to unprecedented heights…
I see so many great artists struggle with lighting, so here’s some tips to immediately get on the right track:
1. Light Only What’s Important
Let go of the rest. Sounds simple enough, yet this is what we tend to do when starting out with lighting. We light everything in fear of missing something. And I was there too… Try lighting only the parts that are important to tell the story or set the mood, and focus your lighíng in a specific area of your image, rather than lighting it all.
2. 3-point Light Set Up
Start using the simple 3-point lighting set up. It’s not perfect, and it won’t magically work for all your images, but it’s a great starting point. One light from the front / side / above (key light), one softer and weaker light from the front / other side / above (fill light) and one from behind / side (back light). Play with these three lights, narrow them down if needed and try to light only what’s important. Back lights are great for mystery and creating dramatic effects.
3. Dark Side Of Lighting
Definitelly, start lighting with SHADOWS and darkness. That’s right… Instead of just thinking what can I light, starting thinking: What can I hide and why should I do that? Play with darkness, since shadows are what really creates lighting in the first place. If there was no play of light and dark, we would not see anything at all… This is the untapped dimention skilled artists use, and most beginners fear. Use shadows and darkness to create a mood, shape your scene and create drama that speaks for it self. When your lighting is alive, vibrant and has a wide spectrum through out your scene, it will make your images POP.
Keep tweaking. Every scene is unique. And so are you..!
PS. Conquer 3D lighting HERE.
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How to add more 3D light without adding lights?
August 29, 2011
Whoa, what does that mean?
There are ways of intentionally illuminating your scene, without actually adding lights. And I’m not talking about “just” radiosity or selfglowing surfaces, I’m actually referring to a specific trick I often use to add extra lighting in conjuntion with radiosoity.
It’s very simple and fast to do and it will actually even save you rendering time! Professional photographers use this all the time…
I’ve made a short video here to demonstrate what I mean:
As always, I’d love to hear your comments and see if you got any inspiration from this video!
Keep rendering,
Waldemar
Photo Real Lighting Live – WOW!
July 6, 2011
Ok, I’m seldom really impressed with stuff in our information overloaded 3D world, but THIS is just plain impressive.
You know Google has a free modelling software called SketchUp?
If not, you can find it here:
http://sketchup.google.com/
Anyway, that wasn’t what this post really is about. E-on, the geniouses behind Vue have done it again…
Sketchup now has live preview with light bouncing included… WOW!
It’s called LumenRT and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Very close to photo real.
Take a look at some stunning live renders here:
http://www.lumenrt.com/
Now, 3D lighting is even more exciting than before!
Keep doing what you love,
Waldemar
3D Light Headache? Become a Light Master!
May 20, 2011
Are you still using trial and error to light your images?
Through my training and coaching experience, I’ve come to know lots of artists, and I have to say that most of them are frustrated when it comes to lighting…
Why is lighting so difficult?
First of all, it’s not difficult. It’s just very complex and has many components.
I’ve actually discovered, that you don’t need to learn everything… That alone cuts down the frustration a lot…
Second, you only need to learn how and when to mix and match that knowledge…
So basically, you need to know WHAT to learn (what is important) and WHEN and WHY to use it…
Download my new free content packed ebook and discover the “5 hidden steps 2 stunning 3D lighting in any software”:
Keep moving and taking action, it’s what shapes your 3D anyway! 
/Waldemar
7 ways of lighting interiors in 3D
June 1, 2010
Someone turn on the lights please!
In just a few minutes – I´m going to reveal to you, the 7 ways of lighting interiors in 3D. You can use them to instantly add lighting with an understanding of WHY. You can mix the 7 ways or use them one at the time…
Interior lighting can be very frustrating, since there are so many options to choose from. I know that I always preferred to make outdoor scenes in the start, since that´s easier to grasp… I mean, there´s just the sun, sky and some ambient.
Indoors…
…that´s a different story.
So, jump right into the first video here:
Yes, you can of course use an area light instead of using several spotlights. But I like to talk about the real basics, since that will give you a better understanding of the concept. And in some cases even more control.
For instance, having a few spotlights, enables you to vary their intensity through out the room – where an area light is constant all over. And spotlights render faster…
Allright, now – here´s the rest of the video, watch it here:
And that´s about it!
Let me know what you think, if the videos were helpful and if you like them, don´t forget to pass them on to your friends…
Thanks a bunch!
How to create magic with a single 3D light
May 24, 2010
Whoa – what?
Just one light?
Are you kidding?
Actually, this IS where all the magic happens. Get one of them right – and the rest will fall into place…
So much can be done with a single light. In this 5 min video, I´ll talk about a few good pointers on how you can get creative with just a single light.
That´s right…
No more placing 27 lights to get your scene look good. Just one!
Watch this 5 min overview:
And watch this 8 min video, where I demonstrate how to light a peer with a single light in DAZ Studio:
Allright, I hope you enjoyed the videos! Were they helpful? I´d love to hear from you! Also, please pass it on to your Facebook friends!
Thanks a bunch!
Basic Overview of UberEnvironment 2 for DAZ Studio 3 Advanced
May 8, 2010
There are features in a 3D software – and there are FEATURES.
UberEnvironment 2 by omnifraker is one of the best plug ins for DAZ Studio. It´s actually built into DAZ Studio 3 Advanced, so you don´t need to purchase it as a stand alone plug in.
It adds overall global illumination with those nice soft shadows and also light bouncing calculations – also called radiosity. What´s even more impressive, is that it doesn´t work with rays. It does all this on a shader-level. Simply put, it works with the surfaces rather then following the rays of light.
I really like this built in feature – it´s fast and easy to use. While doing a recent animation, I was actually impressed by the rendering speed of this feature. Especially, since DAZ Studio now offers shading rate control (basically this is the quality setting) – I was able to pull off several 100´s of frames in a few hours.
If you want to read more about it, and the other features of DAZ Studio Advanced, click here:
http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/daz_studio3/new?_m=d
How to create as scary 3D look
May 3, 2010
Boo!
How do we create a scary look anyway? What are the components needed? There are two rules…
Rule number 1: What we can´t see – we fear. Also, we fear what we don´t know / are not familar with – but that´s another story.
So, we could say that the less we see – the more scary it looks. That means – kill the lights! Use only a few of them. Hide them and squeeze them into places where the camera can´t see them – but yet feel them. Illuminate only parts of your scene and keep the rest in darkness.
And that´s it?
What´s rule number 2?
Rule number 2: Remember rule number 1! 
I´m not kidding, it´s so easy to show too much and spoil the effect…
Actually, hide as much as you can. Don´t show the characters in full. Show only parts of them. And play with shadows – a shadow can be really scary.
Now, go and scare the h— of your friends with your next render!
How radiosity affects your 3D scene
May 1, 2010
There are few 3D graphics features that I wouldn´t want to be without. Radiosity is definitelly one of them. What it does, is to add natural lighting all over your scene – as it lets all the lights bounce around several times.
I often avoid using it in animations though, since it adds to the render time. Those times call for faking it with some well aimed lights.
What I found to be extremely important when dealing with radiosity, is the position of the lights. Since everything bounces off everything, the key is really to place a few lights – but do it well – and let the technology do the rest.
In a way, radiosity makes 3D lights behave like real world rays – with all the pros and cons that comes with them.
What is HDRI lighting and how to use it
February 16, 2010
Many are confused with this, and I was one of them. HDRI works in two ways. First, the image itself contains far more information than a standard 24 bit RGB image. How is that possible? Take a look a normal outdoor photo. You see the sky, sun, buildings, other objects and ground. So, what´s the big deal? Well, the photo we see on the screen, has a RGB range from 0 to 255. That means, each component, such as red, green or blue can hold only 256 levels. In reality, the sun is 100´s if not 1000´s of times brighter than any other obejct in your scene. In a 24 bit RGB image, the brightest area is only a few times brighter than a shadow.
Yes, a 3D image will end up flat anyway, but the data for lighting it will differ. If you use a 24 bit RGB image to light your scene, it will not look realistic as opposed to using a true HDRI image. It just holds so many times more lighting data.
The other aspect of using HDRI, is that it´s a complete lighting solution. Normally, you map a HDRI image to a sphere surrounding your scene and set the surfaces to selfglowing. When used in conjuntion with radiosity, you will get a super realistic lighting effect. And that´s it! I often add a sun light to the scene, becuase HDRI lighting is very soft and will not represent the sun in a good way. And that´s it!
