Basic Lighting

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Basic Lighting

• Intro to Maya

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Types of Lights

• Ambient Light
• Direction Lights
• Spot Lights
• Point Lights
• Advanced Area Light
• Advanced Volume Lights

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Ambient Light

• An ever present light
• Floods the scene
• No highlights
• No Shadows
• Good for Base Lighting

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Direction Light

• Light from a single direction.
• Like sun-light.
• Has shadows
• Has highlights.
• A good basic light.

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Spot Light

• A theatrical spot-light.
• Has shadows
• Radiates out in a cone
• Has fall-off
• Has penumbra
• Very powerful.

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Point Light

• A local light
• Radiates in all directions
• Great filler light
• Has shadows
• Can really punch up a scene.
• Very dramatic

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Components of Light and Shadow

• Light source.
• Fall-off/decay
• Shadow
• Umbra
• Penumbra

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Light Controls

• Aim From/Aim At
• Fall-off Rate
• Cone Radius
• Penumbra/Umbra control
• Non-linear fall-off
• All In One Control

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Aim From/Aim At
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Fall-off Rate
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Cone Radius
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Penumbra/Umbra Control
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Non-linear fall-off
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All In One Control
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Good ways to use lights

• Look to photographers for good techniques
• Think in terms of balance.
• Avoid the overly dramatic.
• Look at natural lighting.
• Avoid saturated lights and hues
• Normally only need a few lights.
• Avoid disco colors and effects ?

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Light Intensity from too Dark to too bright.
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Direction
Lit from Left
Lit from behind camera
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Mood
Subtler Mood
Menacing/Dramatic
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Localized Light
Light a person from above The head for more
spiritual Effects.
But you need to be careful
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Seasons and Time of Day
Early-Morning Blue Tint
Mid-Day/Winter Less blue tint Even colors
Evening/Dusk Summer Orange Hues
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The Ray of Hope
By placing a subtle localized light source near
the left eye the image takes on a more hopeful
appearance. This has to do with the local
shadows fall on the face.
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3 Point Lighting

• Most Common lighting scheme
• Three lights
• Key Light, Fill Light, and Back

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3 Point Lighting

• Key light
• The Key light establishes the dimension, form and
  surface detail of subject matter.
• Fill light
• The Fill light fills in the shadows created by
  the horizontal and vertical angles of the key
  light. The fill light should be placed about
  90-degrees away from the key light.
• Back light
• The function of the Back light is to separate the
  subject from the background by creating a subtle
  rim of light around the subject.

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3 Point Lighting - Tutorial

• http//www.3drender.com/light/3point.html