Rumour
9th August 2004, 09:35
:spotlight Three Point Lighting:
Here's how to set them up in your 3D scenes:
1. Start in Darkness. Delete the default lights. When you add your first light, there should be no other light in the scene.
2. Add your Key Light. The Key Light creates the character's main illumination, and defines the most visible lighting and shadows. Your Key Light represents the dominant light source, such as the sun, a window, or ceiling light - although the Key does not have to be positioned exactly at this source.
Create a spot light which will serve as the Key light. From the top view, offset the Key Light 15 to 45 degrees to the side (either to the left or right) of the camera. From a side view, raise the Key Light above the camera, so that it hits your subject from approx about 15 to 45 degrees higher than the camera angle.
The key light is brighter than any other light illuminating the front of the character, it is the main shadow-caster in your scene, and casts the darkest shadows. Specular highlights are triggered by the Key Light.
NOTE: Be sure to stop and do a test-render here. Your "one light" scene (with just the key light) should have a nice balance and contrast between light and dark, and shading that uses all of the grays in between. Your "one light" should look almost like the final rendering, except that the shadows are pitch black and it has very harsh contrast.
3. Add your Fill Light(s). The Fill Light softens and extends the illumination provided by the key light, and makes more of the character visible. Fill Light can simulate light from the sky (other than the sun), and secondary light sources such as table lamps. With several functions for Fill Lights, you can add several to a scene. Spot lights are the most useful, but point lights can be used.
From the top view, the Fill Light should come generally from the opposite angle than the Key light - if the Key light is on the left, then the Fill should be on the right - try not to make all of your lighting 100% symmetrical! The Fill can be raised up to the character's height, but should still be lower than the Key light.
At most, Fill Lights should be about half as bright as your Key light. For more shadowy environments, use only 1/8th the Key's brightness. If multiple Fill lights overlap, their sum (the total) still shouldn't compete with the one Key light.
Shadows from a Fill Light are optional, and can be skipped. To simulate reflected light, tint the Fill light color to match colors from the environment. Fill Lights are sometimes set to be Diffuse-only (set not to cast specular highlights.)
4. Add a Back Light (or Rim light). The Back Light creates a "defining edge" to help visually separate the character from the background.
Using the top view, add a spot light, and position it behind your character, opposite the camera. From the right view, position the Back Light above your character.
Adjust the Back Light until it gives you a nice "rim" of light, that highlights the top or side edge for your character. Back Lights can be as bright as necessary in order to achieve the glints you want around the hair or sides of your character. Unless you can avoid the need for shadows with careful aiming, a bright Back Light often needs to cast shadows.
A Back Light is not a background light - all a Back Light does is create a rim of light around the top or side of your character.
That's it. Three-Point Lighting is a very versatile & popular starting-point for lighting just about any subject.
An excellent tutorial on lighting can be found here: Lighting Tutorial Part One (http://www.warpedspace.org/lightingT/part1.htm) In English, Spanish, French and Czech.
_____________
My thanks to Engel47 who found these and posted them in the Poser Forum. :hug:
Here's how to set them up in your 3D scenes:
1. Start in Darkness. Delete the default lights. When you add your first light, there should be no other light in the scene.
2. Add your Key Light. The Key Light creates the character's main illumination, and defines the most visible lighting and shadows. Your Key Light represents the dominant light source, such as the sun, a window, or ceiling light - although the Key does not have to be positioned exactly at this source.
Create a spot light which will serve as the Key light. From the top view, offset the Key Light 15 to 45 degrees to the side (either to the left or right) of the camera. From a side view, raise the Key Light above the camera, so that it hits your subject from approx about 15 to 45 degrees higher than the camera angle.
The key light is brighter than any other light illuminating the front of the character, it is the main shadow-caster in your scene, and casts the darkest shadows. Specular highlights are triggered by the Key Light.
NOTE: Be sure to stop and do a test-render here. Your "one light" scene (with just the key light) should have a nice balance and contrast between light and dark, and shading that uses all of the grays in between. Your "one light" should look almost like the final rendering, except that the shadows are pitch black and it has very harsh contrast.
3. Add your Fill Light(s). The Fill Light softens and extends the illumination provided by the key light, and makes more of the character visible. Fill Light can simulate light from the sky (other than the sun), and secondary light sources such as table lamps. With several functions for Fill Lights, you can add several to a scene. Spot lights are the most useful, but point lights can be used.
From the top view, the Fill Light should come generally from the opposite angle than the Key light - if the Key light is on the left, then the Fill should be on the right - try not to make all of your lighting 100% symmetrical! The Fill can be raised up to the character's height, but should still be lower than the Key light.
At most, Fill Lights should be about half as bright as your Key light. For more shadowy environments, use only 1/8th the Key's brightness. If multiple Fill lights overlap, their sum (the total) still shouldn't compete with the one Key light.
Shadows from a Fill Light are optional, and can be skipped. To simulate reflected light, tint the Fill light color to match colors from the environment. Fill Lights are sometimes set to be Diffuse-only (set not to cast specular highlights.)
4. Add a Back Light (or Rim light). The Back Light creates a "defining edge" to help visually separate the character from the background.
Using the top view, add a spot light, and position it behind your character, opposite the camera. From the right view, position the Back Light above your character.
Adjust the Back Light until it gives you a nice "rim" of light, that highlights the top or side edge for your character. Back Lights can be as bright as necessary in order to achieve the glints you want around the hair or sides of your character. Unless you can avoid the need for shadows with careful aiming, a bright Back Light often needs to cast shadows.
A Back Light is not a background light - all a Back Light does is create a rim of light around the top or side of your character.
That's it. Three-Point Lighting is a very versatile & popular starting-point for lighting just about any subject.
An excellent tutorial on lighting can be found here: Lighting Tutorial Part One (http://www.warpedspace.org/lightingT/part1.htm) In English, Spanish, French and Czech.
_____________
My thanks to Engel47 who found these and posted them in the Poser Forum. :hug: