The practice of simulating realistic lighting and shadows on a 3D digital model.
Color Theory: Understanding the science behind colors, how they interact with each other, and how they affect mood and atmosphere in a scene.
Light Sources: Understanding the different types of light sources, their properties, and how they affect the appearance of objects in a scene.
Shadows and Reflections: Understanding how shadows and reflections work, how they interact with different surfaces, and how to create convincing shadows and reflections in a scene.
Studio Lighting: Understanding the use of light setups in studio photography, and how to apply those concepts to 3D lighting.
Materials and Textures: Understanding the properties of different materials and textures, how they interact with light, and how to create realistic and believable textures.
Composition: Understanding the principles of composition, and how to use them to create visually interesting and dynamic scenes.
Rendering Engines: Understanding the different rendering engines used in 3D software, their features, and how to use them effectively.
Global Illumination: Understanding how light bounces off surfaces and is affected by the environment, and how to create realistic lighting with global illumination techniques.
Realistic Lighting: Understanding how to create realistic lighting in 3D environments, and how to use techniques like HDR lighting and ambient occlusion.
Post-Processing: Understanding how to use post-processing techniques like color grading and compositing to enhance and refine the final image.
Ambient Lighting: This technique is used to simulate the light that is present in an entire scene or environment. It involves evenly illuminating the entire space with a low level of light.
Point Lighting: This technique involves placing a single light source, usually a spotlight or an overhead lamp, at a specific point in the scene. It provides directional lighting and can be used to create shadows.
Area Lighting: This technique simulates the lighting that comes from a larger, more diffuse area such as the sky or a large window. It produces soft shadows and is often used for outdoor environments.
Directional Lighting: This technique involves simulating light that comes from a specific direction, such as the sun or a streetlamp. It produces sharp shadows and is often used in cinematic effect shots.
Spot Lighting: This technique involves simulating a focused beam of light, often used to highlight specific areas in the scene or an object in 3D.
Global Illumination: This technique is used to simulate the interactions of light between objects in a scene. It creates realistic lighting and shadows and is used to simulate indirect lighting.
Radiosity: This technique is similar to global illumination but focuses more on the interactions between diffuse surfaces in the scene. It produces more accurate and realistic indirect lighting.
Bounce Lighting: This technique is used to simulate the way light bounces off an object in the scene and illuminates other objects. It can add realism to a 3D scene.
Soft Shadows: This technique involves simulating soft shadows cast by a light source. It creates a more natural and subtle lighting effect.
Hard Shadows: This technique produces sharp, defined shadows, often used in dramatic or stylized lighting.
Rim Lighting: This technique involves adding light to the edge of an object, often used to emphasize its shape or silhouette.
Subsurface Scattering: This technique is used to simulate how light penetrates through an object, often used on objects with a translucent or semi-translucent surface. It adds a level of realism to objects like skin, leaves, and other materials.
2D Lighting: This technique is used to simulate lighting effects on 2D objects such as sprites, textures or images.
Cartoon Lighting: This technique is used to produce exaggerated and stylized lighting and shadow effects, often used in animation or comic-style art.
Realistic Lighting: This technique involves simulating lighting and shadows to create a realistic effect in the 3D environment.