Chapter 6.6 Lighting

Digital Lighting: Fundamentals Lights define 3-D form in a 2D medium Bring out surface qualities Accent Form Lighting creates focus Luminance is relative to RGB value range Light can draw viewers attention Pools of brighter light Spots of distinct colors

Digital Lighting: Fundamentals Lights create the Mood of a scene Cool, Warm or Hot color schemes Brightly lit vs. Dark shadowy lighting Soft vs. Hard shadows

Digital Light Models Point Light Spotlight Directional Light Area Light

Ambient vs. Reflected Light Digital Ambient Light Adds an RGB value to all surfaces Reduces overall contrast Reflected Light (digital: Radiosity) Real-world ambient light Created by light bouncing off surfaces Surface color and reflectivity affect light

Shadows Spatially orient objects Dispersion of shadows affect mood Soft shadows Generally brighter More subtle compositional element Hard shadows Stronger contrast Interesting compositional potential

Light Effects Lenses flairs and light bloom Atmospheric Fog; volumes of light Glowing light sources Self-illuminated textures

Summary Lighting is essential to composition Digital Light models Legibility of detail Determining emotional state Directing the players attention Digital Light models Different from real world light Light for good composition Light doesn’t always come from a visible source