Get Better Lighting in Blender With This Easy Trick

Summary

In this tutorial, the speaker demonstrates a technique to enhance indirect or bounce lighting in 3D rendering using normal lights. They discuss the importance of adding lights strategically in areas where indirect light naturally occurs and show how to use area lights for soft, directional lighting. The speaker also covers how to avoid common pitfalls, such as creating unrealistic glows or harsh lines on objects, and provides tips for color matching and keeping the effect subtle to maintain realism. The video concludes with a before-and-after comparison and a mention of assets used from a fantasy environments course.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The tutorial demonstrates a technique for enhancing lighting in 3D renders by simulating indirect or bounce lighting with additional light sources.
• 🔦 The primary issue addressed is the lack of sufficient lighting in certain areas of a scene, despite the presence of direct light sources.
• 🏠 The example used is a 3D render where the main light sources are spotlights simulating sunlight from above, but the surrounding areas are too dark.
• 💡 Area lights are recommended over spot or point lights for their ease of directional control and natural soft lighting effect.
• 📏 The size and power of the additional lights are adjustable to control the spread and intensity of the light, enhancing the scene without overdoing it.
• 📍 Lights should be strategically placed in areas where indirect light would naturally occur to maintain realism in the render.
• 🌡️ The color temperature of the additional lights should match the existing lighting to ensure a cohesive look.
• 🚫 Overusing additional lights can quickly break the realism of the scene, so subtlety is key.
• 🌐 When using volumetrics in the scene, unchecking the 'volume scatter' option for lights can prevent unwanted glow effects.
• 🔍 Reflective surfaces in the scene can reveal the light sources in reflections; adjusting settings like 'glossy ray visibility' can mitigate this.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the lighting trick discussed in the script?

The main purpose of the lighting trick is to fake indirect or bounce lighting with normal lights to enhance the overall lighting in a scene where the existing light sources are not providing enough illumination in certain areas.

Why does the speaker prefer using area lights over spot or point lights?

The speaker prefers area lights because they provide easy directional control, illuminate only the desired areas, and naturally produce soft lighting due to their size. They also allow for control over the spread of light, making it possible to adjust from a direct beam to a wide angle.

How does the speaker determine where to place the additional lights in the scene?

The speaker places additional lights in areas where there is already some indirect light but not enough, or where it makes sense for there to be more light based on the direction and source of the existing light in the scene.

What is the significance of the power level of the additional lights used in the trick?

The power level of the additional lights is significant because it determines the intensity of the light and how much it contributes to the overall lighting of the scene. The speaker suggests keeping the power low to maintain a subtle and realistic effect.

Why is it important to color match the additional lights to the scene?

Color matching the additional lights to the scene is important to ensure that the lights blend naturally with the existing lighting and maintain the overall color harmony and realism of the scene.

What is the effect of using volumetrics in the scene, and how can it be managed?

Using volumetrics can cause bright lights to emit a glow effect throughout the scene. This can be managed by unchecking the 'volume scatter' option in the light settings to prevent the light from affecting the volume.

How can reflective surfaces in the scene cause issues with the additional lights, and how can these issues be resolved?

Reflective surfaces can cause issues by showing the actual light in their reflections, creating unnatural-looking bright spots. This can be resolved by either unchecking the 'multiple importance' or 'glossy ray visibility' options in the light settings to reduce or remove the unwanted reflections.

What is the role of the point light placed in the middle of the scene?

The point light placed in the middle of the scene serves to enhance the lighting in the back of the room, where the speaker felt there wasn't enough light. It helps to create a more balanced and illuminated environment.

Why does the speaker caution against overdoing the additional lighting effects?

The speaker cautions against overdoing the additional lighting effects because it can quickly break the realism of the scene. Excessive lighting can create unnatural looks and draw attention to the artificial enhancements rather than enhancing the scene naturally.

What is the speaker's advice for maintaining realism when using this lighting trick?

The speaker advises to keep the additional lighting subtle, ensure it makes sense within the context of the scene's lighting, and to be mindful of the power levels and reflections to maintain a realistic appearance.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Enhancing Lighting with Strategic Light Placement

The speaker introduces a technique for enhancing lighting in 3D rendering by strategically placing additional lights to simulate indirect or bounced light. They use a recent render as an example to demonstrate the 'before' and 'after' effect. The main idea is to augment the existing lighting setup with normal lights to create a more natural and visually appealing result. The speaker emphasizes the importance of placing these additional lights in areas where it makes sense for light to be present, such as where direct light hits surfaces and then bounces onto other objects. They also discuss the use of area lights for their directional control and soft lighting properties, as well as the need to avoid overdoing the effect to maintain realism.

05:01

🔍 Fine-Tuning Light Effects and Avoiding Realism Breakdown

In this segment, the speaker continues to discuss the nuances of enhancing lighting in 3D scenes. They show how to add area lights to specific areas to brighten up walls and other surfaces, ensuring that the lights are placed where they would naturally be present, such as in patches of sunlight. The speaker also cautions against intersecting lights with objects, as this can create harsh lines and reduce the realism of the scene. They mention the importance of color matching the added lights to the existing light tones in the scene to maintain consistency. Additionally, they provide tips on keeping the enhancements subtle to avoid breaking the realism of the render, and they demonstrate how overdoing the effect can lead to an unnatural look.

10:02

🎨 Managing Volumetric Lighting and Reflective Surfaces

The final paragraph covers the challenges of managing volumetric lighting and reflections in 3D scenes. The speaker explains how using bright lights in a scene with volumetrics can cause unwanted glow effects and how to mitigate this by adjusting the light's 'volume scatter' settings. They also address the issue of lights being visible in reflections on reflective surfaces, such as water or glass, and provide solutions like adjusting the 'multiple importance sampling' and 'glossy ray visibility' settings. The speaker concludes by mentioning the use of assets from a fantasy course in the example render and invites viewers to check out the course for more information.

Keywords

💡Lighting Trick

A 'lighting trick' refers to a technique or method used in visual arts, particularly in photography, cinematography, and 3D rendering, to manipulate the lighting conditions to achieve a desired effect. In the context of the video, the lighting trick involves using normal lights to fake indirect or bounce lighting, enhancing the visual appeal of a scene. The video demonstrates how to use this trick to add a 'special kind of feeling' to a render by strategically placing lights to simulate natural light bouncing off surfaces.

💡Indirect Lighting

Indirect lighting is a lighting technique where light is not directly from the source but has been reflected or diffused off other surfaces before illuminating the subject. This creates softer, more natural-looking light. In the video, the speaker discusses enhancing indirect lighting by adding area lights in areas where light would naturally bounce, such as from the floor onto surrounding objects, to create a more realistic and visually appealing scene.

💡Area Light

An 'area light' is a type of light source in 3D rendering that simulates light emitted from a larger surface rather than a single point. This type of light is used to create soft shadows and a more natural lighting effect. The video emphasizes the use of area lights for their directional control and the ability to create soft lighting effects, which are essential for achieving a realistic bounce lighting effect.

💡Spotlight

A 'spotlight' is a focused, directional light source that is commonly used to highlight specific areas or objects in a scene. In the video, spotlights are used as the main light source to simulate direct sunlight. The speaker then adds additional lights to enhance the indirect lighting, complementing the spotlights to create a more dynamic and complete lighting setup.

💡Bounce Lighting

Bounce lighting is a technique where light from a source is directed onto a reflective surface, which then reflects the light onto the subject. This can help to soften shadows and add fill light to a scene. The video script describes how to use bounce lighting to enhance the overall lighting in a 3D render by strategically placing additional lights to simulate the effect of light bouncing off various surfaces.

💡Volume Scatter

Volume scatter refers to a rendering technique that simulates the scattering of light within a volume of space, often used to create effects like fog or mist. In the video, the speaker mentions using volume scatter to create a foggy effect and discusses how to manage the interaction between bright lights and volume scatter to avoid unwanted glow effects.

💡Ray Visibility

Ray visibility is a setting in 3D rendering that controls whether a light source contributes to the illumination of a scene or not. It is used to fine-tune the lighting effects by selectively enabling or disabling the influence of a light on different aspects of the scene. The video script illustrates adjusting ray visibility for volume scatter to control how a light affects the overall scene's lighting.

💡Glossy Reflection

A 'glossy reflection' is a type of reflection that occurs on smooth surfaces, where light reflects in a more diffused manner, creating a sheen rather than a sharp mirror-like reflection. The video discusses managing glossy reflections, especially when using bright lights, to prevent overexposure or unrealistic reflections that could detract from the scene's realism.

💡Color Matching

Color matching in lighting refers to the process of adjusting the color temperature or tint of light sources to ensure they are consistent with the overall color scheme of a scene. This helps to create a cohesive visual appearance. The video script mentions color matching the added lights to the warm tones of the scene to maintain a natural and harmonious look.

💡Realism

Realism in the context of 3D rendering and visual arts refers to the degree to which a scene or image resembles the real world. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining realism when enhancing lighting, cautioning against overdoing effects that could make the scene look fake or unnatural. The speaker provides tips on how to subtly enhance lighting to improve the scene's visual appeal without compromising its realistic appearance.

Highlights

Introduction to a simple lighting trick for enhancing render scenes.

Demonstration of the lighting trick with a before and after comparison.

Explanation of faking indirect or bounce lighting with normal lights.

Highlighting the use of spotlights as the main light source in the scene.

Discussion on the limitations of increasing exposure and floor brightness.

Introduction to the concept of adding lights to enhance the scene's lighting.

Preference for using area lights over spot or point lights for directional control.

Importance of placing additional lights in areas where indirect lighting makes sense.

Example of enhancing light in areas with existing indirect light.

Caution against placing lights in a way that creates harsh lines on objects.

Technique for tracing light direction to place lights strategically.

Use of a point light to add brightness to the back of the scene.

Advice on color matching lights to the scene's tone.

Warning about the risks of overdoing the lighting effect and losing realism.

Solution for dealing with unwanted glow from lights using volumetrics.

Technique for reducing reflections of light sources on reflective surfaces.

Conclusion and mention of assets used from the new fantasy course.

Transcripts

okay so I want to show you a pretty easy

lighting trick that I use sometimes when

I'm in this kind of situation where the

lighting that I have is kind of going in

the right direction but it's just

missing a whole bunch of pieces where

I'm pulling this example from is a

render I did recently this one where I

was in this situation and I ended up

doing the thing I'm about to show you to

get this result right here so here's the

before and the after so the basic idea

here is just faking indirect or bounce

lighting with just some normal lights

but I'll show you EX how this works and

when to use it and um when not to use it

so in this case it is highlighting quite

an extreme version of this effect so

it's not always going to be this extreme

and most of the time when I use it it's

a lot more subtle than this but it can

still all uh usually when I use it it it

adds just a really nice touch where it's

visible and just kind of gives it that

more special kind of feeling that you

can see here so how exactly do you do

this let me show you um so here we are

in this scene we have just some

spotlights up here which are the main

lights that are casting kind of this

direct uh kind of Faking sunlight I

guess so the direct light is just coming

the kind of the main lighting is already

done here so the light is just coming

from the top from these uh three

spotlights up here and that's just

shining down there and you can see that

kind of just that's what that is there

so the problem is there's all these

surrounding areas which are silhouetted

and I want more light to be kind of

radiating from that bright point into

all these other areas so there's a bunch

of ways to do that you could do things

like increase the exposure um but that

might not always give you the look you

want you could also do something like

increase the brightness of the floor

again just might not give you the look

you want because say I say I do this I

increase the brightness of the floor it

does kind of increase the amount of

light reflecting off the floor but the

problem is the floor is really bright

now and there all the tiles look kind of

weird so that might not be a desirable

solution either so something you'll see

pretty often in 3D is kind of just

faking this effect by adding in lights

so here are all the lights that we going

to be adding in I'll show you kind of

one by one what this is doing but if I

just toggle this on and off you can see

that kind of accentuates the bounce

lighting that's already there and just

makes it feel nicer but still natural so

let's go let's go through this one by

one and I'll show you where this starts

so the first one I added was this one

right here so this is just an area light

and the reason I like using area lights

instead of spot or point or anything is

because it gives you a very easy

directional control so it's shining

right in the direction that I want and

not Illuminating areas that I don't want

this in uh and it also is really easy to

make this it's it's just soft lighting

by default cuz it's already a meter in

diameter by default so that's why I like

using that and then you can also control

the spread on this as well so you can

make this a direct beam or you can make

it all the way up to like 180° outwards

uh so mine has turned down a little bit

but basically the the key that I want to

show you here is you have to add these

lights in areas that make sense for

there to be light okay so you can see

that there's all this direct light kind

of this fake you could say sunlight

coming in the scene here so the sunlight

is hitting the ground and then there's

already actually indirect light in here

if you look at this the indirect light

is just the light that bounces off of

something onto something else so for

example the light that's hitting the

floor is bouncing up onto like the

underside of this ring you can see all

that there uh up here the bright part of

this the top of this ring underneath

here that's all indirect light that's

bouncing off of the floor bouncing

upwards hitting this thing and that's

what is lighting that up right there so

this effect is not uh something that is

always faked right like it there's

always indirect Lighting in the scene no

matter what but if you want to

accentuate that you have to add the

lights in areas where it makes sense for

there to be indirect lighting so

basically what I look for when I'm doing

this is where are the areas that there's

already some indirect light but maybe

not enough and maybe some uh areas that

I can beef it up a little bit so if you

add an area light let's just look at

this first one um the power is very low

so it's only at 160 Watts which is this

effect is already quite extreme what I'm

showing you so I'd probably go lower

even than that uh in a in something

that's not an example of this uh like

just in some other random render that I

would do I'd probably go lower than 160

but just to show you exactly what's

really happening I'll I'll keep it on

high here and this was actually the the

value that I used in the render but most

renders aren't this extreme okay so we

have this area light and if you notice

if I just go to where this light

actually is and I rotate around it it's

pretty much in the spot where there is

light already ref reflecting right so

it's kind of like right around here in

this patch of sunlight that's kind of

where roughly where I've placed it and

so it's just shining the light right up

on there just again enhancing where the

light should already be coming from just

kind of pushing that effect a little bit

further in the direction that I I want

it to go so the next one I have this

areir light here uh let's just see what

this one is doing I added this one just

for this video just to kind of make the

walls a little bit brighter just to

really show what this is doing there's

an and same thing here it's not very

bright uh this one sorry this one

actually is quite a bit brighter um and

sometimes you just have to turn it up

for it to kind of reach the wall if it's

bit further away um but anyways the next

one is this one over here so this is

adding again same same exact thing I'm

just going to keep showing you this so

we have this one right down here where

there's uh this patch of sunlight where

it kind of makes sense where it would be

lots of light bouncing out of that area

onto other objects and so that's

bouncing up onto

there and uh again this one's very low I

have this uh size just kind of stretched

out over here now something you want to

be careful of is if you notice here uh

this object is this light rather is

intersecting on these chains right here

do you want to be careful of that

because sometimes you get a a really

harsh line on your objects so just be

aware that you can decrease the realism

if you're not careful with this so uh I

don't think it matters in this one you

can't really see it but just be careful

of that because it will ruin everything

if you accidentally leave that like

intersecting with an object in the wrong

spot okay so the next one I have another

light which is actually pointing towards

the camera in this one which is kind of

highlighting the floor so this I still

think this actually does make sense

because if you think about where the

light would be going you just have to

kind of trace it back right so the

light's coming from the top hitting the

floor hitting this ring and it would

probably make sense this whole it could

either be bouncing off of that or it

could be bouncing off of just the whole

bright area behind all this stuff so it

kind of makes sense for there to be some

light coming from from that direction

anyways so I'm okay kind of enhancing

that and and faking it a little bit with

an area light that's pointing in that

direction cuz again it's bright coming

from that way so it's okay to just kind

of fake that a little bit right we have

another one over here um an area light

which is just pointing up in this

opposite direction this is a this is

another one that I added specifically

for this video just to kind of um make

the thumbnail look better but that's

just kind of it was really dark over

there so I just wanted to lighten it up

a little bit so that's what that's doing

and then the final one is this big Point

light in the middle of the scene which

just kind of tops it all off so one

thing that was happening was I just felt

like there wasn't quite enough light

coming from that back the the room kind

of behind the ring there and so adding

one point light which I'll show you here

one big Point light in the middle this

one's very bright at 12,500 Watts uh

that's much much higher than I would

usually go with this but in this case

you know it kind of makes a bit of sense

it just looks better um you can see how

much bright light is hitting this spot

behind here so it you know it kind of

makes sense that this one it would have

to be brighter to actually be visible um

so that's there and normally I would use

actually a bigger radius like minimum a

meter so I would recommend turn that up

just because you want it to be quite big

and soft if you're trying to um enhance

a big and soft reflection like this

would be this is kind of going to cause

a really soft reflection right here this

big patch of light it's almost like

another light itself uh a big patch of

reflecting light that's a trick you see

a lot in photography where if you're

taking a portrait of someone you you

might literally hold a piece of paper on

the opposite side of their face where

the sun's coming from and that can be

this exact same effect uh instead of an

area light it's just a piece of paper

which is reflecting the sunlight so it's

the same kind of thing anyways um yeah

the key here is make sure it makes sense

like think about where the direction of

light is actually coming from and then

Place light Strate strategically in

those areas you want to color match it

so if the light is going to be um you

know like everything's kind of warm

tones in here so I want to match the

light to be a little bit warm to match

match that so it makes sense um you can

see if I make it white it looks a little

bit strange as soon as it gets warm it

kind of fits in a little bit better so

obviously just color match it to

whatever other objects in in you're

scene and then try to keep it subtle as

well because if you overdo it the

realism breaks really really fast so for

example if I just crank this one uh

let's just find one that's pointing this

way and let's just like 10 x this um you

can see it starts to look interesting

but pretty fake uh quickly right and if

I go really really extreme with it it

just completely destroys everything so

um it's you'll hit this point of it

ruining everything probably faster than

you'll expect so keep it subtle if you

can because this isn't uh how light

behaves in real life you're not going to

have invisible lights which are are

doing this um so we're kind of enhancing

what's already there is the idea here

okay one more thing that I want to

mention is you might get this problem

here where you can kind of see a big

glow coming from your light so that

happens because if we're using

volumetrics in the scene so we're using

a big uh fog over everything right so

we're using uh just a volume scat excuse

me just a volume scatter on this Cube

which is just volumetric lighting over

everything so if you start placing

lights like bright lights in that you

might get this effect where it's like

just glowing everywhere the way you deal

with that is just uncheck you can

certainly see me doing it here but

uncheck the uncheck excuse me the volume

scatter check boox here so you go just

click on the light uh the light you want

to be affecting go over to Ray

visibility and then just where it says

volume scatter uh if I just pull this

out volume scatter uncheck that and I'll

just do it on this one as well uncheck

that and now we can use lights as bright

as we want without uh just having it

emit into the volume so we're basically

just saying hey light up everything but

don't affect the volume at all that's

what happens when you uncheck that

one other thing too is if you have some

reflective surfaces I'll just add an

example of a reflective surface right

here so if I just have this on um yeah

so you might run into this problem where

you can see uh the actual light itself

in the reflection of something so for

example if I have a point light here we

can't see the actual light in the scene

but in the reflection we can see the

light which is the problem if you have a

water or glass or something like that

where the reflection of the light shows

a big white circle or Square the way you

can deal with that uh the first thing

you could try is just uncheck this

checkbox called multiple importance so

that's in the light settings underneath

where you adjust the power and

everything multiple importance if you

just take that off that will reduce that

or actually just remove it the other

thing you can do is uh uncheck if I just

turn this back on if you uncheck uh the

glossy aray visibility that can help

this as well if it's uh like giving you

too much glossy reflections

and you kind of want to tone that down a

little bit or remove it that's a way to

do that so in in uh this scene what I

did for all these lights I think was

just take the glossy completely off so

it's just not yeah you can see there um

it's just not using that at all right

there and that just makes it fit in a

little bit better in this case I don't

always do that I usually don't but uh in

this case it just made it work a lot

better I maybe could have just done this

where I turned the power way down um

let's just see what that looks like

yeah like same kind of thing it just

doesn't give quite the same effect uh

but it's it's a different look you can

go for that if you want but uh I opted

for just turning the glossy off and kind

of going for this more rough look so

yeah that's it for this one so by the

way a bunch of the Assets in this render

are from the new fantasy course like the

floor chest uh debris piles arches and

stuff like that a lot of this stuff is

from the the new fantasy environments

course so I'll leave a link below to

that if you want to check out the new

course and other that thanks for

watching and I'll see you in the next

one bye