Student work: Marc Carratala Arce
5minutes read
07/12/2022
VFX lighting artists and lighting TDs often have to deal with many moving parts, which can make taking on a larger-scale shot feel quite daunting! One of the best ways for a lighting artist to manage their shot is to break their larger tasks into sub-tasks. But where to start and how to break them down?
We asked the Head of Lighting & Look Development at Framestore in Melbourne, Drew Wood-Davies (Ted 2, Game of Thrones, John Wick 2 and 3, It: Chapter Two), for lighting advice and the best way to approach setting up and breaking down those daunting tasks, looking at both live-action plate shots and full CG shots.
Lighting artists place virtual lights in their shots and adjust them to match the live-action plate or the 3D environment. The role of a lighting artist is both creative and technical.
Creative role of a lighting artist: VFX lighting is used to create appropriate ambiance (color tone and hue, depth, mood) for a shot while also considering external elements like the weather and time of day. A VFX lighter’s role is analogous to a film crew lighting a set to give it authenticity, continuity, and to help create a certain tenor. They use various shader settings to create effects like reflections and the appearance of wet surfaces.
BEFORE: A shot from John Wick 3 before VFX lighting was added. (Image: Method Studios, via Art of VFX)
AFTER: The same shot as just above from John Wick 3, which Drew's lighting team worked on, adding VFX lighting to create ambiance, and a wet look road with reflections. (Image: Method Studios)
Below are some steps laid out by Melbourne Framestore's Head of Lighting and Look Dev, Drew Wood-Davies, on how to set up and break down a VFX shot to light it effectively—looking at both live-action integration and full-CG shots—to facilitate a more efficient and creative workflow in the process. (Super helpful, thanks, Drew!)
Identifying ground truth for lighting live-action integration:
[featured]
Identifying the mood and compositional goals:
What does your shot/scene consist of — an environment, characters, FX elements? Consider creating separate render layers for each element.
Bring all the elements together early to evaluate what’s not working, and seek further creative guidance if required.
CG Spectrum student Marc Carratala employed the 3D lighting tools and techniques he learned as part of the Real-time 3D and Virtual Production Course to create a cinematic short film in Unreal Engine 5.
3D Tech/Lighting Artist and CG Student, Marc's short film. On his ArtStation, Marc documents some of the light placements to demonstrate how he created his artistically lit shots.
Dark Nebula has been selected as a finalist for the 2022 Rookie Awards for Film of the Year (3D Animation), and Marc is also in the running for Rookie of the Year (3D Animation). Congratulations, Marc!
Another talented student, Benjamin Oman, learned lighting basics as part of CG Spectrum's Foundations of Game Art and Animation Course. Now studying the 3D Modeling Course, Benjamin seamlessly applied his recently acquired lighting knowledge to artistically illuminate his 3D model of Battle Chasers character, Alumon. When tackling the lighting, he kept in mind the principles of three-point lighting on his model by using a directional light that lit the whole scene.
Benjamin's 3D character model of Alumon from the game Battle Chasers: Nightwar, with VFX lighting using Unreal Engine 4.
Benjamin also had a handy tip for those wanting to add ambient god rays: "use Exponential Height Fog and play around with the scattering settings from the directional light plus the Height Fog."
He also recommends checking out CG Spectrum Mentor William Faucher’s Youtube tutorial on lighting a night-time exterior which is what inspired Ben's lighting.
The scene William Faucher created in his YouTube CG lighting tutorial that Ben used as inspiration for lighting his 3D model of Alumon.
Although William's tutorial is demonstrated In Unreal Engine, he stipulates that the techniques covered can be applied to almost any renderer.
Good lighting is integral to building a compelling 3D scene. At CG Spectrum, an Unreal Academic Partner and Unreal Authorized Training Center, you'll learn lighting essentials and tools in Unreal Engine as part of our Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production Courses.
You will also receive weekly personalized online feedback from industry-experienced mentors (like William!) to help guide and inspire you towards a bright career in virtual production.
[more]Read Shoshanah Wall's bio[/more]
Shoshanah is a content manager and copywriter with almost a decade of experience in visual effects production, coordinating VFX teams in Australia and London. Her credits include Mad Max: Fury Road, Ant-Man, John Wick: Parabellum, Game of Thrones, and Christopher Robin. She now enjoys getting to write about the film and games industry.
10 minute read
Plus artist interviews, free resources, career advice and special offers from CG Spectrum's film and game experts!
Free Visual Effects resources and articles to inspire you on your journey into the film and games industry.