Lighting

Basic Lighting – The Orange Due: Feb 26^th, Thursday

Summary

In this assignment, you will be doing character lighting on a simple object—an orange—in order to familiarize yourself with character lighting concepts.

After spending considerable time learning the lighting tools and types available to you, please remember that good lighting is an art not a science . . .

We're not looking for a perfect physical replica of the "real" world. We're looking for believable lighting that presents your character and set in a well composed environment -- all in support of your compelling story.

Experience with the software tools, and the development of a critical eye is essential for those who wish to produce exciting CG lighting environments. You will be painting with light. Be sure to apply all of your experience with other art forms to this exercise.

Getting started

· Download orange4.mb and orange.jpg

· Re-Read the lighting section of the Maya manual (Help->Library->Rendering-> 3.Lights and Shadows) if necessary.

· An additional resource is the Mastering Maya Complete book (chapter 20), if you can find it. It may be in the lab. There are also many tutorials on the web—some better than others.

What to do

Review the Orange image (jpg) that has been provided for you, and the demo information from class. Make sure that you understand the difference between all of the lighting types available to you in Maya. To help you break down the lighting, examine the contribution from each light in the sample.
Open orange.mb and light it, matching the provided image. Note that you will be able to get reasonably close, reasonably quickly, but to get a really perfect replica should take you several days.
Do NOT change the camera or any of the geometry in the scene; work only with the lighting.

Tips & What we’re looking for

As a general rule, be cautious when using “flashy” lighting techniques such as fog and lens flares. While these tools can be useful, they are overused and are often distracting. Use them sparingly and subtly.
You can’t light effectively without using the IPR render. Load the image you are trying to match in the render window so you can toggle back and forth and see how close your renders are to the target. Ask if you need help with this.
We are looking for perfection. Don’t stop too soon.
DON'T FORGET CONTACT SHADOWS!!!!

Turn in

The project will be critiqued in class on its due date. You should prepare for critique in the same manner as previous assignments. Your critique for this assignment can be shortl.

Remember to allow for adequate rendering time.

Copy only your final rendered image (.TGA, Production Quality) for each section to the …\cse459_wi04\_Turnin\6_Lighting\Your_folder. Render them at the same resolution as the images provided.