Lighting Tips
1. Start in Darkness; when you add a light to 3ds max - default lighting is turned off.
2. Evaluate scene – what type of lighting do you want; what mood?
3. Turn off default Global Ambience: generally robs scene of richness and variation.
4. Add fill lights to replace global ambience.
5. Begin with lights and no shadows. Use itineration instead to fake shadows.
6. Use 3-point lighting.
7. Create geometry with beveled edges (see definition for normals).
8. Object materials and maps define lighting effects: Apply appropriate specular, glow, and bump maps to objects.
9. Isolate Lights: (Tools: Light Lister) Turn off all lights then turn on one at a time and render. This way you can see which light is illuminating which part of your scene.
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11. Compare renders: render with specified lights on and off; use clone virtual frame buffer on rendered image to clone it so next render can be compared.
Clone virtual frame buffer
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Lighting Terms
Global Ambience: amount of flat uniform brightness added to objects in scene. default global ambience in 3ds max is black; keep it here (Rendering: Environment).
Beveled edges in geometry: Geometry with beveled edges have more depth and interest because beveled edges can catch light from multiple angles.
3-point lighting: use key light and 2 fill lights to illuminate subject.
Key light: main illumination of subject and defines dominant angle of lighting (THE SUN). Usually brighter than other 2 lights. Remember we only have one sun!
Fill light: softens and extends illumination provided by key light making more of the subject visible. Also simulated reflected light and is necessary in 3d since true bounced light is not possible in 3d.
Backlight (hair light): creates defining edge to help separate background from foreground. Sometimes called hair light because glint usually comes from subject’s hair.
Key to Fill Ratio: differences of intensity between brightness of fill light and brightness of key light in scene.
Shadow: the dark side of the subject generated by key to fill ration in lights.
Cast Shadow: the dark area that is cast onto other objects from the subject generated by turning on shadows for lights.
Softness: unnatural hard light most common in computer graphics. Soft light is diffused or scattered light. (kind of like a lightbulb’s illumination). It is recognized as having soft edged shadows, broader, less focused highlights and shading.
Intensity: brightness of light. Consider virtual camera exposure, time of day, type of light, etc. subjective.
Multiplier: larger value = brighter light.
Color of Light: white is bright; black is dark.
Attenuation: fall off of light over distance. Brighter lights illuminate more of scene infinitely (like the sun), dimmer lights brighten only small area of scene (such as candle).
Near: Start / End: where light starts decrease in intensity from source
Far: Start / End: where a light starts to decrease in intensity at distance
Throw: pattern or shape created by illumination. Change the appearance of the scene by adding depth, invoke emotion, create realism.
Cookie: shadow-casting object placed in front of light with shadows turned on
Caustics: light thrown from mirrors, off glass near wall surfaces. Think of as dirty imperfect light that is varied and broken up from original light source usually due to what it is transmitted through (glass, water, mirror, etc.)
Specularity: the highlight of light on subject; size of specular area represents light’s size.
Glossiness: represents the amount of diffusion, scatter, or spread of light on subject; defines surface of the object. Rough texture=high glossy value ; smooth texture = low.
Surface normals: renderable side of object that affects the way light illuminates object. Where normals point directly at light diffuse illumination is brightest. When surface normals are at least 90 degrees from light no illumination occurs on surface (this is why beveling helps).