Lighting & Rendering - Part 7: Stylistic Internal Lighting

The aim of this tutorial was to create theatrical lighting in a scene, as opposed to realistic. Working with light to help characterise a scene, using illumination to outline the foreground and accent various props, and trying to give light sources a purpose. 

• By turning off ‘double sided’ in the walls attribute editor, we are able to see through them and into the room model.
• ‘Fireflies’ are supercharged rays of light that can create noise that's tricky to remove. The ‘point light’ is susceptible to this issue when it’s placed too close to objects in a scene. 
• Lights can be ‘soloed’ in the Arnold render view, helping to tweak the attributes on individual light sources.

Image 1: Maya Export

Two point lights were used to illuminate the main room and hallway. An area light accompanied these two main lights, located off camera and helped to clarify the table in the foreground. Two exterior lights were placed to enter the windows, creating sunlight rays. 

• Jpg’s aren’t the most appropriate format for exporting a file. Instead, it's best to export as a 32bit file and then convert the image in another piece of software, such as photoshop.

Image 2: Edited Photoshop Export

 I subtly increased the exposure. I also applied the ‘sepia’ photo filter to remove some blue undertones, creating a warmer image. The image was then converted into an 8bit from its original 32bit exr format. When changing the mode of the image, it's important to use the ‘exposure and gamma’ setting as this prevents any changes to colour balance. I also added a coloured layer for the background, replacing the temporary blue that I applied in the Arnold render view. This new background includes a warm gradient for more background interest. The image was then flattened and saved out as a jpg. For an animation, this process would be achieved through After Effects or a compositing package.