Hello everyone, it's Jen from Olde Tinkerer Studio
In this tutorial, we will be learning about lighting in Blender 2.83
So, let’s get on with the tutorial
I will briefly talk about the four types of lights as well as other options for lighting in Blender
NOTE: There are some differences between the Cycles Render engine and Eevee when it comes to lighting,
but I will only be focusing on the basic, common properties
There are two common settings among all the lights
The Type defines the shape of the light
The Color is the tint of the emitted light
If we select the Light in the default scene and open the light tab,
we see that we have four Light options: Point, Sun, Spot, and Area
Let’s start off by looking at a very basic light called the Point Light
The Point Light is an omni-directional light
It is like a bare lightbulb in a room in that it generates energy in all directions
Surfaces that are further away will be rendered darker
In Render Mode, if we move the Point Light up and down along the Z-Axis
we can see how the light falloff affects the lighting on the Cube
If we move the Point Light to the top-center of the Cube
we now see that there is little falloff onto the sides and bottom of the Cube
If we move the Point Light off to the one side edge of the cube, we notice a different falloff of light
In the Light tab, we have a Preview window that will show us what the light will look like in the scene
We can change the color of the light using the color picker
If we change the color to a bright red,
we can now see that the Cube has a red color highlight added to it from the Point Light
We can change how weak or strong the Point Light is by changing the Power option
Let’s now look at the Sun Light
A sun light provides light of constant intensity emitted in a single direction from infinitely far away
A sun light can be very handy for a uniform clear daylight open-space illumination
The direction can be changed by rotating the Sun light, like any other object,
but because the light is emitted from a location considered infinitely far away,
the location of a Sun light does not affect the rendered result
In Render Mode, if we move the Sun Light up and down along the Z-Axis
we can see how the light falloff does not change the lighting on the Cube
If we move the Sun Light to the top-center of the Cube
we now see that there is no falloff on the top of the Cube and very little on the sides of the Cube
and slightly less falloff on the bottom of the cube
Let’s look at the options available to us
We have a Preview window that will show us what the light will look like in the scene
We can change the color of the light using the color picker
If we change the color to a bright yellow,
we can now see that the cube has a yellow color highlight added to it from the Sun Light
We can change how weak or strong the Sun Light is by changing the Strength option
The Angle is the size of the Sun Light according to its angular diameter
(as opposed to its actual size) as seen from earth
Let’s now look at the Spot Light
This Light type allows us to confine light to a very specific beam of light within the scene
which is similar to a spotlight in a theater or a flashlight
Notice that there is a cone of light that we can work with when we are using this type of Light
Let’s go into Render Mode so we can see how this Light works
If we move the Light up and down along the Z-Axis
we get a change in the falloff of the light onto the cube
We have a Preview window that will show us what the light will look like in the scene
We can change the color of the light using the color picker
If we change the color to a bright blue,
we can now see that the cube has a blue color highlight added to it from the Spot Light
We can change how weak or strong the Spot Light is by changing the Power option
The size controls the size of the outer cone of the light which controls the area the light covers
The Blend controls the inner cone of the light
and represents the amount of space the inner cone should occupy inside the outer cone
Let’s now look at the Area Light
This Light provides light from a specific region, rather than a point or a source
If we zoom into the light, we notice that it is a square and this is where the light is originating
We are projecting light from the square which acts like a soft box or a window
Let’s go into Render Mode so we can see how this Light works
If we move the Light up and down along the Z-Axis
we get a change in the falloff of the light onto the cube
We have a Preview window that will show us what the light will look like in the scene
We can change the color of the light using the color picker
If we change the color to a bright green,
we can now see that the cube has a green color highlight added to it from the Sun Light
We can change how weak or strong the Area Light is by changing the Power option
The shape property determines the shape of the light – rectangle, square, disk, or ellipse
The size properties determine the size of the square or rectangle shaped light
This has been a very quick, basic overview of the lights in Blender
We only explored the common properties between the Eevee render engine and the Cycles render engine
The manual for Blender has more information about the properties that are different between the two render engines
We can also use High Dynamic Range Imaging (or HDRI) for lighting
When we go into the shading workspace, we have a default HDRI
Under the viewport shading dropdown menu, you can access a few more HDRI files
We also have more properties that we can use with the HDRI
We can add our own HDRI files in the shading workspace
You can find free HDRI files on many sites
The one I am using is from HDRI Haven (the link is in the description)
In the node section, change the shader from object to world
Select the background node and delete it
Add an environment texture node (SHIFT + A > texture > environment texture)
Open the HDRI that you have downloaded
Change to rendered view
Connect the color output of the environment texture node to the surface input of the world output node
You can now see your HDRI
If you do not want to see the actual HDRI in the final render (but you still want the lighting)
– go into the render properties tab and under the film section, check “transparent”
In the next Blender 2.83 Basics tutorial we will be exploring cameras and rendering
If you are interested in learning more about 3D art and animation,
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Thanks for watching
Have a good day