Datasheet

c h a p t e r 1: UNDERSTANDING LIGHTING, COLOR, AND COMPOSITION ■

Naturalistic lighting, by its very nature, does not dictate a ﬁxed number of

lights or speciﬁc light locations or intensities. However, you can use the following

guidelines to assist you during setup:

D• etermine what the strongest light is and where it should be coming from. Is

the light source visible within the frame or is it arriving from offscreen? Set one

or more key lights in appropriate locations. Match the type of light to the type

of source. (See Chapter 2 for more information on Maya light types.) Render

tests to determine the appropriate intensities of the key or keys before adding

fill lights.

D• etermine what secondary light sources are needed. Are these sources physical

(that is, a lamp, a candle, and so on), or are they actually the bounced light of

the strongest light source? Set fill lights in the appropriate locations. If you are

copying an existing location, replicate the key-to-fill ratio. If the scene you are

creating does not exist in the real world, apply a key-to-fill ratio that is similar

to an equivalent location in the real world.

W• hen applying shadows, replicate the type of shadow that is naturally pro-

duced by a specific light source. For example, midday sunlight creates hard-

edged parallel shadows (see Figure 1.25). An artificial source close to the

subject, such as a lightbulb, produces a shadow that widens and softens over

distance. (See Chapter 3 for information on shadow creation in Maya.)

Figure 1.25 (Left) The sun creates parallel shadows of stone columns. (Right) An articial light source creates a

shadow that widens and softens over distance.

C• olor is equally important when reproducing a particular location. Different

light sources create different wavelengths of light, which in turn produce spe-

cific hues that are perceived by the human eye or recorded on a medium such as

film or video. (See Chapter 2 for information concerning Maya light color. For

information on color temperature, see “A Note on Color Temperature” at the

end of this chapter.)

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