Shot 3 Full Render Preview

Shot 3 is done! This is the first time I've done a split-screen effect for an animation and it was a fun learning experience!

Light for the Camera, Not for the Scene

I often fake lighting in my work by adding light sources where they shouldn't actually be. This creates a more interesting effect at the SMALL cost of realism.

Additionally, lighting a scene is often best when lighting for the camera. This means that instead of placing lights to make the scene lighting look good overall, you direct the lighting for the camera angle. This shot, for example, looks pretty bad from the side profile where the majority of the light is hitting Legacy.

The lighting above is flat and boring, so let's move the camera down behind him.

This lighting is MUCH more appealing but why? This often comes down to contrast. Having a visible balance between the highlights, midtones, and shadows is one way to turn a flat picture into something eye-catching. It's why I feel that lighting is one the most important parts of an image.

I mentioned fake lighting earlier. Sometimes I'll place a light nearer to the camera to highlight elements of the scene that the overall scene lights wouldn't catch. These soldiers, for example, have an extra area light cast onto them.

Without the light, the soldiers blend into the scene and don't really stand out. This is a specific detail I wanted to include as a scale reference so I found it necessary to add the light to attract the eye.

That's all for this WIP! I have the first mini-mation ALMOST ready for this month. Stay tuned!