3D Lighting

Is there something missing from your 3D images? Do they lack vibrancy and realism? If so, the problem may not be with your images, but with the lighting behind them. Mastering the art of lighting in 3D graphics is a challenge facing even the most experienced professionals. The hands-on techniques and guidelines provided in these pages, show how to illuminate your work and add new depth and detail to your images. From the history of lighting, to the detailed fundamentals of 3D graphics, all of the concepts needed to improve or refresh your lighting skills are covered. The general lighting techniques and information provided should serve as a useful resource. A variety of detailed tutorials are used throughout the book to teach techniques and both cinematography and photography are covered. The text details colour theory and the fundamentals of how a computer draws, and covers all types of lighting situation from portrait, indoor/outdoor, water, textured materials (hair, fur, fabric, sand and snow), reflective and refractive (metals, glass, plastic, gels), to anisotropic materials including brushed objects, wood grain, and coated surfaces.
Commercial applications including Lightscape 3.2, Lightwave 5.6, and trueSpace 4.2 are used in the examples as well as 3D Studio Max and VIZ. A colour section illustrates techniques and the CD-ROM (Win/Mac) includes demos of some of the programs covered, and illustrations and tutorials from within the book.