Blender 3D modeling ~ 1. Camera and Lighting Setup (Approved; Addition Pending)

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Age of Kings Heaven » Forums » The University » Blender 3D modeling ~ 1. Camera and Lighting Setup (Approved; Addition Pending)

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Topic Subject: Blender 3D modeling ~ 1. Camera and Lighting Setup (Approved; Addition Pending)

Jan dc
Squire
(id: Den cekke)

posted 05-07-17 11:43 AM CT (US)

Content: Blender setup tutorial for Age of Empires II

Requirements: Some knowledge of Blender

Estimated Time: Short

Attachment(s): basic_setup_v0.1.blend

Introduction

In this tutorial I will quickly explain the settings I use for the lights and cameras in Blender. In the attachment I have included the basic_setup_v0.1.blend file which has the the basic settings presets, so you don't have to recreate them from scratch. I advise you not to skip on this tutorial because understanding how the camera and lighting works is very important. It impacts other aspects of 3D modeling and so will be important in the next tutorials. Be sure to check the comments below to make sure you have the latest file, since it is possible that these settings will change in the future.

Setup ~ Lighting

For the lighting in the scene I am using a variation of the three point lighting technique. A common mistake among beginner modelers (one which I also made) is to overload the scene with lights. To have a more realistic and better looking 3D scene, it is very important to show strong contrast between light and shadow. So keep the amount of lights to a minimum.
I deviated a bit from the theory and added a fourth light, underneath the sun. As you will notice none of the lights cast shadows, except for the sun which only casts a shadow and no light at all. This is because the sun casts a very strong shadow on the ground plane, which is necessary to be able to have a black ground shadow. The other front light is there to provide the front side of the building with sufficient brightness and to soften the shadows cast by the sun on the building itself.

[1] Spot, behind the building. (Energy: 2.0) (Distance: 25.0) (Downwards angle: 52�) (No Shadow) (Specular and Diffuse)
[2] Spot, left of the building. (Energy: 1.8) (Distance: 10.0) (Downwards angle: 58�) (No Shadow) (Only Diffuse)
[3] Sun, in front of the building. (Energy: 2.0) (Downwards angle: 20�) (Only Shadows) (Specular and Diffuse)
[4] Point, in front of the building. (Energy: 7.0) (Distance: 25.0) (Downwards angle: 25�) (No Shadow) (Specular and Diffuse)
[5] (Indoor lighting, usually a yellow/orange area light)

Setup ~ Camera

The camera in my setup is an orthographic one with value 11.5, it has a rotation of x:60� y:0� z:-135�* and its coordinates are x:-12 y:12 z:10.

*some say it is 59� along the x axis but doesn't matter much.

Conclusion

This is a rather short tutorial but an important one. With this basic setup you can already start trying out some basic geometrical shapes and see how the lighting affects the shapes, or the how the shadow is cast on the ground plane. In the next Tutorial I will explain proportions and naming conventions.

See you there,
Jan

[This message has been edited by Jan dc (edited 05-15-2017 @ 04:56 AM).]

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Replies:

Jan dc
Squire
(id: Den cekke)

posted 05-09-17 02:36 PM CT (US) 1 / 2

Moderators, can this be renamed to "Blender 3D modeling ~ 1. Camera and Lighting Setup" plz?

Edit: Thank you

[This message has been edited by Jan dc (edited 05-12-2017 @ 05:58 AM).]

Goncen
Squire

posted 11-20-23 03:25 PM CT (US) 2 / 2

Thank you

Age of Kings Heaven » Forums » The University » Blender 3D modeling ~ 1. Camera and Lighting Setup (Approved; Addition Pending)

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