Real-World Insight into 3-Point Lighting and the Chiaroscuro Technique

It's easy to forget that what we do in Blender is built upon real techniques and concepts from the real world. Oftentimes, when trying to learn how to do something in Blender, the first instinct can be to look for a "Blender" tutorial on the subject. That can be fine for a quick fix, but don't forget to dig a little deeper on the subject when you have more time.

Figure out where you can get richer information about the real-world practices for the subject, and bring that knowledge back to Blender.

For lighting techniques, I think photography is a great place to start. Oil paintings (done by the Masters) are a great way to study the artistic application of the techniques. Of course, oil paintings precede photography on the timeline of history, but photography is where you'll find descriptions of lighting techniques that directly relate to what you'll be doing in Blender.

The following videos are good examples of the kind of info that's out there just waiting to illuminate your mind (sorry, couldn't resist). The three videos on 3-point lighting compliment each other with subtle, overlapping details. The fourth video is an example of a painting technique (Chiaroscuro) applied to real-world lighting.

Experiment with these techniques in Blender and watch your confidence increase as you have a new level of understanding based on real-world practices.

3-Point Lighting







Chiaroscuro Lighting Technique

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