The Gnomon Workshop – Efficient Cinematic Lighting

This lecture will cover the principals of good composition with a high emphasis on effective cinematic lighting. Jeremy begins by discussing the fundamental concepts behind how light operates in the physical world, providing an overview of topics like reflection, absorption, refraction, color temperature and atmospheric dispersion. He then moves into camera based composition, discussing topics like camera angles, distance, lens choices, and depth of field along with how, along with the right lighting, helps to set up the mood of a shot. With a basic understanding of how cinematic composition and light works in the physical world, he then transitions into more of the artistic elements of lighting and composition as it relates to computer graphics such as basic 3-point lighting, framing, tonal gradients, implied lighting and atmosphere. He also discusses various lighting setups used to set mood and assist in the story telling process. These principals are then applied using Maya as the primary 3D tool. Jeremy initially discusses basic Maya lighting but quickly moves on to setting up various lighting conditions for a scene using V-Ray for Maya to achieve beautiful global illumination effects while still paying close attention to the principals outlined in the early part of the lecture.