This tutorial provides a detailed demonstration of how to approach outdoor lighting for any time of day. We begin by discussing the nature of outdoor light, the sun, the sky, shadows and the use of reference material. In Maya we focus on a direct illumination approach utilizing both the native renderer and Mental Ray, while also discussing the use of skyDomes, bounce light, raytracing, optiFX, Final Gather and Ambient Occlusion. Various times of day are created, including morning, noon, afternoon, evening and night. Animated lighting tests are rendered and composited in After Effects, incorporating Z-depth based Depth-of-Field, Highlight Blooming and other filter adjustments to make our renders feel more photographic.

• Using Reference
• Sun and Sky Illumination
• SkyDomes
• Bounce Light
• Raytracing
• OptiFX
• Final Gather
• Ambient occlusion
• Creating different times of day
• Highlight Blooming

Chapters
1. Introduction, Reference and Skies
2. Sun and Sky Illumination
3. Shadows and Bounce Light
4. Changing the Time of Day
5. Variations, Lighting for Animation
6. Compositing, Z-Depth, Post-Effects

• Product Code: AAL14
• Duration: 293 minutes
• Formats: Download Only

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Alex Alvarez

Founder, Director The Gnomon Workshop
Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Alex is founder and director of The Gnomon Workshop and of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Having dedicated the last decade to educating students and professional artists around the world, Alex has helped change the face of computer graphics and design education. He has been published in industry magazines, websites and books - plus he has taught courses at several major trade conferences. Alex is president of the Los Angeles Maya Users Group and sits on the Advisory Boards for Highend3D.com and CGsociety. He continues to work on personal and professional projects, recently as a creature development artist on the James Cameron film Avatar. Prior to Gnomon, Alex worked for Alias|Wavefront as a consultant and trainer for studios in the Los Angeles area. Alex is an alumnus of the Art Center College of Design and the University of Pennsylvania.