Research Essay/Synopsis

A 3-point lighting system is basically set up using three different lights, which are categorized under key, fill and back light. These lighting techniques serve to create illumination to a scene which has total darkness. Figure 1 illustrates this.

figure 1


The key light sets the stage for the rest of the lighting because it is the strongest light, which gives body to the scene and casts shadows.


figure 2

While the fill light, fills or tones in the shadows created by the key light giving the scene a sense of time, place, mood and drama. The fill light as a result also brightens the scene and should always be to some degree less brighter than the key light using soft light.


figure 3

The back light is essential to three-point lighting in that it separates the scene from the background, by giving definition and subtle highlights.



figure 4








figure 5(before rendering scene)









figure 6(after rendering)


Below is a classic example on the study of 3-point lighting

The Key light This light is placed at a 45 degree angle to the left giving the oranges a spherical nature and casting shadows on the floor to show that they are stacked on top of each other on a surface. However, the image lacks detail in the shadow areas. This can be rectified by adding another light to the right of the oranges to add some illumination to those darkened areas. The light added is known as the fill light.

The Fill light This light as mentioned earlier is used to illuminate those areas of the image which are found in shadow when the key light is placed. The fill is only used to allow us to see a little more detail. The key light is about 2-3 times brighter than the fill.

The Key and Fill light The combination of using both key and fill light gives the image a better appearance than when each light stands alone. The image has more depth and detail. It is neither too dark, nor too washed out. However, the 3-point lighting requires there be added a third light which is known as the back light. The right side of the oranges are losing their depth against the background, therefore in order to counteract this we then add a back/rim light.

The Back/Rim light The rim light is placed behind the objects being illuminated and is angled so that the light glances off the surface of the object at the narrowest angle. The intensity of this light is often quite high, often brighter than the key. Due to its intensity and placement it creates a line of bright light around the object and in doing so lifts the object away from the background. The rim light is principally used to ensure that a dark object does not blend in with a dark background. OK now the lighting is complete let's examine the finished result.

The Finished Render The image still has contrast and a good range of tones from black through to white. The floor shadows and the shadowing of one orange onto another are still there showing each object's relationship to the next and detail be seen even in the shadow areas on the fruit.

References:
http://www.andrew-whitehurst.net/3point.html
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Tutorials/Three_Point_Light
http://highend3d.com/maya/tutorials/rendering_lighting/general/235.html

3 Still images

1. Dreary Mondays

I titled this scene Dreary Mondays because of the gloomy feeling one always gets when approaching Monday mornings after a blissful weekend. The tones of the lighting are pale soft lights with low intensities to depict the sorrowful mood. The shadows are also soft and barely noticeable, while the tips of the lamp, table and china are caressed by soft rays of light.



2. Untitled

The ghostly setup of the lampshade represent the lifelessness of the scene, yet a contradiction is noticeable when we relate the lampshade with the other objects in the indoor environment. This ironical lighting scene has sharp spot lighting directed at the base of the lamp, giving it a glowing feel and the scene which is set in a slightly brighter light than the first scene has a pleasant atmosphere.



3. Daybreak

This scene was set up using a comparison of two different riggings to explore the use of the three point lighting and rendering methods.
A spot light was used to setup light to the scene, then 4 was used as the intensity lighting with some added green and blue tones to depict daybreak of values G 0.971 and B 0.895. I enabled the shadow and left the umbra at a default of 0.75. The cone angle was also adjusted to 43.075 giving the room an intense isolated lighting. Similar processes were done to the fill light and back light, this can be seen in figures 3 and 4 above.