Hello! Welcome to my new blog ’3D Lighting’. This is a place where I will share my work and techniques and provide a forum for others involved in lighting for 3D. The video above is my most recent demo reel. A higher quality version is available here for download. The shot list is included below this post. Enjoy!

http://download63.mediafire.com/5to2d3ndxnmg/bkm5ideivxj/Lighting_Showreel_2007_23MEGS.mov

Shot 01 – Spitfires Flyby

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: All except modeling

This sequence accurately depicts aircraft of 71 Squadron, RAF circa August 1940. Each aircraft was rendered separately, then composited in After Effects along with the fluid effects clouds. The lighting setup consists of a directional key light, an area bounce light, and an image based light. The scene was created in Maya, and rendered in MentalRay using final gather. All elements in the scene were created by the artist with the exception of the Spitfire model credited to Anders Lejczak.

Shot 02 – Ford Freestyle

Client: White Iron Digital, J Walter Thompson, Ford Motors Software: Maya Renderer: Maya Software Artist Credits: Lighting, Texturing, Cameras

The shot shown here was part of a pitch by White Iron Digital for J Walter Thompson (an advertisement agency) and their client Ford Motors. The car model was provided and all other elements were created. The lighting setup consists of spotlights and area lights as well as white rectangles for reflections. The scene was setup in Maya and rendered using Maya’s integral renderer.

Shot 03 – Building Exterior

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: All elements

The goal of the set of images here was not only to show progression from morning until evening but to convey a sense of mood to the viewer. The scene is lit using a series of spot lights and area lights as well as HDRI images in conjunction with final gather to create environmental lighting for each shot. Each image was rendered in MentalRay and edited in Photoshop.

Shot 04 – Brave

Client: New Machine Studios, Picasso Pictures, Tiger Aspect Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: Lighting

This scene was part of a pitch by New Machine Studios to work on a childrens’ television series called ‘Brave’ then in pre-production with Picasso Pictures and Tiger Aspect. The bid was well received however the TV project was cancelled and instead the Brave character became the basis for a successful PS2 game – Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer. The shot here was lit in Maya using a combination of direct spotlights and an image based light. It was then rendered using MentalRay.

Shot 05 – 24 Hour Lighting

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: Lighting

This sequence shows a city over a twenty four hour period starting just before daybreak. The lighting setup accurately simulates light temperature and colour over this time: by animating a node attached to a directional light that controls the light’s temperature measured in degrees Kelvin. As the lights temperature increases the light moves from oranges and yellows to hot blue and white at noon, then decreases to a warm light as the afternoon progresses. A single directional light is used for the sun, a single directional light for the moon, and a low level blue-grey image based light for non direct illumination.

Shot 06 – Sheldon

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: All elements

The image here was created to illustrate the sense of scale that depth of field can create. The scene is lit using traditional three point lighting – a key, fill and rim lights – as well as a subtle GI effect from an image based light textures by an HDRI image and rendered with final gather using MentalRay. The depth of field effect was created by rendering the image’s Z-depth and then using adjustment layers in Photoshop to blur portions of the original render.

Shot 07 – Human Head

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: Lighting, Texturing, Hair Effects Model by ‘Stee’ at Turbosquid

The image is a realistic rendering of a human male’s head. Multiple texture layers were created and applied to a Sub-Surface Scattering shader and hair effects placed on the polygon model. The scene was then lit with key, fill, and rim lights. The image was broken into render layers for each light source as well as for a base beauty pass, specularity, and ambient occlusion. Each layer was then rendered in MentalRay and composited in Photoshop.

Shot 08 – Raven Tales

Client: New Machine Studios Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay Artist Credits: Lighting

The TV Pilot / Film ‘Raven Tales: How the Raven Stole the Sun’ presented unique lighting challenges. Not only were the usual obstacles of budget and time constraints present, but the lighting setup had to be created to simulate a world before light existed – but not have the scene be in darkness. A unique lighting and rendering solution was created to cast the environment and characters in an other worldly glow using animated image based lights and final gather. Raven Tales has gone on to win numerous awards on the festival circuit and has been picked up as a 26 episode series.

Shot 09 – Non-Stop Dodgeball

Client: White Iron Digital, Astral Media Software: 3D Studio Max, BouJou Renderer: 3dS Max Software Artist Credits: Lighting, Camera Tracking, some modelling, some texturing

This sequence is part of a series of show bumpers created for, and currently running on the Family television station. Green screen shots were motion tracked with BouJou and the camera data imported into 3D Studio Max. There shots were framed so that the live action children fit seemlessly with the 3D environment. The lighting setup consisted of a series of low intensity spotlights that simulated global illumination style lighting, but with drastically reduced render times.

Shot 10 – Soviet Walker

Client: None Software: Maya Renderer: MentalRay, Maya Software, Maya Hardware, Maya Vector Artist Credits: All elements , inspired by the art of Paolo Parente’s Dust

This scene was rendered in multiple layers and uses a combination of various renderers to achieve its graphic style. The walker itself was rendered in three passes: a global illumination pass in MentalRay using final gather, a specularity pass in MentalRay, and a toon shaded pass in Maya Vector. The volumetric spotlight and the fluid effects clouds were rendered as seperate passes in Maya Software. Finally the rain particles were rendered on their own using Maya Hardware. These elements were then compiled in After Effects to create the final shot.