Instructinator

Basics of Light Sources

• Always place a mesh or use part of a texture or something to show where the light is coming from. Light doesn’t just come from nowhere.
• From that source your light should hit a surface closest to it with a brighter light.
• There are other light rays that fall off from that. The backsplash from the highlight where the light hits the bright surface. This must be represented.
• Place a larger but much less bright light to use as the fall off. This is the actual area light.
• You may also want to light the mesh your using as a light source , sometimes they need a back light to make them stand out from the wall, or to be lit at all.
• For more visit:  http://waylon-art.com/LearningUnreal/UE3-09-Lighting.htm

Tips:
Hold “L” and click on a surface to place a basic light actor
Ctrl+L and click on a surface creates a small light that matches the colour you clicked on

Lighting Techniques

• • Basics
    • Lighting is never pure white
    • Everything must have a light ‘touching’ it
    • Only use bright lights near light fixtures
    • Use lower intensity (bounce lights) with opposite colour to primary lights to light shadows
    • Rim lights in Level Design are tricky in 3D spaces and thus…
      • Are either other Primary Lights – structure your level accordingly
      • Are placed in non-interactive areas
    • Corners should be darker than walls
    • Generally speaking, the lower the geometry is to the ground, the darker. The further geometry is from anything related to gameplay, the darker.
  • 3 Point Lighting
    • Key Light
    • Fill Light
    • Rim Light
  • Natural Light
    • Daylight: Yellow Primary, Blue Bounce (or shadows)
    • Moonlight: Blue Primary, Yellow/Orange Bounce (or shadows)
  • Advanced Lighting
    • Lighting modifies colour information by multiplying the colour values of the light and texture
    • White Light: does not exist in nature, may be useful for a VERY bleached effect. Simply amps existing texture colour up and and down in brightness, may allow texture flaws to show through easier.
• Visual Design
  • • http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20010716/pagan_03.htm

In general if you have a light with small radius it is brighter, and area or ambient lights with larger areas have less brightness. This creates contrast needed to make the light believable.

Static Meshes

• Static Meshes are not BSPs
• Static Meshes are much easier to render especially if repeated!
• To add a static mesh, open the generic browser and ensure that static meshes is checked in the list.
• Browse to any package Eg. UN_Cave and right click and chose “Fully Load”
• In your perspective view port, right click, choose “add actor” > “add static mesh”
• The static mesh you have selected will be added in that spot you right clicked.
• You can edit the scale of a static mesh by changing the first field in the row on the lower right.

Proper use of static meshes

• Cover all BSP Corners. Make sure all the edges are rounded or braced by geometry that helps to suspend disbelief.
• When placing static meshes it is important to be wary of their collision meshes.
  • Turn on collision in your viewport  options