Topic: Basic lighting in Blender (simple 3-point lighting)

[kat]

Scene rendering and basic three-point lighting in Blender

Blenders default Scene set-up isn't brilliant for rendering objects because the single light source results in very hard, dark shadows. To solve this problem a simple three-point lighting system can be used whereby the Scene (objects within it) are loosely surround by three strategically positioned light sources; 1) front-side, 2) side-rear, 3) rear-side - looking at the Scene top-down this would be (approximately) 1) 7-o-clock, 2) 2-o-clock, 3) 11-o-clock (shown below). Depending upon individual Lamps settings, shadows and shading can be biased in a given direction by increasing/decreasing the power of each by altering the "Energy:" and "Distance:" for selected Lamps in "Object" Properties (properties button displaying a 'light-source' icon) - settings are dependent on Scene scale and object size as "Distance:" is based on Blender's default 'Unit' measurement.