Real-Time Character & Environment Lighting by Eric Roin

Ready to make your game characters and environments pop? This workshop dives deep into creating stunning cinematic lighting using Unreal Engine 5. Whether you’re already working with game engines or just curious about lighting, Eric Roin breaks down the techniques used in professional game and cinematic productions.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Master the principles of 3-point lighting for characters.
• Light both interior and exterior environments effectively.
• Create compelling lighting for daytime and nighttime scenes.
• Utilize Unreal Engine 5‘s lighting tools and post-processing.
• Understand color theory and its impact on environment design.
• Learn best practices for team collaboration as a lighting artist.
• Get tips for presenting a professional lighting artist portfolio.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Intermediate to advanced understanding of 3D principles, familiarity with Unreal Engine interface is beneficial.
• Tools: A computer capable of running Unreal Engine 5.
• Hardware: A dedicated GPU is highly recommended for real-time rendering performance.

📝 Description

This workshop is all about crafting believable and impactful lighting for real-time applications, focusing on Unreal Engine 5. Eric Roin, a seasoned professional, guides you through the entire process, starting with the fundamentals of character lighting and then moving into the complexities of environment lighting. You’ll tackle three distinct shots, each presenting unique challenges like different times of day and contrasting interior/exterior scenes.

Beyond just placing lights, you’ll explore how lighting tells a story within your environments, enhancing the mood and guiding the player’s eye. The course also covers essential color correction using Unreal’s post-processing tools, with a clear explanation of the color theory that underpins effective environment design. Eric shares invaluable insights into professional workflows, including tips for working within a team and how to showcase your work in a portfolio. Assets from BigMediumSmall’s Post-Apocalyptic pack are used throughout the demonstrations.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Artists looking to improve their game lighting skills.
• Professionals aiming to create cinematic sequences in real-time.
• Anyone interested in learning Unreal Engine 5 lighting techniques.
• Intermediate to advanced 3D artists seeking to specialize in lighting.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Eric Roin is a Lighting Artist at Firaxis Games and a graduate of Gnomon. He specializes in real-time workflows using Unreal Engine, contributing to both cinematic and interactive projects. His impressive industry credits include Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Mortal Kombat 11, the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the DC film Shazam!. Eric also shares his expertise by teaching Unreal Engine at the Gnomon School, helping aspiring artists master real-time production and virtual filmmaking. Kyle Sarvas, Lead VAD Artist at Industrial Light & Magic, notes Eric’s effectiveness in addressing feedback and problem-solving, while another colleague highlights his strong communication and rapid iteration skills.

🏁 Final Result

• Students will be able to create professional-quality, portfolio-ready character and environment lighting scenes using Unreal Engine 5, suitable for both games and cinematics.