Lighting for Games in UE5 by Maria Yue

This is a 16-week live bootcamp with Maria Yue where you light a full game scene in Unreal Engine 5 from first idea to final render. You work through reference, blockout, color, volumetric lighting, and presentation, with personal feedback at each step.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Build a full lighting concept from reference boards to final cinematic renders in UE5
• Place and balance key, fill, and rim lights for readable gameplay and mood
• Use color theory, light layers, and contrast to direct player attention
• Work with materials, reflection, and light-surface response in real-time
• Create depth with atmospheric fog, volumetrics, and local fog volumes
• Optimize lighting for performance and fix leaks, overexposure, and flat depth
• Render with Movie Render Queue and edit a portfolio cut in DaVinci Resolve

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of Unreal Engine 5 UI and 3D fundamentals, familiarity with lighting basics
• Tools: Unreal Engine 5, PureRef, DaVinci Resolve
• Hardware: PC capable of running UE5 with dedicated GPU, 16GB+ RAM recommended

📝 Description

You can place lights and your scene still looks flat. That is what this bootcamp fixes. Maria shows how to use Unreal Engine 5, light ratios, and color to build mood that actually reads both in-game and in a portfolio render.

You work the way studios work. Start with a reference board in PureRef, do a clean lighting blockout with key, fill, and rim, then push it with materials, shadows, and layers. No empty theory — every week you make a call in your own scene and get feedback on it.

The second half is all atmosphere and delivery. You will mess with atmospheric fog, volumetric lighting, and local fog volumes to get depth without tanking performance. You will learn where light leaks come from, how to control bloom and exposure, and how to keep contrast under control.

Then you ship it. Lock your cameras, render with Movie Render Queue, cut it in DaVinci Resolve, and present it like someone hiring for lighting wants to see it. Short, clear, and focused on your choices.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Environment and lighting artists who want to get hired for games and need a strong UE5 piece
• UE5 generalists who can build scenes but struggle with mood, color, and cinematic presentation

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Maria Yue is an ex-Principal Lighting Artist at Splash Damage with 14+ years in games. She has shipped lighting for Far Cry, Gears 5, Star Citizen, and Robinson: The Journey, and led teams at Sharkmob London and Romero Games. She now runs EmberShade and teaches real-time lighting focused on storytelling and production-ready workflows.

🏁 Final Result

• A finished cinematic lighting scene in UE5, rendered and edited into a short portfolio video with breakdown of your lighting decisions