Lighting and Shading for Film Production [CGMA, Frederic Durand, Group-Buy]

This course provides an in-depth exploration of lighting, shading, and rendering techniques using Arnold for Maya, tailored specifically for feature film production. Students will begin by setting up a basic lighting scene and will learn about Direct vs. Indirect Illumination, various light types, and their applications. The curriculum covers advanced transmissive materials, including refraction, caustics, sub-surface scattering, and material mixing. Students will also practice compositing various elements, reconstructing lighting and shading in Nuke, and developing effective rendering strategies.

Week-by-Week Breakdown:​

Week 1: Introduction and General Lighting and Shading

• Overview of Arnold for Maya and its competitors
• Integration with Maya and using the Arnold render view
• Simple scene lighting and shading demonstrations
• Understanding direct and indirect illumination (Global Illumination)
• Overview of materials and linear workflow
• Rendering settings, including 32-bit EXR single and multi-channel outputs

Week 2: Rendering Procedures

• Camera and render settings, including aspect ratios
• Concepts of color management and linear workflow
• Pixel depth: 32-bit vs. 8-bit
• Render etiquette and naming conventions
• Working with EXR multi-channels, layers, and AOVs
• Compositing layers and AOVs in Photoshop

Week 3: Light Sources Typology Part 1

• Theories of light quality: large vs. small lights
• Soft and hard lighting distinctions
• Natural lighting sources: sun and directional light, sky and Skydome
• Artificial lighting techniques: spotlights, gobos, and photometric lighting
• Exploring light emission and self-illumination

Week 4: Light Sources Typology Part 2 and Designations

• Area lights and outdoor illumination techniques
• Light linking and indoor illumination strategies
• The three-point lighting technique: key light, fill light, and rim light
• Per-light rendering and compositing methods

Week 5: Material Descriptions and Surfacing

• Fundamentals of shading
• Constructing AiStandardSurface materials
• Understanding diffuse components, reflections, and specular highlights
• Surface alterations: bump, normals, and displacement maps
• Exploring opacity, transparency, refractions, and caustics
• Emitting light materials, translucence, and sub-surface scattering
• Mixing materials using blend and additive modes

Week 6: Rendering and Compositing

• Creating models with quality subdivisions
• Techniques for ambient occlusion and curvature
• Working with mattes and material IDs
• Introduction to Nuke compositing and “pre-light” rendering
• Beauty deconstruction and reconstruction in Nuke
• Utilizing mattes and stencil masks, along with depth of field strategies for both 3D and 2D
• Addressing typical premultiplication issues and using cinematic look-up tables with Arnold and Nuke

You can find more details by following this link.