Great examples of lighting
polycounter lvl 18
Hello Polycounters, I haven't posted for a very long time, but I finally have a question (that I can't find answers for) that needs your attention and expertise 
I'm going to take on some lighting workflow responsibilities for the first time since 2005 and lighting tech has changed significantly since then, so much so that only the artistic fundamentals are relevant.
Could you folks point me in the right direction of wonderful examples of interior and exterior lighting? Please reference both the name of the game and the level you are speaking of so I can search for it on YouTube.
Thx folks!
-PaK
I'm going to take on some lighting workflow responsibilities for the first time since 2005 and lighting tech has changed significantly since then, so much so that only the artistic fundamentals are relevant.
Could you folks point me in the right direction of wonderful examples of interior and exterior lighting? Please reference both the name of the game and the level you are speaking of so I can search for it on YouTube.
Thx folks!
-PaK
Replies
https://www.artstation.com/artist/booncotter
for more moody/atmospheric lighting, look at the dead space series, some really interesting lighting examples throughout the entire series, but i really liked dead space 2.
Also, here's some great sources for inspiration:
neogaf screenshot thread
http://deadendthrills.com
- Battlefield 1, they did an amazing job creating very moody, stylized, epic feeling environments the moment you set foot into a level.
- Halo 4 and 5, both great skyboxes and examples of extraterrestrial landscapes with stylized, yet believable lighting.
- Destiny, some of the best vista and skybox work I have seen in recent games. They did an amazing job tieing their gameplay and non-gameplay spaces together in a near seamless fashion. Almost too good, made me wish for more expansive play spaces.
- Order 1886, rival's Destiny's fantastic vista work. The sequences where the team is on the side of the airship is incredible.
- Star Wars Battlefront, awesome job setting "photo-real" extraterrestrial environments. The snow/ice shaders and lighting in Hoth are great.
Interior Lighting for games:
- Order 1886, again. Their interior work fills up about 50% of my reference library. Good mix of gameplay and cinematic focus of their lighting work, and its just flat out gorgeous.
- Uncharted, as linked above, their tech, env, and specifically lighting teams (in this case) did an amazing job making photo-real environments that read quickly. At quick glance, you can pass some of Boon Carter's screenshots as a real life picture.
With lighting, pulling reference from every resource available is key. I have libraries of reference from every medium, mainly film and photography (if its not from games).
Inside (Playdead, 2016) has some interesting uses of low-key lighting.
There's this article on the visuals: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023002/Low-Complexity-High-Fidelity-INSIDE
Not game related but don't think it does matter
My god that shot is so perfect