Lighting Advice in UE4

Auldbenkenobi

Hey guys, apologies if this is in the wrong section, but I'm looking for advice. I'm going to admit, lighting is not my strong point and I want to change that.

All my environments in UDK and UE4, I've stumbled along with lighting and had them get let down by, basically, shitty lighting.

My new environment, I'm making an Endor inspired scene and I want to tackle lighting nice and early. Here's what i have so far in my blockout:



And here's what I'd like to achieve:




Or thereabouts.

Obviously, textures will largely affect this, but I'd love other people's initial gut reactions, especially since it's so early in the process.

Thanks!

(And if this is consider wrong section, please let me know. I figured here was best as I'm not really showing anything off.)

leleuxart

The hardest part with lighting in Unreal is the fact that the post-process volume can pretty much change everything. I'd consider turning off the post-process volume and disabling eye adaptation while you're lighting, just don't even worry about it until you've gotten as much as possible out of the lights. Just start with the main, dominant light that affects the scene the most and go from there. Added the bounce lights in important areas, or utilize the GI if you're using a heightmap or baked lighting. Depending on how your light is positioned, you might not get the sporadic pools of light through the trees, so you may want to create a light gobo and project the texture.

You're going to be using the AT-ST(right? I'm not too good with the names) as the focal point, so I'd play around with localizing the pools of light around it more so than the entire environment.

Auldbenkenobi

Thanks leleuxart, if it's cool, could you explain GI and Gobo is?

And yeah, the ATST is the focal point, so I'll apply what you've suggested, thanks!

leleuxart

Auldbenkenobi wrote: »

Thanks leleuxart, if it's cool, could you explain GI and Gobo is?

And yeah, the ATST is the focal point, so I'll apply what you've suggested, thanks!

GI is Global Illumination. It's when light bounces from a surface and reflects that light, including the color of the surface. For something like a forest, it's not as noticeable compared to indoor scenes, but it can help ground everything and make them feel a little more cohesive with the scene. In Unreal, you have the option of baking it with your lights, use a dynamic solution if you're using a terrain heightmap, or you can fake it with individually placed point lights.


A light gobo is like a texture being projected from a light. They can be used to fake shadows, like a point light projecting the light in a square texture or projecting a texture of a dirty window, or in your case, projecting light that's broken up as if it was passing through tree canopies. In Unreal, they're called Light Functions, which can be seen here with the light projecting the U logo.

Auldbenkenobi

Amazing, thanks for the help leleuxart! There' clearly a lot about Unreal I still need to learn!

o2car

Yes. Gobos are a great way to get dappled lighting, which will add a sense of height to your trees.
Looking forward to see more

Auldbenkenobi

Awesome, thanks guys