Real world lighting setups can be created in Cinema 4D, such as the 3-point arrangement – Key, Fill and Back lights.
Key light – use ‘Infinite’ light
This is the main source of light in a scene (Directional).
Suggested adjustment: Alter Colour and Shadow.
Fill light – use ‘Light’ (Omni light)
This brings light back into areas of shadow in front of a subject (placed behind the camera opposite to Key light).
Suggested adjustments: Alter Intensity and use the check boxes for;
- Ambient Illumination – Floods the entire scene with light
- Diffuse – isolates the light across surfaces (good for general use)
- Specular – isolates the highlights of a surface
Back light – use ‘Light’ (Omni light)
This separates objects from the background and is generally used to add a sliver of light along the edge of an object (placed behind the object).
Suggested adjustments: Lights can be assigned to objects using the Project tab in its attributes, then choosing to ‘Include’ or ‘Exclude’ objects.
Tips
A ‘Target’ Tag can be added to light to point at particular objects.
Visible light
Lights can also exist within a scene, joined to an object (placed in its hierarchy and zero out its position) and even animated.
Suggested adjustments:
- (General Tab) Change colour, shadow, type.
- (Visible Tab) Change Inner and Outer size.
- (Details Tab) Set the Fall Off so the light dissipates.