Advanced Cycles Lighting

[shibazz]

With cycles how do you control light? Falloff? Softness? This sort of thing.

Are you supposed to build barn doors to block and pinch light? Anyone know of any tutorials that lay out best practices for lighting in Cycles?

With real lights you use distance and strength, as well as flags and such to block light for a camera, is that how you’re supposed to do it in Cycles?

cheers,
~Shibazz

[Nazarii]

Hi Shibazz,

Maybe, Light Falloff node will help you?

[shibazz]

Thanks Nazarii, you’re right that would control fall off.

How about kicker lights? I usually have trouble reproducing strong lights with a small “cone” or area of influence. Like a small powerful spotlight. Do you know how those are done in cycles?

[lsscpp]

Another option is to plug a layer weight node and play with it. A trick that can emulate IES lights (colorramp needed) or barndoors (no way to choose independet barns though)

[Nazarii]

@shibazz

Thanks Nazarii, you’re right that would control fall off.

How about kicker lights? I usually have trouble reproducing strong lights with a small “cone” or area of influence. Like a small powerful spotlight. Do you know how those are done in cycles?

Maybe putting a light source in a cone which is invisible to camera rays will do.

[lsscpp]

@shibazz

Thanks Nazarii, you’re right that would control fall off.

How about kicker lights? I usually have trouble reproducing strong lights with a small “cone” or area of influence. Like a small powerful spotlight. Do you know how those are done in cycles?

Or just use two Spot light with different cone size and Blend at 1