How to arrange lighting in 3D interior design?

1. What type of environment is the scene?

Scene lighting is usually divided into three types: natural light, artificial light and a combination of the two.

The representative natural light is sunlight. When using natural light, there are several other issues to consider: What time of day is it; is it sunny or overcast; and, how much light is reflected in the environment?

Artificial light can be in almost any form. Any type of environment illuminated by electric light, fire, or both can be considered artificial. Artificial light is probably the most common of the three types of light sources. You also need to consider where the light is coming from and what its quality is. If there are several light sources, do you need to figure out which one is the main light source? It is also important to determine whether to use colored light. Almost all light sources have a colored tint rather than pure white.

The final type of light is a combination of natural and artificial light. When shooting movies outdoors in bright locations, cinematographers and lighting engineers sometimes use reflectors or fill lights to soften harsh shadows.

2. What is the purpose of lighting?

In other words, what is the tone and atmosphere of the scene? Expressing a tone in the lighting is crucial to the overall look of the image. In some cases the only goal is to see one or a few objects clearly, but often this is not the case and the actual goal is quite complex.

Lighting helps express an emotion or guide the viewer's eyes to a specific location. It can provide greater depth to the scene and show rich layers. So when creating lighting for a scene, you can ask yourself, what tone do you want to convey? Does the lighting you set up enhance the story?

-Are there any special lighting effects in the scene, and if so, should they be created with lights or through other means?

In addition to the usual types of lights, many 3D animation software offers many special effects in the form of incandescent lights, stereo lights and special material properties. While some are not technically types of lights, they are often added to the appearance of visible light effects in a scene. A simple example is the shine or glow of a visible light source. Since these effects do not occur automatically in 3D, you need to specifically include them in your rendering and consider their appearance and strengths.

3. Are there any reference materials for the creative source?

When creating realistic scenes, make a habit of drawing from actual photos and movies. Good reference materials can provide clues as to what certain objects and environments look like at different times of day or under certain conditions.

By carefully analyzing the placement of highlights and shadows in a photo, it is often possible to reconstruct the basic position and intensity of light acting on the image. A lot can also be learned by using existing source material to recreate lighting arrangements.

After considering the above issues, it is time to create lights for a scene. Although the number, type, and individual properties of light sources will vary from scene to scene, there are three basic types of light sources: key light, fill light, and background light, which all work together in harmony.

4. Key light

In a scene, its main light source is usually called the key light. The key light does not have to be just a light source, but it must be the main source of lighting. Likewise, key lights are not necessarily fixed in one place like point lights.

Although the point light source is usually placed at the three-quarter position (turned 45 degrees from the front of the object and 45 degrees upward from the center line, this position is often used as a fixed position) , but depending on the needs of the specific scene, it can also come from below or behind the object, or from any other position. The key light is usually the first light source placed and used to create preliminary lighting effects in the scene.

Although the initial placement provided a good way to light the object, the result was a really dull and uninteresting image. Shadows are often harsh and very noticeable. Likewise, scenes always look too dark because there's no natural ambient light to brighten shadow areas. This situation is very useful in certain scenes, such as night scenes, but for most scenes, it seems a bit inappropriate.

5. Fill light

Fill light is used to fill the dark and shadow areas of the scene. The key light is the most noticeable light source in the scene, but the light from the fill light can provide depth of field and a sense of realism.