Digital Lighting and Rendering

[Chapter Five] Lighting Creatures, Characters, and Animation

Good lighting can enhance animation in ways that are analogous to adding music and sound effects. When an animator keyframes a character, the initial animation tests are lacking in both lighting and sound. When the soundtrack is complete, sound effects add definition and solidity to every motion, with every swish through the air, and every footstep and thud created in sync with the animation. Likewise, good character lighting adds definition to the character. Shadows and occlusion create a sense of solid contact where feet meet the ground. Modeling with light defines the character’s ...