When working with lighting, my main focus was on accentuating shapes. I found that spotlights worked best for establishing credible light sources and gave me more control and softer shadows compared to point lights. Rect lights were used mainly for artistic and block-out lighting. I kept SkyLight relatively simple as it didn’t have much impact on the interior scene.
After working on the previous project, I decided to avoid baked lighting and chose to use raytracing instead. At first, the lighting seemed lacking, but I was able to enhance it by incorporating Global Illumination and authentic Ambient Occlusion. In addition, I made sure that all the Project Settings are fine (DirectX 12 is on, Dynamic Global Illumination Method is set to Lumen, Ray Lighting Mode is set to Surface Cache, Software Ray Tracing Method is on Detail Tracing, Shadow Map Method is using Virtual Shadow Maps, Support Hardware Ray Tracing is on and Use Hardware Ray Tracing is enabled). I also checked that the materials aren’t too dark and that they reflect enough light.
To improve the quality of my visuals, I made some adjustments in the settings of the Post Process Volume. Firstly, I set the infinite extent to unbound and disabled auto exposure by changing the Metering Mode to Manual and turning off Apply Physical Camera Exposure. Then, I manually adjusted the exposure compensation through the Post Process Volume. Finally, I worked on enhancing the Volumetric Fog and Volumetric Scattering Intensity.
Throughout the process, I made sure that all my light sources were set as movable and had raytracing enabled. For light fixtures, I used temperature as a colour to achieve warm tones and make themlook more realistic. When using area lights, I focused more on adding saturation and mood through hand-picked colours. One of my favorite discoveries was using color ramps for the materials in Niagara as it allowed me to create a more stylized look. One of my primary concerns was how to achieve soft shadows by paying attention to shadow penumbra. I also focused on creating soft, indirect shadows and adding depth to the scene through the use of out-of-focus foreground and midground elements.
My personal rule was to have a clear and distinct main key light (sun shining through the main window) to establish the focus of this shot. It was achieved through bright vs dark (value contrast). To help in determining how much of one side vs the other, I used the 70/30 rule, which means, 70% of the composition is darker while 30% is brighter. The “Sunlight” direction is diagonally shone as a dynamic angle to break the stability of the scene so it won’t be too boring. There is also a trail of light, leading the eye of the viewer to the bright area. The warm orange hue complements the more mysterious, cool blue and small light fixtures add overall interest to the scene. The subtle dim spotlight was added behind the sofa for the backlight to differentiate from the background. I would like to work with light channels next time, to have even more control over how lighting is affecting the environment. I’ve also included a slightly cool, purple tint to the skylight to balance out the warm setting sun and increase its intensity.
In order to achieve a stylized look, I made some adjustments to the shadow colour in the Unreal Engine. By modifying the shadow density of the light and tweaking the shadow colour with light settings, I was able to attain the necessary saturated look for the scene. To illuminate the scene, I used directional light as the primary source and utilized rect lights to produce soft, coloured shadows.
Lighting Structure