[ENDED] BC4-1810 – October 2018 Class Homepage – Shading & Lighting with Blender

I published a collection of my light match .blend files, as was discussed during the class. You’re welcome to reference those if you’d like. Also here’s links to the reels @shiennar put together:

• Week 1 Reel
• Week 2 Reel
• Week 3 Reel
• Week 4 Reel

CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #4 (Oct 31, 2018): Class is officially over! Please check the closing post and don’t forget to fill out the questionnaire 🙇🏻‍♂️

CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #3 (Oct 9, 2018): Grades for week 1 homework are recorded. Feel free to keep an eye on this spreadsheet (BC4-1810 tab at the bottom) throughout the month. Please let me know if I miss anything!

CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #2 (Oct 3, 2018): 4 mighty Citizens have heeded the call to become Volunteer Assistants (VA’s). They are: @silentheart00, @thecabbagedetective, @csehz, and @galledark. This means that between the 5 of us, there should always be a helpful presence both in this homepage thread and your individual homework threads throughout the month. Thank you VA’s!

CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #1 (Oct 1, 2018): Class is officially in session! Check the syllabus below for Week 1’s focus and assignments. Begin watching the pre-recorded courses if you haven’t already and I’ll see you tomorrow at the first Live Event! 💡

SYLLABUS

Welcome to the CGCookie Class: Shading & Lighting with Blender! The art of shading and lighting your Blender scenes and models can make or break your renders. It’s a very important – even enlightening – skill to develop as a 3D artist.

This “Class” format invites all Citizen members to focus together on a particular topic/skill for a month. Participation looks like this:

• RSVP and attend the Live Events
• Watch the pre-recorded education outlined below
• Ask questions, answer other’s questions
• Submit homework by creating a unique forum thread to contain all your homework submissions for the month.
• Generally be active in this homepage thread and other’s homework threads.

WHEN? The class will take place from October 1st – Oct 30th.

✅  WEEK 1: Shading & Lighting Primer (Oct 1-7)

Abstract: There are some core concepts to lighting and shading (S&L) that need to be understood first. Things like global illumination, render engines, shaders, materials, and node networks some of the things we will be over-viewing this first week. I

Goal of the Week: Familiarize (or re-familiarize) ourselves with core S&L concepts.

Pre-recorded course to watch:

• Fundamentals of Shading (skip the Blender Render chapters)
• Fundamentals of Lighting
• Fundamentals of Rendering

Week 1 Live Event (Remember to RSVP)

Homework:

• Shading a Toy Truck [post an image to your BC4-1810 homework thread + link to your exercise page]
• Lighting a Simple Bedroom [post an image to your BC4-1810 homework thread + link to your exercise page]

✅  WEEK 2: Vehicle Shading & Lighting with Eevee (Oct 8-14)

Abstract: The Eevee render engine is the latest and greatest rendering tech in Blender and we’re going to stretch its legs for week 2. The subject is going to be a sports car, but any vehicle will do. After all many of us spent this past June modeling vehicles and we’re eager to get them lit and pretty!

Some topics we’ll cover along the way include materials like car paint, rubber, metal, and leather along with HDRI environment lighting.

Pre-recorded courses to watch:

• Shading the Sci-Fi Helmet – While this course isn’t a vehicle, the aspects taught are very relevant (metal, paint, wear and tear). The first two chapters are about texturing which you can skip. Chapter 3 is the important stuff for this class

Week 2 Live Event (Don’t forget to RSVP)

Homework:

• Find a vehicle model, use one of your own, or download this vehicle model. Then light it and shade it with Blender 2.8 and Eevee in a manner that’s meant to impress.[Post a screengrab/render to your BC4-1810 homework thread]
• Lighting Match #1: This light matching exercise is based on this thread where the assignment is to find a 3D render we like and do our best to match it. Use your own model of anything, find one on blendswap.com, or use the same attached vehicle model. [Post a screengrab/render next to your chosen source render (post to your BC4-1810 homework thread)]

✅  WEEK 3: Lighting Characters with Blender (Oct 15-21)

Abstract: Character lighting is a very intentional art and how to do it well is often a mystery. This week we’ll look at how to develop striking character renders, build simple materials that accentuate your model, and even the concept “painting” you character with light for surreal effects.

Pre-recorded courses to watch:

• Modeling Realistic Characters (“Presentation” Chapter)
• Texturing & Shading a Stylistic Character (Chapter 2-3)

Week 3 Live Event (Don’t forget to RSVP)

Homework:

• Find a character model (from sketchfab or blendswap), use one of your own, or download the this goblin character. Then light it and shade it in a manner that’s meant to impress.[Post a screengrab/render to your BC4-1810 homework thread]
• Lighting Match #2: Just like the week 2 light match but with a different source render for a new light setup to match. Repetition makes the exercise stick, plus it’s just fun.
       

✅  WEEK 4: Shading & Lighting an Arch Viz Scene (Oct 22-28 )

Abstract: Arch viz rendering is often a coveted skillset among lighten enthusiasts. This week we’re looking at lighting interior architecture for realism, featuring natural outdoor light from windows and artificial light from light fixtures. We’ll also explore creating the necessary materials for our interior.

Pre-recorded course to watch:

• Interior Architectural Visualization (Chapters 3-4): Note that this is an older course but still full of good information.

Week 4 Live Event (Don’t forget to RSVP)

Homework:

• Find an interior model (from sketchfab or blendswap), use one of your own if you’ve built one, or download this bathroom scene or this kitchen scene. Then light it and shade it a realistic manner. [Post a screengrab/render to your BC4-1810 homework thread]
• Lighting Match #3: Just like the week 2 and 3, find a third source render to match its lighting.

✅ Class Wrap-Up Stream (October 30th)

This thread is reserved for CG Cookie Citizens that are participating in the “Shading & Lighting with Blender” class. Its purpose is to serve as central communication for all participating Citizens (excluding Hobby plan Citizens) to ask Kent and fellow participants questions and to post homework. As the instructor of the class, Kent will be monitoring this thread on a daily basis (especially Mon-Thurs) throughout the month of October to review homework and answer questions.

Free members are welcome to observe the thread but please respect that communication and participation is reserved for Citizens.