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    CORE | Fundamentals of Lighting in Blender

    Instructor:
    Kaizen
    Subscribe
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    Welcome to one of the most important skills you'll ever learn in 3D; Lighting!

    Why? Well, lighting is your gateway to better renders.

    Even the best models look bad with bad lighting, but bad models can look half-decent with great lighting. Lighting is both the sauce that makes your meal, but also the spice to hide it's flaws.

    In this course, part of the CORE Blender Fundamentals series we'll dive into lighting. Covering all it's aspects ranging from Cycles to EEVEE Next lighting and going over some of the main lighting methods, taken directly from real life.

    Get Caught Up

    Are you brand new to Blender?

    These courses should help you get up to speed in no time.

    BLENDER BASICS: An Introduction to Blender 3D 4.X

    Free

    PRESS START: Your Simple First Blender Project

    What you will learn in this Blender Class

    Chapter 1

    An intro to lighting

    We'll go over some of the basics of light in Blender. What is it? What are the differences between Cycles and EEVEE and which types of light do we have at our disposal. Basic, but very important stuff!

    Chapter 2

    Lighting with Cycles

    If Cycles is your preferred engine, this chapter is for you. Diving into some more fundamentals of light and covering all the unique features of Cycles lighting, this chapter will give you the ins and outs of lighting with Blender's powerful Path Tracing engine.

    Chapter 3

    Lighting with Eevee

    Don't want Cycles? Then EEVEE might be the way for you! With Blender 4.2's new EEVEE Next render engine lighting and graphic fidelity just got better than ever. Can't work in 4.2? No worries, this chapter has got you covered!

    Chapter 4

    Lighting Showcase

    Lighting in 3D takes it's inspiration from the real world. Not because we have to, but because it works so well. That's why this chapter covers some of the more well known lighting techniques used by professionals for decades. Finishing with a lengthy lighting showcase you'll be left with nothing but awe for the power of lighting in Blender!

    Light up your world!

    Watch the Course

    Get this course and 264 others by joining CG Cookie

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    Awarded upon completion:
    100xp +
    Course Curriculum
    10 Reviews
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      Keagan Collins(Shedarkc) ·

      Really great course! I never understood the importance of lighting until i watched this

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      ~Ivy~ ·

      Good lighting seems to take your renders to the next level. I never knew light plays such an important role in showcasing both your models and materials. Kaizen is a good instructor and course never felt like a chore. I barely knew anything about lighting, so I learned quite a lot.

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      Nitheesh Kumar(Dread_comrade) ·

      my biggest weakness is lighting, this course helped me to overcome it

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      Arnulfo Torres(arnietorvall) ·

      Very good introduction to lighting theory in Blender, and in general. Lighting has never been my strong suit. I am more specialized in modeling and sculpting, but I always get disappointed when my models don't look the way I imagined in my renders even though the model itself is just fine. After this course I feel much more confident lighting my scenes.

      Thanks Jesse! I already liked your YouTube videos, and this course doesn't disappoint either.

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      Lewis Thorpe(DripInspector) ·

      A great overview of core lighting concepts that apply both to cycles and EEVEE.Β 
      The course is easy to understand and the final exercise gives you a chance to put the skills into practiceΒ 

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      T4ku3n ·

      Light is life.
      I had a lots of ideas for the exercice then my computer gets me back to reality ^^!
      It will take the whole afternoon to set it right and the whole night to render it ( might try a cloud rendering service one day ).
      A must even if you don't have light sensibility.
      Thank you.

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      ABDERRAHIM ESSAOUI(ASPIXELS) ·

      I recently completed the lighting course and found it incredibly valuable. It covered 3-point lighting, multiple light methods, and various lighting techniques, all presented clearly and practically, making it easy to apply what I learned. Highly recommended for anyone looking to enhance their lighting skills!

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      Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) ·

      I learned a lot and I really loved that you showed the thought process and gave so many different light setup. Usually only the 3 light setup is the only one covered. I also like that you covered EEVEE in more detail. Most lighting videos I see only use Cycles.Β 

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      jeremy smith(Mryeje) ·

      I went into this thinking it was going to be a refresher for me; however, I ended up adding new tools to my belt. Jesse takes time to divide up the lesson into easy to digest chunks and he does a fantastic job explaining the topics in a succinct manor.Β 

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      Robin Hammond(angorths) ·

      So much more to lighting than I thought. This will be my goto tutorial for a long time to come.