Why Animators Should Light (& Render) Their Shots

Character walk with lighting by Joris Van Laar

Why You Should Light Your Animation Shots (and not just rely on greyshade or Maya Playblasts).
A strong demo reel isn’t just about great animation — it’s also about great presentation.  

Many student reels rely on greyshade renders or raw playblasts, but taking the time to add simple lighting can make a huge difference to how your work is received. 

You don’t need to be a lighting artist to benefit from a basic setup. A little polish goes a long way, and you can follow one of our super simple lighting tutorials to get a great result in just a few minutes. 

Animate a Swimming Jelly with Caustics

Jelly animation by Maeva Israel

In this super simple tutorial we show how to animate a cartoony jelly (or squid?) traveling underwater. This is a very basic tutorial aimed at beginners in Maya.

The idea is to do some very simple animation of an underwater scene, then add a caustic effect to reproduce the effect of light penetrating water.  

The Jelly/Squid rig can be downloaded for free here. 

Fish Swim - Free Animation Tutorial

Animate a fish swimming in Maya

In this simple tutorial we show how to animate a fish swimming, and then add some underwater lighting using Maya's software renderer. 

Start with a single side-to-side rotation of the fish; then copy and paste the curves down the fish's body, offsetting each curves by a frame or two. 

The result is the distinctive swish of a fish's tail.  The underwater lighting with caustics can be done with a few clicks. 

Animate a Submarine Underwater with Caustics

Animate a Submarine Underwater

In this super simple tutorial we show how to animate a submarine traveling underwater.  This is a very basic tutorial aimed at beginners in Maya. 

The idea is to do some simple animation of an underwater scene, then add a caustic effect to reproduce the effect of light penetrating water. 

Create a Starry Sky with the Arnold Skydome

In this short video tutorial (just five minutes long) we explain how to create a starry sky in Maya with just a few clicks, using the Arnold Skydome. Using an HDRI night sky texture map (Google one to get started), we can create a night sky effect with little or no effort, using the Arnold Renderer.  To see the step by step plan, follow the outline below. You can find the tutorial video at YouTube here.

Export a Render Sequence in Arnold

In this super simple tutorial we show how to export a Render Sequence in Arnold, in Autodesk Maya. First watch the tutorials on basic lighting setups, such as Lighting in Arnold with Physical Sky, or Lighting in Arnold with Sky Shader, and then watch this video to see how to render out a series of images that can be imported into Adobe Premiere or Blender - or any editing software - ready to export as a movie file.

Basic Lighting in Arnold with Sky Shader

In this simple lighting tutorial, aimed at Autodesk Maya beginners, we explain how to achieve a basic lighting setup in Arnold using the Arnold Sky Shader. This is a simple lighting setup, only slightly more sophisticated than the Arnold Physical Sky tutorial - which is as simple as it is possible to achieve in Arnold, and gives good results for an outdoor scene with just a few clicks. 

Basic Lighting in Arnold - Physical Sky

In this simple tutorial, for Autodesk Maya beginners, we explain how to achieve a super basic lighting setup in Arnold using the settings in Physical Sky. This is as simple a setup as it is possible to achieve in Arnold, and gives good results for an outdoor scene with just a few clicks.

Why Does Maya Batch Render Too Dark?

Utah Teapot

Lighting your scene using Autodesk Maya can be a tricky process. You get your lights to look just the way you want them to, and when you render out a single frame, everything looks fine.

But then, when you come to do a Batch Render of your final frames, Maya gives you a very different result - the images look much darker. Which is not what you wanted at all.

So why does Maya do this - and what is the solution?

Learn 3D Lighting Free With Pixar's Jeremy Birn

Anyone who wants to learn the art and craft of 3D lighting in Maya would do well to watch this excellent series of videos by Pixar lighting expert Jeremy Birn, hosted at Vimeo.

The videos are recorded in an older version of Maya, so there will be a bit of a gap between what you are watching and the latest version of Maya that you are running. But, the basic principles of lighting remain unchanged, even though the interface is a bit different.

Physical Sun & Sky - Maya's "Make it Cool" Button

Above is a short video explaining how to use Maya's "Physical Sun and Sky" to light your animation. Physical Sun and Sky is the closest thing that Maya has to a "make it look awesome" button - it's a cheap and quick way to light your shots.  Here at Animation Apprentice we focus primarily on animation, not on lighting, but students still need to light their demo reels to make them look cool. Physical Sun and Sky is a great way to get a quick and polished result.

Free IBL Lighting Tutorial for Animators

Here at Animation Apprentice we focus primarily on character and creature animation - we don't dig deep into the rest of the 3D pipeline.  But we do expect our students to master the basic skills in Maya - such as modeling, texturing and lighting.  Students need these skills so as to be able to make a killer demo reel, or even make a short film of their own.  Fortunately, for those who want to expand their skills beyond animation, there are now many, many free resources on the web, especially at YouTube, to learn many of the basic disciplines in Maya.  Above is a great little free tutorial on Image Based Lighting (IBL), which is a great way to light your shot using beautiful images, such as a seascape or a sunset.

Student Showcase - Steve Woodhouse

3D render by Steve Woodhouse

Animation Apprentice student Steve Woodhouse has posted some excellent architectural renders recently. This kind of 3D work is highly complementary to the study of animation, and a great addition to his digital skillset. Animators are increasingly expected to have a working understanding of the rest of the CG pipeline, especially in smaller studios, where multi-tasking is often necessary. And, of course, if you are making your own film, then a knowledge of the whole process is more or less essential.