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UE3 Home > Lighting Artist

Lighting Artist

The mood of environments as well as theme and focal points are all impacted greatly by how the scene is lit. Lighting artists make use of the lighting tools to create both static and dynamic lighting that reflects these aspects. Having a comprehensive knowledge of all that Unreal Engine 3 offers as far as types of lights, types of shadows, and how they all work in conjunction will make lighting worlds in a manner that brings about the desired look and feel while staying within the limitations of the platforms being developed for much easier.

General Topics

Lighting

Lightmass - Overview of the Lightmass static global illumination system.
Dominant Lights - Overview of Dominant Light actors and how they function within UE3.
Light Environments - Optimized dynamic object lighting.
Lighting Reference - Overview of the old (pre-Lightmass) lighting system in UE3.

Shadows

Shadowing Reference - Overview of the different types of shadows used in UE3.
Modulated Shadows - Alternative to normal dynamic shadows.
Distance Field Shadows - Precomputed shadows with improved quality and memory.

Content Creation Topics

Texture Defined Specular Reflection - Using a Texture Defined Specular Reflection Lighting Model.
Volumetric Lighting Guide - Guide to using volumetric lighting effects.
Anisotropic Lighting - How to use the anisotropic lighting model in materials.
Custom Lighting - How to use the custom lighting model in materials.
Fake Mesh Lighting - Faking lighting on meshes or particles through materials.

Level Creation Topics

Lightmass Tools - Useful tools for the Lightmass lighting system.
Primitive Stats Browser - Provides a breakdown of the geometry assets used.
DLE Profiling - Profiling and optimizing DynamicLightEnvironment updates.

DirectX 11 Topics

Deferred Shading in DirectX 11 - Overview of UE3's DirectX 11 deferred shading pipeline.

Tutorial Topics

Character Lighting - Tips for lighting characters in-game.