The Three Point Lighting System consist of, you guessed it, three lights. The Key Light, Fill Light and Back Light. This is the basis for the classic Hollywood lighting scheme called Three Point Lighting.

Setting up:

1. Remove all lights from your scene so that it is absolute dark.


2. Add a single Spot Light. This light will serve as your ‘Key Light’.

The Key Light acts as the main source of light in your scene, producing the brightest light points and the darkest shadows (similar to how the sun acts in real life).

3. The Key Light should be positioned 15 to 45 degrees to the left or right of the camera and 15 to 45 degree above the camera.
   


4. Example rendering:
   


5. Add another Spot Light. This light will serve as your ‘Fill Light’. The Fill Light softens and extends the light produced by the Key Light. The Fill Light is a secondary light source that produces light from its surroundings (such as Ambient, Refracted and Reflected light). The Fill Light is roughly half as bright as the Key Light (Note: No light should brighter the Key Light). Having the shadows on or off for the Fill Light are at your discretion (I turned mine off).


6. Adjust the brightness of your Fill Light by selecting it and then double-clicking on the Color Sample in the properties panel. The darker the color = the darker the light. The Brighter the color = the brighter the light (Note: A black light wouldn’t produce any light at all).


7. The Fill Light should be positioned 15 to 30 degrees to the left or the right, opposite of the Key Lights position and it should be 15 to 30 degrees above the camera.
   


8. Example Rendering:
   


9. Add another Spot Light. This light will serve as the ‘Back Light’. The Back Light creates a defining edge around the contour of your model to help separate it from the background. The brightness of your Back Light can be as bright as it needs to be to create the highlights on the back trim of your model. Shadows for the Back Light should be turned off.


10. Adjust your Back Light’s brightness as needed and preview the results.


11. The position of the Back Light should be placed behind your model, opposite of the cameras position (Adjust the position of the Back Light 15 to 30 degrees to the left or right of your model as needed for the best results). The Back Light should also be raised 15 to 30 degrees above the model.
    


12. Example rendering:
    


13. Render your scene and view the final results (Adjust your lighting as needed).

Here is a look at the final lighting set up (with all lights and camera position).

View the Hi-Res Final Rendering

And that is the Three Point Lighting System method. Use the Three Point Lighting System for illuminating anything from a character to a prop. Feel free to send us your outstanding models / lighting setup at submittals@erain.com

Cheers!

Thanks for the tutorial. Lighting techniques are always appreciated. I'm excited for the Mac version, can't wait to dive into it and try all the new features and techniques I've been seeing here.