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Guerrilla Lighting and Rendering Tactics in Maya

by Ed Whetstone

In this tutorial, we will tackle a lighting challenge with small-scale production needs in mind.

What you'll learn

In this tutorial, we will tackle a lighting challenge with small-scale production needs in mind. Intended for small-scale productions, this tutorial walks through one lighting and rendering workflow that introduces new tools, techniques, and workarounds. We will exploit the environment-sampling power of portal lights, build a fake GI solution with projected light fields, and use MEL scripts to automate tedious tasks. These methods won't work for every scenario, but they can be very useful tools for the guerrilla CG filmmaker.

About the author

Ed Whetstone is a Dallas-based CG artist, educator, and would-be filmmaker. After graduating from the University of Texas at Dallas, he started working as a lighting artist at ReelFX Creative Studios. He is currently writing and directing a nights-and-weekends short film effort, “The Sum of Parts”.

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