Dynamic Lighting & Vision Guide - Foundry VTT Tutorial (V10-V12)

Everything you need to know about dynamic lighting and vision in FoundryVTT. Daylight, night time, underground caves, or the planes beyond, create any scene with incredible atmosphere. Give your player characters proper darkvision, tremorsense, and more with seamless visual effects!
FoundryVTT Discord: / discord
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
0:33 - Scene Settings
1:33 - Outdoor Sunlit Scene
4:26 - Token Settings
7:07 - Vision Modes
8:51 - Advanced Token Settings
9:17 - Detection Modes
10:14 - Update Prototype Tokens!
11:05 - Fog Exploration / Fog of War
13:01 - Indoor Dark Scene
13:56 - Combined Light & Dark Scene
15:17 - Finished!
Maps were created using assets from Forgotten Adventures: www.forgotten-adventures.net
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Mic - Neumann TLM 102
Audio Interface - Solid State Logic SSL2
Recording: OBS Studio
Editor: Final Cut Pro X
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FoundryVTT, Foundry VTT, Foundry Virtual Tabletop, Foundry, V10, Foundry V10, Version 10, Foundry Version 10, Vision, Lighting, Dynamic Lighting, Dynamic Vision, Fog of War, Fog, D&D, 5e, DND, Fifth Edition, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Pathfinder 2e, PF2e, Tutorial, Guide, Walkthrough, Step-by-step, Beginner, Easy

[@scotchmagoo]

This is one of the best structured tutorials I've seen on any subject. You organized it expertly and presented it in a clear and concise manner. Well done!

[@alaustin.]

Thank you so much! That means a lot, I put a lot of thought into these in an effort to structure them just like you said. I'm glad it's paid off!

[@stevenvasquez9869]

Couldn't have said it better.

[@heatherwells9453]

This is the only video I’ve been able to find that actually explained the foundry lighting concepts in a comprehensible way. Thank you so much!!

[@alaustin.]

I'm so glad!! Happy to help!

[@Chumpchar]

This might be the best tutorial I have ever seen on KZbin. Whenever I was like "but what if?" you answered it right after.

[@alaustin.]

Thank you!! I tried to structure this exactly the way the support conversations usually go on the Discord LOL. I learned over a long period of time how to start teaching the process from the beginning and how to introduce each piece of new information logically. glad you enjoyed!!

[@Draculord666]

Just converted from being a roll20 dm to Foundry and was struggling a bit with the lighting and vision, so this was a massive help.

[@takogames9552]

As always this tutorial is awesome. Even in between videos you keep progressing. Thanks for the help you give to the community

[@alaustin.]

Thanks so much! Happy to give back when so many people find it helpful

[@sunflows3635]

this video truly changed how I viewed my life and Foundry in general. Love this

[@Fatewing_]

eventhough i knew all of that i still watched the video! very well done, easy to understand and i bet it's very helpful for new foundry users... :)

[@alaustin.]

Thanks a ton!! I really appreciate the support

[@rodrigom7686]

This is my main tuto for lighting for know on. Well made, mate.

[@claremarshall9373]

This was very helpful! I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos

[@Satori2046]

Best tutorial on Lighting and Vision period.

[@alaustin.]

Thank you!!

[@unsolublefoundry]

A most excellent overview! :)

[@alaustin.]

Thank you kindly! :D

[@GoobleDip]

One of the best foundry tutorials out there. Cheers!

[@alaustin.]

Thank you, I'm glad you think so! :D

[@alexbussers2738]

nice and structured way to explain it all. Hoping to see more foundry guides soon.

[@TheRavenLilian]

Thank you that was very helpful.

[@Indajen]

Beautifully clear, thanks. It would be a kindness if you could make it obvious in the title that the context is Foundry v10.

[@alaustin.]

Thank you! That's not a bad idea actually, I should make it more noteworthy so people don't have to check the upload date

[@duon101]

Thank you for the tutorial!

[@alaustin.]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@akinamorgan2000]

It's one of the best Foundry guides I have ever seen

[@alaustin.]

Thank you!! Looking forward to making more!

[@akinamorgan2000]

@@alaustin. I hope so! Its great content!

[@hectorcornejo1468]

Thank you for your video. It really reinforced some of the things i enjoyed about Foundry and providing a couple updates I might have missed. Good job! (Subscribed :D)

[@alaustin.]

Thanks Hector! Glad you got some use out of it!

[@loganwozniak5620]

Great tutorial dude! You’re doing the gods work.

[@alaustin.]

Just trying to pass along what I've learned! Glad that it's helped! Thanks for watching

[@snipegrzywa]

Thanks for this. Is it just me, or was this overhaul a backwards step from the original lighting? Having settings for normal, dim, and dark distances just made way more intuitive sense.

[@alaustin.]

It probably felt more intuitive because I'm guessing your game system followed similar rules - the current version is a lot more agnostic and simplifies things a good bit at the basic level of sight: can you see in the dark, y/n? If yes, how far? I wasn't a huge fan of the old options being "dim SIGHT" and "bright SIGHT" as tons of people got confused thinking that's the only way the tokens could see. I'm not a huge fan of "vision range" either for the same reason but at least it has a little description now. Improvement overall IMO, the ceiling for what you can do with it was raised quite a bit.

[@TPubbie]

Superb video.

[@johnsteve2377]

Excellent!

[@tadeumalta8581]

Thks so much! nice work!

[@asherfeldman9387]

very helpful my dude

[@JanHoos]

Thanks a lot for this! I wasn't sure I needed the Perfect Vision module to get the Dark Vision effect but it seems I was doing it wrong :-p

[@alaustin.]

Glad I could help! Vision and Lighting had HUGE changes in V10 so it's no surprise people have gotten a little lost along the way when it comes to what is in core and what is from a module.

[@autumnedruca992]

10/10 video and helped me tremendously, thanks!

[@alaustin.]

You are very welcome!! Thanks for wathcing!

[@ponkarta2012]

Very helpful video. Just can't find where to reset fog of war ,haha 😊🎉❤

[@alaustin.]

Thanks! It should be under the Lighting controls on the left, and looks like a little Cloud icon

[@Glurgi]

Very succinct, thanks!

[@marcusw6713]

My dude, this is amazing, high quality tutorial, thank you for your amazing work!

[@alaustin.]

Thanks Marcus! Glad you enjoyed it! More on the way

[@billemahiser1330]

Well done. Really helpful! Thank you!

[@rolandkiss749]

Thanks mate. Thats a really usefull and on point tutorial!

[@wilknoble6072]

well done... thank you :)

[@JoshFredrickson]

Great video Alex, thanks!

[@alaustin.]

Thank you for checking it out!

[@morssel]

Very helpful thank you

[@alaustin.]

Thanks Joseph!

[@ricardomitra3653]

Awesome, thank you so much!

[@nicolasbelouin1510]

Such a good tutorial. Thanks a lot !

[@Maskoz]

Great maps, where are they from? Excellent video on lighting! Thanks for this.

[@alaustin.]

Thank you! I believe every one of them is made with Forgotten Adventures map assetts. I made some myself, Atropos of Foundry creation fame made some as well and those are from the map packs you can get from the Foundry Patreon, and some were made by Narchy for the PF2e Beginner Box premium modules! They are really stellar looking maps.

[@WOW_Tech]

Круто, спасибо !)

[@GamerDad29]

OMg Well done my dude - thank you - subbd

[@TheYellingMute]

*IF YOU HAVE PERFECT VISION MODULE* If you have Perfect Vision the Global Illumination slider will NOT bet there and be replaced with a button option to enter settings. The slider will also not be there any more and will simply be an entry field in the bottom right and the option to enable Global Illumination to the top right. This confused me for a while until i thought to turn off PV temporarily.

[@DamienJDR]

Hi Alaustin! In the intro scene, your Xanathar Guild Hideout map (for Dragon Heist) looks really cool! Is it possible to get it to enhance my own game? Thanks for the tutorials and thanks for sharing.

[@ren-xw4ww]

I've been Waiting for this one

[@magfor61]

Really great how to vid.

[@dregarironfaith3603]

Ok so i have a quick question regarding PF1 and "low - light vision" which essentially doubles the range of vision when in the dark and using a torch (ie. you would see bright at 40 and dim at 80 no matter who has the light source). Is there a setting that allows for this to occur so that the ranges are doubled for each of the light sources as viewed by a character with lowlight vision? Thanks very much for any help!

[@alaustin.]

Howdy! As far as I know, both PF2e AND PF1 both have their own overrides to the vision system, but I could be mistaken about PF1 as I don't play it. But I vaguely recall hearing that. There's a channel dedicated to the system on the community Discord that would know exactly how to achieve what you're looking for though!

[@masshysteria200]

I intend to watch the video when I have the time to, but right now I'm just putting it in my watch later list That said, is the function of the Darkness spell covered in this video? If not, I'll look at what's covered here and see if I can use any of the dynamic lighting to create a workaround for the spell

[@alaustin.]

Sorry for the long wait for reply! This video does not cover the Darkness spell because it's kind of a hassle to implement - you would basically need a movable sphere of walls but somehow also while inside all tokens are blinded. I think there are some modules out there that have tried this but don't know if any succeeded. The short answer for the best way to do Dakrness is, IMO, either to just use a regular AOE template (or maybe a drawing) and ask players to do their best to imagine, or use a light with a black fill and do the same. Best to rely on good old tabletop imagination for the time being.

[@brunovalentim1038]

I have player whom chosed to play a blind character. How do i emulate this situation? Can you Help me?

[@jonerlendhougsrud6259]

Great video! Is there a way to simulate "Magical darkness" and "Devil's sight"? :)

[@alaustin.]

Thank you! Magical Darkness has been a tricky thing for a while now, though V10 helped. It's not something you can do easily in core (though a light with a negative luminosity value will make it LOOK good, it won't truly block vision). But there very well may be modules out nowadays that provide that function, and the community Discord would know best! Link in the video description if you want to try there

[@dlsisson1970]

Is there anyway to turn off 5e's system's override on vision? I have races that have lowlight vision but the 5e system overrides it so it doesn't work.

[@alaustin.]

The dnd5e system currently doesn't do any overrides to the provided Vision Modes that I describe in this video. There is a chance you have modules doing wonky stuff. But also, lowlight vision is not a 5e term so you would likely need some kind of module to add support for it to start with, whatever it might be.

[@TheMarrethiel]

15:15 "simply place down large lights", how do you do that?

[@alaustin.]

Select the lighting layer from the toolbar on the left (the light bulb icon), then just click and drag somewhere on the canvas! The Knowledge Base on the Foundry website covers all the basic stuff you can do with lights as well

[@batman19971]

what are the settings you use for the pretty light source at 8:00 ?

[@alaustin.]

I believe that should just be a standard light set to the Torch animation! Likely at a fairly low intensity and speed. Probably 15 Bright 30 Dim or some such, the attenuation is probably quite high. Orange color with the color intensity... I dunno, I'd guess maybe 0.35? The lighting always looks nicer on well-done maps with the Forgotten Adventures assets like that one too. Hope that helps!

[@luvmesomerice287]

where can we get the maps you used for this video?

[@alaustin.]

A few places! They are all made with Forgotten Adventures assets. I made a few of them myself, a handful are made by Atropos and are available if you subscribe to Foundry's Patreon, and a few are made by Narchy for the Pathfinder 2e Beginner Box module for Foundry!

[@triwolfdelta737]

is their a way to separate dim and bright vision?

[@alaustin.]

Not in core! A system could implement that though I believe

[@notrebelbuffoon522]

how about showing us where tf to change the GMs lighting? I never use Darkness Level because I cannot see anything as the GM when I use it, and i have scoured every single setting, and tried Modules like Perfect Vision, which dont work with V10, and yet still.. I can see fuck all when I turn the Darkness to full..

[@alaustin.]

Rest assured, if there was an option for that in the core software, I would have shown it off! There's no need to crank the Darkness all the way to the max, you can put it at a level that's comfortable for you. I'm not sure what problems you're having, but Perfect Vision has been V10 ready for months now. But you are correct in looking for a module to add some sort of brightening function. I'd recommend hopping into the Discord if you need help with the setup, or if you want to leave a feature suggestion. Link should be in the description!

[@notrebelbuffoon522]

@@alaustin. Ah.. Sorry for coming off so aggressive, had a whole row of things that went wrong that day and the Darkness stuff just made me even madder.. so I do apologize if I came off as aggressive in that comment

[@alaustin.]

@@notrebelbuffoon522 Hey no worries! I'm equally guilty of having days like that, I know how it is. Just hope you managed to sort out the issues!