One Simple Technique to Improve Your Lighting in Blender | Reverse Key Lighting

[@vortexdigital19]

You're on of my hero in blender community, lots of things I learned from you since 2014 (17 years old boy), until today, thank you so much, your tutorial really gives me huge impact in my skill and career, I hope God give you always in good health and wealth, keep spreading the knowledge, thank you so much.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I started learning Blender some 6-7 years ago, too, and the biggest attraction for me personally was the amazing community around FOSS, Blender, etc. The ethos, the attitude, the mission - everything just clicked. I'm so grateful to all the content creators putting the content online.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Timecodes: 00:00 - Start 00:34 - What is reverse key lighting 01:53 - Blender scene setup 04:13 - Reverse key lighting basics 09:47 - Preliminary result 10:11 - Hard lights & upstage lighting 11:17 - Upstage lighting and camera angle, part 1 14:08 - Upstage lighting and camera angle, part 2 15:42 - A bonus 16:14 - Conclusion

[@TR-707]

fantastic vid. Thanks for making these and getting some of us warmed up to the full course. Also glad you showed the relationship trick at the end - I was waiting for the rig tip.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It's so kind of you to say that it makes the transition to the course smoother! That is awesome.

[@SupaKoopaTroopa64]

I discovered this style of lighting a while back when experimenting with rim lights, and it has become one of my favorite lighting techniques!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Cool! And I realized I was gravitating quite often towards this style after watching (and watching a lot) the videos by Wandering DP and some other filmmaking channels: www.youtube.com/@wanderingdp

[@rileyb3d]

You're one of the few truly great teachers on here. Thanks for sharing! I aspire to the quality of info you give out.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Riley, I don't consider myself to be a teacher, honestly. I'm not as qualified in educational methods, etc. Just trying to multiply the knowledge and share what I think would be cool to popularize. :)

[@CameronKiesser]

This simple trick really makes things from "Blender renders" to "Blender shots".

[@GlebAlexandrov]

That's such a good way to put it, Cameron!

[@CameronKiesser]

@@GlebAlexandrov Thanks for these vids.

[@cesarcoelho7952]

this is soo cinematic. congratz.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Phew! Thanks goodness, that was the point! :D

[@thomas7726]

Amazing quality... all, content, voice, pace

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thank you so much Thomas! Glad you enjoyed it as a whole, that's very kind of you to give that kind of a feedback! :)

[@ShaggyMummy]

glad to finally know the term for this technique, Its my favorite, and I use it frequently

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I was using it quite often for a while too, without realizing it has a term (and has been known for ages among cinematographers specifically).

[@adamwrzesniewski1468]

Hey. Thanks for another great tutorial. I'd like to give a little tip to all the viewers for quick camera switching: just unfold the camera object in the Scene Collection (the one marked orange) and do a single click on the camera properties (the one marked green). It will instantly mark it as an active camera.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

thanks for the tip!

[@whansen101]

Thanks, I Always learn something when I watch your videos.!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It's the same for me, but from a different perspective, when something 'clicks' for me in terms of me realizing that it has a value and can be explained concisely in a video (post, etc), I can't help but do it.

[@techsobserver]

Now i want ten more tutorials to lightening setups i am very shocked by the different results it might produce wow, thankss

[@GlebAlexandrov]

This one is cool, right? :D A simple change (a seeming simple) of direction in relationship to the camera and the object makes all the difference.

[@techsobserver]

@@GlebAlexandrov I opened blender and did a simple scene only to testt this, and oh, it works like magic!!😍 thanks again. I appreciate your work Gleb.

[@chlbrn]

This is so inspiring, thanks man!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thank you!

[@JeriKusumaa]

Impressive, as always.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I believe this particular lighting style/technique is probably the simplest pathway to that kind of 'cinematic' and 'moody' look whatever it means. It's just too good.

[@kostasfassoulas6915]

Awesome!!! Thank you!!!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thank you Kostas!

[@chosenonemedia8337]

Very nice bro!!

[@tunmixx]

I love this idea / tought and even more the outcome

[@massimobaita7178]

Thank You very much!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thnx!

[@krissosful]

Very helpful tutorial made in understandable way. You have a great sense of detail regarding lighting directions, shadows and textures! And the result looks ultra realistic:)

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Lighting direction is of utmost importance indeed, it makes or breaks the picture all things considered.

[@krissosful]

@@GlebAlexandrov It is🙂 Thanks for clearly demonstrating that. You are always welcome to my channel as well

[@thedebapriyakar]

holy fucking shit, this is such an incredibly powerful and moving scene, and the lighting just adds SO FUCKING MUCH to the mood. This is incredible, absolutely terrifying and beautiful. Thank you for such a lovely tutorial!!!!!!!!!!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Hahah, the intro? Wow, so glad it resonated with you! I love the vibes too)

[@drjosephfarah]

Brilliant video as always. I've been using this approach for years but never knew what it was called!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It goes like this for me as well. It's surprising how I was just... blind to what's happening in the filmmaking world specifically. Now I'm trying to educate myself about it :D

[@dargmuesli]

Amazing quality, thanks Gleb!

[@GlebAlexandrov]

The quality of render(s), technique or explanation? :D Thank you anyway, it means a lot!

[@dargmuesli]

@@GlebAlexandrov there's not one thing without it ;) plus your response rate! 😄love it

[@lokyloky3420]

very cool!

[@tilation3853]

12:00 or just click the green camera icon in the Outliner. Thanks for this cool Tutorial ..

[@GlebAlexandrov]

hah :)

[@Lou-li5mv]

you have a great explanation style to follow along, kudos to sharing your experience

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It's hard for me to believe I have a certain style when it comes to methodology, but thank you so much for encouraging me! :)

[@man_art_man]

It’s awesome lighting tutorial! As a bonus now all of Blender fan-club know about hot key SHIFT T. I thought only I am using this to navigate lights 😅😅👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[@GlebAlexandrov]

let the genie out of the bottle!!

[@FOXUNE_]

amazing vid

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Greetings! Wszystkiego najlepszego :)

[@hocinetazani6364]

Thank You so much

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thank you, Hocine!

[@afjer]

Setting the 3D cursor as pivot is useful, but I've found that tracking the light to an empty, placing the empty on the subject, and then just moving the light, makes things easier.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

That's an interesting way to approach it, thanks for sharing.

[@nishaan3d928]

You are amazing. I really want to know how you made that beautiful ground texture if you don't mind.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It's a photoscanned material (or rather, a mix of a few such materials). The basis of it is a dried mud puddle near the place we live, which we photoscanned and turned into tileable PBR material - the process is described in our photogrammetry course)

[@nishaan3d928]

@@GlebAlexandrov thanks for replying ☺️ I really appreciate your effort towards the tutorials and courses you make👍

[@TheMLightning]

Traditionally, in film, this is called a backlight, hair light, or kicker depending on how wrapped around the front it is.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Yup, agree, if we talk about 3-point lighting and in relationship to the subject in the scene. That being said, I think upstage lighting as a concept is slightly broader than that - it's also about the tonal values in the entire scene, how the light falloff is formed, how reflections are rendered etc. It overlaps somewhat with kicker/hair light in some aspects, but has other implications too, imho :)

[@oceansstudio6223]

Hi, Alexander! Very cool lighting lesson, cool. I am mainly engaged in interior design. I want to go to a blender. Please do a lesson on lighting the interior scene. Some interior in a minimalist design. Setting light with HDRI map or with other paths. The main thing is that it is hyperrealistic and beautiful, atmospheric.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Interior lighting, right? It sounds like we have to do something like that at some point, it sounds interesting.

[@architech_the_engineer]

The video is great! I can’t stop wondering how did you achieve such a convincing material on the ground, do you have any videos about that? Cheers mate

[@GlebAlexandrov]

The ground material is a mix of photoscanned PBR maps. The key is the micropolygon displacement (via the adaptive subdivision in subsurf modifier). We made something like that in the photogrammetry course. Feel free to check the project files that come with this tutorial if you wanna have a look at the material and textures!

[@teo__]

It’s an Hollywood standard for drama and action since the beginning of time. But it’s always good to remind it.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Yup! Still it was a bit of a discovery for me some time ago. Maybe it's because my entry point into the graphics industry was 3d and not, say, videography.

[@hopal6612]

A very informative video about lighting. You should be a university professor. Thanks.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I don't feel qualified enough, tbh :D But I appreciate your kind words! This technique has helped me, I guess, to understand lighting better, I'm just happy I have an opportunity to share it.

[@cine_viking_1986]

Wow, spectacular example, just opened the project file. any chance you got somewhere tutorial about all these nodes on ground shader and skull shader?

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Thanks! These assets are based on the photogrammetry workflow, to cut the story short :) The shader nodes are fairly basic - the ground plane uses micropolygon displacement though, with the photoscanned heightmap doing all the work. Have you seen our photogrammetry course? blendermarket.com/products/photogrammetry-course

[@cine_viking_1986]

@@GlebAlexandrovoh man looks like i know what im getting for this xmas, in that course its explained there how can i create such a fantastic materials/textures like you did for this mud/skull?

[@cine_viking_1986]

@@GlebAlexandrovi just put my t800 endo in your mud scene, put there some hdri and i can say this is the most photorealistic render i ever did, now im definitely switching to blender from 3ds max

[@GlebAlexandrov]

@@cine_viking_1986 Wow, any chance you could share a screenshot or something? That sounds cool! :)

[@GlebAlexandrov]

@@cine_viking_1986 It has a chapter on capturing the PBR materials like that, yeah. I hope you'll like it!

[@smitshah6391]

Amazing tutorial. One question tho, what's your PC specs?

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Desktop PC: RTX 2080ti, 32gb ram, Core i9 something, that sort of a rig.

[@codylewis9108]

Amazing!.. How did You get the dust particles in the animation? they are a great addition

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I used the animated .mov sequence on a 2d plane with transparency. I think I'll share something soon (follow me on Twitter and Mastodon to not miss it). p.s. Aidy made a quick procedural dust particles effect using animation nodes, we'll share it as well. mastodon.art/@gleb

[@marcapouli7805]

Nice, I wish I could do something like that

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Marc, do you mean the overall 'oomph' of the image? Upstage lighting, imho, is 80% of the effect, it just helps to sort out so many different 'cinematic' things so nicely.

[@marcapouli7805]

@@GlebAlexandrov Indeed that is a very nice tecnic and I've never heard of it before! But lighting doesn't like me (in any software, not only blender). In fact this looks so good and professional that it seems unreacheable. I also have a 11 years old graphic card, which doesn't help 😅

[@MassPanrom]

even though I set it to 3d cursor the camera and light rotate itself on keyframing. please help

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Mass, not sure what you mean, can you elaborate please?

[@MassPanrom]

@@GlebAlexandrov in the bonus portion u gave a tip to rotate the lighting and camera at same time but that is not working once i keyframe it. so i created a empty and parented them both and made the keyframes now its working fine.. thank you

[@ruqaiaal-sulaimi9511]

What Version are you using? Coz I have some shaders undefined.

[@Prahinsfilms]

The one flaw I noticed is the shadow from the skull moves and is only visible on the foreground instead of staying on the same place. That is probably because the light plane moves with the camera but on opposite sides.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Do you mean in the animation? That was the point of this gimmick :D I mean, to lock the light position in relationship to the camera. But honestly I did it for giggles, it can look funky (even though cool at the same time) :) You're right, in most cases the shadow shouldn't be linked to the camera position)

[@hasanhuseyindincer5334]

👏👍

[@chinonsopromise4962]

Please I want to ask you, how did you pull off this cycles realtime rendering, I've checked all the comments but I can't see where someone asked. Please I'll be glad to get an answer from you, thanks

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Just a regular Cycles viewport rendering with a decent videocard (RTX 2080ti) and a relatively lightweight and fast scene. Apologies if I disappointed you :)

[@3dgraphicmano550]

Perhaps this is off topic, but I want to know your opinion on what is happening now, I mean the development of Ai, and should we be afraid as artists and designers?😐😐

[@GlebAlexandrov]

Oh that's a topic for a longer post/talk for sure! :D

[@allenl9214]

Is cinematic lighting usually monochrome? Why no color?

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It can be muted, it can be way more vibrant of course :) Totally depends on the direction you're pushing it, if that's what you mean.

[@eddyjuillerat835]

Very common in cinematography. When a shot feel flat, bring a light behind de subject.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

And not so common in 3d! :D I swear, creative communities should exchange such knowledge on a regular basis))

[@luca__3044]

very good video!.. has no moth's tho :c

[@GlebAlexandrov]

No moths in this one (( Just some snowflakes though! Does it count?

[@luca__3044]

@@GlebAlexandrov I will pretend they are just very very small moths then. 10/10 realistic render 😌👌

[@RedWolfWarhammer]

the project files blender starts empty .. help plz

[@GlebAlexandrov]

What Blender version do you use? I've just opened it in 3.4 and it works for me. I wonder, does anyone else have this problem?

[@RedWolfWarhammer]

@@GlebAlexandrov yup version problem. fixed it. thanks a ton.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

@@RedWolfWarhammer good to know! glad you fixed it.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Isn't this actually called rim or kicker light?

[@tomtomasz9798]

your example have to much bouncing light behind main object making it almost invisible in some cases. Light behind should be smoother to help shape in front to pop.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

I think I know what you mean, to make the light bigger, softer and to move it slightly more to the top or to the side to create a more gradual transition.

[@ashuravisuals9046]

waaawwaawawwaw

[@fcojavier142]

Cycles is horrible, much flicker even when increasing the light samples.

[@GlebAlexandrov]

It would be so cool to have a proper temporal denoising solution for Cycles, it would help so much with noisyness/flickering issues.

[@Snackkill]

Кому-то ещё по ушам бьет русский акцент?

[@abcdeeeeff]

Bro please make a video on realistic skin texturing from start to finish.