Lighting Interiors in Unreal Engine 5

Learn how to tackle interior lighting with ease in Unreal Engine 5, covering all the basics of Direct/Indirect lighting. This scene is running on the ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X OLED laptop.
This video is sponsored by NVIDIA & SCAN Computers. Checkout SCAN's range of RTX Studio Desktop & Laptops here: bit.ly/3SekZRu
NVIDIA Studio Official website: www.nvidia.com/en-gb/studio/
FREE tutorial scene download: williamfaucher.gumroad.com/l/...
Purchase EasyFog for Unreal Engine 5: www.unrealengine.com/marketpl...
Join my Patreon to get free content and video credits!
/ williamfaucher
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
02:11 - Project Settings in Unreal Engine 5
03:03 - Reference and Lighting
07:43 - Pathtracing and Ground Truth
09:21 - Soft Shadows, Hardware Raytracing vs Virtual Shadow Maps
11:12 - Bonus Tip 1
13:42 - Bonus Tip 2
14:40 - Lighting Interiors without natural light
--------Cameras and Gear Used To Film This Video ------
DISCLAIMER: This video/description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this.
Thank you for the support!
My Streaming / Recording Setup (How this Video was Recorded)
Nikon Z6II : geni.us/OPxBG
Nikon 28-75mm f/2.8 : geni.us/d47dj
RØDE NTG-3B Shotgun Microphone: geni.us/JKnnPpS
Aputure MC Pocket LED: geni.us/uVZNl
Godox LEDP 260c LED Panel: geni.us/OgidwX
Godox Parabolic Softbox : geni.us/oHZ2b9
Godox SL-60W Studio Light: geni.us/68wx

[@MickaelKrebs]

very cool William! Your videos are showing remarkable improvement with each new upload!

[@Aleksey_V_]

Thanks a lot, Willian! Your videos not only very informative for me, but sometimes give unexpectable answers to questions that have remained unanswered for a long time :)

[@OverJumpRally]

The reason why you need the light blockers outside your room is because how the Mesh Distance Fields work. Basically, if the wall mesh is exposed to light on one side, then also the other side would still be lit even if it's in an otherwise closed dark room. So you should create a wall for the interior of your room and one for the exterior. Also, you can add invisible light blockers that would be visible in the Lumen Scene debug mode but invisible in the scene. Just look for "hidden" and select "influence Lumen lighting when hidden". Then also select Hidden in Game so it it won't be visible! Don't forget to turn collisions off or you might wonder why your character is not hitting the visible wall properly.

[@DivjotSingh]

noob question, why doesn't creating a wall automatically handle this in unreal engine? Seems like a nice quality of life improvement? Or is it that unreal doesn't know if it's a wall or a table or a cloth or a transparent texture?

[@ZacDonald]

​@@DivjotSingh Lumen tries its best, but your options are to crank up the quality or to do the more performance friendly option and try to over compensate and reinforce the walls. Light leaks are pretty common regardless of lighting method.

[@pietlebrun5943]

Can I use one plane as the interior wall and another plane as the exterior wall? Or does the wall have to have thickness?

[@ZacDonald]

@@pietlebrun5943 Use boxes or solid airtight geometry. Planes don't work well.

[@AlexiosLair]

What if it's part of explorable open world and you can see walls when going outside? Is there an option to render these walls invinsible visually, but still catching the light?

[@Perry-wy2fc]

Wow ! Excellent as usual ! Thanks William ! Cheers and congrats !

[@coalescence]

Your videos on Unreal lighting is pure gold. Thank you again !

[@Studio3n3]

Awesome video as always William! Thank you for all the tips & tricks.

[@JasonKey3D]

excellent as usual William 👏 jam packed with great tips! I might try to do something with this scene, thanks for sharing ! 🙏

[@tiredguy2753]

I imagine these videos take a while to make/edit etc... that being said they are always a joy to watch. I would love to see more in the future, heck if you ever have a lighting course on gumroad...

[@funkyguy0]

Once again William for the win and great tutorial. You helped me in my career in a major way. Your Tutorials are so impactful to many people. In my case you have helped shape my career. Thank you.

[@citizenoftheverse4653]

Great tutorial, I was struggling with some interior scene lighting and you just gave me the solution!

[@scope_fx]

I desperately needed a video like this... thank you!

[@joshthorntonmediaartist]

Very informative as always, thank you!

[@manuvikraman1611]

Looks incredible. Very informative. Thanks

[@Anthony-Antx]

Good to see a new vid! The render looks awesome as usual!

[@UltraVoidPlaysRoblox]

i gotta agree with that!

[@ozvehadar7101]

hi good to see you back i am just refreshing my youtube home page over and over every week to see if there is a new tutorial on your channel love your work and attituded thank you so much

[@DaNiElMmM93]

its been a couple of years learning with you, and I can just say TE AMO Will!

[@Ryu_Hayabusa]

Thank you! Helped me a lot. 💡

[@PlayCrestfallen]

Very cool, been using ALLLLL your suggestion, games online multiplayer looking realistic with 120 fps, thank you so much sire!

[@RedEyedHolloway]

Great video, Will! Thanks for that! Not going to lie though, I was hoping for more use out of Path Tracer. I would love to see it being used more in your videos, as I don't see a lot of love for it in general, nor do I see a whole lot of development support for it. It's a quintessential tool for those of us using Unreal for more traditional Visual Effects, but there's numerous, sometimes nearly-dealbreaking, limitations (like the one about it not supporting Nanite Displacement) and I would love to hear workarounds, tips, console commands, and processes that creatives who are more vetted use in their everyday workflows. Anyways, thanks again! Hope to see more Path Tracer in the future! 🙏

[@Agachack]

Than you very much, I have a really hard time understanding how to set up and scene, not to mention how to light it up, so all your videos (which have been recommanded to me on social media), are really helpul. I'm gonna download the project, rewatch the video, and follow along to have a better grasp at what you explained.

[@prraneth-skyop1374]

Pure gold man Thanks q for teaching us

[@waterdragonstudios7167]

A great video and a very cool scene. Thanks for this.

[@nadiryoussef3035]

What a legend 🙏🏻 as usual very informative and interesting topics, keep sharing ur Magic ❤️

[@harringtonday5319]

Amazing tutorials - Thank you!:)

[@bananacomputer9351]

That rect light aaaaasome!

[@kristofferjohnsson237]

You're the best man thank you so much for sharing you work 👍

[@AlexKolakowski]

That light bleeding tip! man thanks!

[@VIRUSMUSICc]

Long time no see the legend is back ❤

[@Particle67]

Awesome tutorial. Thank you

[@chelo111]

this mad real-thank you bro-god bless

[@maciejklosowski6006]

Great tip about Lumen Albedo Boost. If I'm not mistaken, you can turn meshes to 2-sided in order to prevent light leakage.

[@KULTRALTD]

Thanks for the video!

[@Glowbox3D]

Thanks William!

[@cg-school]

Nice video! Thanks, bud!

[@tinybanditgames]

Awesome work!

[@tinotrivino]

Amazing!!! I will start with this channel same like MR3D-Dev, I hope i can learn from you both for my future longplay movie. Hugs from Toledo, Spain.

[@DonPatro92]

You Faucher, you did it again.

[@jamesgoodman2931]

Purchased the 4080 version a few days ago. Compared to my 2080 laptop the render speed is insane. Look forward to pushing Unreal on it.

[@mohammadalaaelghamry8010]

Great video, thank you.

[@mauriceshapero7200]

Another brilliant and useful video for architects - thank you. I've always been confused by displacement in unreal. Do Megascan materials have it and does it work with boxy geometry or do you have to subdivide it? I want that effect you have on the arches, but with concrete!

[@victorblanchard7774]

William, I'm really happy to see you increasingly involved in sponsored videos. You absolutely deserve this recognition, and I have no doubt that you will bring immense value to the brands you partner with. Your content is consistently outstanding!

[@user-lz5vh9bb5w]

You're happy to see more ads that can't be automatically blocked? Weird take but okay.

[@victorblanchard7774]

@@user-lz5vh9bb5w While I personally do not require these advertisements, I believe they serve as a beneficial source of revenue for KZbinrs who produce quality content. This financial support can be an incentive for them to continue creating more engaging material, which I wholeheartedly support. During sponsored advertising, I often utilize the x2 playback option, as I find it quite manageable to invest an additional 30 seconds if it contributes to the content creator's work. Moreover, this advertisement is well-targeted, which alleviates any concerns I might have.

[@ruanneves8841]

@@user-lz5vh9bb5w I mean if these ads help him continue to create great content like this for "free", I have no problem with them at all. I honestly hope they keep coming

[@user-oi9of8tu7h]

​@@user-lz5vh9bb5w It's the money he earns that motivates him to make more videos

[@Ny4teneri]

You are amazing man

[@bensasi]

great video and thank you! did you use vdbs for the torch flames? cheers

[@natemorga]

William thanks again , when will you do a live stream event and have call in or general fan voice chat? Also its interesting you noted the studio drivers i have come across issues with game drivers aswell everything you say is great information. Also I'm curios how much the computer are i will check the link thanks!

[@I3ordo]

gotta love those boosts on "diffuse" and "bounced lights" i sorely miss since corona...also the reflection boost in red shift.. this physical accuracy thing should be an option not a rule :)

[@mae2309]

AMAZING!!!!

[@Rubass_]

its not about the simple setting, ITS ABOUT THE ESXPLANATION!! LOVE IT WILL

[@lexastron]

Thank you, William! Love your tutorials, always so informative 🤩

[@andrewwelch5017]

My first project using Unreal is a reconstruction of a 4th century Roman bath. I had assumed that, like a path tracer, I could illuminate the interior using only the sun and skybox. Nope. For someone used to the relative simplicity of path traced renderers, working with Lumen GI can be a frustrating process. Thanks for the help!

[@RJ-production50]

Thank you so much sir helpfull toturial

[@CinematographyDatabase]

Looks great 🍻

[@shtrikh3d]

whoa whoa whoa. incredible. Thank you very much for this analysis of lighting maybe you could do a breakdown of this scene on how to create such a cool environment? analysis of materials, decals, puddles?

[@rjarora5054]

Step 1: pick a theme, look at references,make a moodboard(PURE Ref to keep them all in as a board) take a paper draw the idea you have in mind only using shapes and figure out composition of your scene. Likee oooh I wanna make a GoT inspired scene with a man prepping himself to fight a huge dragon. Step2 unreal engine: Use environment light mixer to create basic lighting. Use cubes and other primitive shapes from place actors tab, to whitebox/greybox the composition u laid out in pen and paper until u reach something u like. Now add a camera to your scene, switch to cinecamera actor, move the camera around until your composition fits the camera. Lock it by right clicking it so it doesn't move when u roam around the scene. Now, instead of jumping into texturing, light out your scene, make a post process volume from place actors u need to search it. Literally play around with settings until u find something good. I recommend starting off with lumen only ABSOLUTELY no raytracing you'll be learning and slow load times will be hassle and do +20 DMG to your will go work. Step3: texturing P.S: Don't download at the highest texture details or NANITE. it's gonna blow up the quality and moving around the scene will be slow. Use, quixel mixer, megascans, and bridge. I'd recommend looking at unreal engine + mixer in KZbin search Step4: Details Now you're gonna jump into the most fun part making your environment more lived in, use decals from bridge to damage, or add steet graffiti etc into your scene. Use small rocks , flying birds, fog cards. And that's it you're done, good job 🎉

[@guille_ibanez]

This is great, William! My EHF volumetric light floods the scene completely and if i increase the 'volume scattering intensity', this affects the whole scene, not only the 'beam' of light. In Path Tracing it works as it should, weird.

[@JamyzGenius]

Thank you!!!

[@eyouelkassahun369]

Thanks a lot, It would be very helpful if you make a video on glass material in UE5. thanks

[@bahamut149]

So similar to vray when i first used it. Interior rendering request a rectange vray light in the window even though there was vray sun and HDRI in the scene.

[@IbnBahtuta]

I could almost see Henry drinking a potion. Awesome choice of thumbnail. Way, way beyond eye candy.

[@melissaconwaywrites]

THIS is the lighting tutorial I've been waiting for. Thank you.

[@WilliamFaucher]

Thanks so much! Appreciate it!

[@danielastrom8368]

Fantastic! :) About flickering in water or high reflective surfaces. Seems it only occurs when using a normal map? Is there a work around or is this just limitations? I notice you have some flicker in the floor tiles where the skylight reflects, but its faaar from as massive as i get. I've tried to work with lumen reflection settings but that does not seem to do the trick. Was wondering if you have any idea how about that :)

[@Eclectic_Chicken]

Nice tips. Most things I already used for my interiors scene. Set up get much more complicated when you have a scene where you need both inside and outise and connot think about them separately but as a whole. Thanks William !

[@nov3000]

Thank you

[@dDeoniSs]

Thanks!

[@kenay1989]

Thank you, that's a big help. how did you make the fire?

[@armangfx]

Wow man, you are not just a KZbinr that shares content or do “tutorials”, you are a teacher Man. Thank you very much Will, I learned a LOT from you, God bless you

[@fragileglass9622]

This was an absolutely stunning eye opener to things I did not understand with the lighting systems of Unreal Engine. Such an amazing learning experience as well as a look at my next potential laptop. Haha! Thanks William! You rock as always.

[@fddesign]

GREAT VIDEO!!! :) BTW: we can not save the video to a playlist :(

[@UnrealEngineLearn]

William we love you

[@3DComparison]

Congrats on thee video, good to know that a laptop can handle UE5 so well.

[@MrMandarin20]

good and useful information

[@ednardoguimaraes4340]

Very good video

[@pibemaestro1349]

pure gold

[@yasserbrachia5231]

thank you

[@LightWorkerBass]

Hi William thanks for the video. Not sure if you’ve covered this before but how can we get rid of the flicker happening in puddle reflections seen in the end of your video here. I’ve noticed many unreal renders have this and i have had this too. Is this something that can be remedied? Thanks again!

[@tomtomkowski7653]

What a legend!

[@Nikita_Terok]

это просто гениально!

[@hami3dreza]

Thanks a lot William, really awesome !! Just a question because I'm having issues with rendering sometimes, as you can see there is light/reflections flickering in Lumen ! How can I fix it in rendering ? Would really appreciate you if you can help me about it. 🙌

[@rodolfoaraujovanucchi7395]

You can attenuate this issues changing the lumen configuration in post process volume in "Lumen Global Illumination" and "Advanced". Another tip is always put more lights in the scene if this problem occurs.

[@DarkoSubotin]

For getting more light in shadows, have you tried modifying the filmic tone mapper tone curve settings in post process?

[@WilliamFaucher]

Nope, because when I render I disable the tonemapper anyway

[@prateekbhanushali1956]

Hey. How do I set the Transform axis arrows with the Z axis pointing me at 90 degrees? The orientation of those makes moving things into a specific axis a nightmare.

[@VibrantlyUnpredictable]

Why would you not use ray traced shadows in this instance? I mean you used them, but why didnt you have to enabled them in the project settings? When increasing the volumetric scattering intensity, is there a way to increase it without the jagged edges that begin to form on the god ray? Or increase the quality of that god ray?

[@JimJams-qf9vv]

Any tips for dealing with those lovely blurry reflections on your floor? and how to eliminate noise from artificial lights. Anything around 0.2 roughness seems to cause issues?

[@matthewaustinpye]

Another fantastic video! This is unrelated but do you know how to make MH hair simulations not flicker in the MRQ? This one has stumped my team for the last few weeks.

[@tahseenullah2935]

Finally ❤

[@Actionsen]

I can "see" your microphone sometimes))) And thank you for this tutorial!!

[@Pierronomate]

meme pendant les rush je regarde tes videos à x1 , merci

[@WilliamFaucher]

hahah merci à toi!

[@Simeon_Jekov]

Thanks for the amazing video and tips! Great work as always! I really appreciate the use of Lumen in comparison with pathtracer. We all know that pathtracing is exact and correct but it's also very slow to render. Making a lumen scene as close as possible to a pathtraced scene is the gold for me! That's the real benefit from rendering stuff in UE I think.

[@KristofKuris]

Hi William, thanks so much for another great tutorial. I have one question for you please. I have two projects in version 5.1 and I would like to convert them and continue either in version 5.2 or straight away in 5.3. Could you please advise me which is better? Thank you. Kristof

[@_JonathanTait]

Don't convert, rather duplicate, change version on the new one, test everything, and once you happy stay with the newer version.

[@jamesgoodman2931]

Great video and fantastic tips! Do you feel 8gig VRAM would get used more quickly on more complex scenes? Or should we be looking 12 upwards on a laptop?

[@WilliamFaucher]

I would personally recommend more than 8 if you plan on taking UE very seriously! The more the merrier!

[@jamesgoodman2931]

Would you go for a mobile 4080 with 12 gig Vram? Or an older mobile 3080 with 16 gig Vram. Happy to take a hit on speed if it could cope with all those lovely megascans! Be great to get your opinion William. No more laptop talk from me 😅

[@WilliamFaucher]

@@jamesgoodman2931 If I had to choose, always more vram

[@jamesgoodman2931]

Just purchased the 4080 version of this laptop..fingers crossed!

[@adbelquodooseraky9797]

thanks

[@gallystops]

Great!

[@esat986]

Teşekkürler.

[@keanezhu7574]

awesome

[@eugenepylinsky3906]

Hey William, great tutorial, thank you! I was wondering, could we expect soon properly updated easyfog for UE 5.3? There is an issue, keyframe animation does not work when render via MRQ In viewport everything work nice and smooth.

[@WilliamFaucher]

What animation are you referring to?

[@eugenepylinsky3906]

fog density and base color tint@@WilliamFaucher

[@WilliamFaucher]

@@eugenepylinsky3906 Thank you for the heads up, I am in the process of fixing this and updating a new version soon. Should be ready in a couple days.

[@eugenepylinsky3906]

@@WilliamFaucher Thanks man 🙏

[@user-hd5yq9jb4v]

Hey William, will you make a video on how you setup a fresh laptop/ desktop for your work, with unreal engine and other 3d work? It would mean a lot to me!

[@WilliamFaucher]

Not sure I understand your question! I boot the laptop, install unreal and Im good to go ☺️

[@user-hd5yq9jb4v]

@@WilliamFaucher Oh sorry for that, I just meant, I've heard and seen many people having separate drives for cache, projects and etc. I'm quite new so I wasn't sure what to do to reduce storage clutter, or how to manage it at least.

[@krectus]

Thanks, lots of good help here. Still frustrating with UE that were at 5.3 now and you still have to put giant fake walls around your real walls just so light doesn't bleed through completely closed in sections. Come on Unreal fix your bugs.

[@rahulmkr4940]

GOLD

[@iXabhay]

7:36 me: wow this looks great! william: not very good looking me: :o

[@roadtoenviromentartist]

Great William!!!!!!. O Yeah.. nice: lightning, color, composition... One question... Why you did not use instead a rectangular light a portal light actor to concentrate the sky and light source from the entrance door?

[@WilliamFaucher]

I did use a rect light. But light portals aren’t a thing anymore, unless you are using baked lighting, which we are not doing here.

[@user-lE1ByAvL6ThExBYa]

U are best!💥💥💥

[@VRDivision]

let's gooooooo

[@MrLarsalexander]

In the PPV under Lumen, there is a parameter for Skulight Leaking set to 0. What is that doing do help get rid of light bleeding/leaking?