Blender lighting and look development

Light characters and products, compose cameras and tune exposure and materials before rendering.

By EL4CTEO

Characters & assets
Use this skill

Blender installed locally; review the Blender version and engine export settings.

Add the skill folder in Settings. The in-app library is coming in the next desktop update.

The skill

The source instructions, with their original wording. Read as Markdown.

Lighting & Look-dev

The execution model is in blender-core. Render settings are in blender-rendering. Full time-of-day, night and fog environments are in blender-time-of-day.

One call: presentation scene

scripts/turntable.py -- --objects Hero --rig studio --backdrop --frames 120 --lens 85
scripts/turntable.py -- --objects Hero --rig both --hdri //hdri/studio_small_09_2k.exr --hdri-strength 0.8

This builds a camera framed to the bounding sphere (on the narrower frame axis), a key/fill/rim area-light rig scaled to the asset, an optional 18%-grey cyclorama, and a pivot that orbits camera + lights + backdrop in a seamless loop. The asset itself isn't modified. Everything lives in the LD_Lookdev collection, and re-running replaces it. Set the render resolution before running, because framing depends on the aspect ratio.

Lighting recipes

Situation Setup
Asset / product review 3-point: key 45° side, 30–40° up; fill opposite at ⅓ power and lower; rim behind for silhouette. Large soft area lights (size ≈ object), neutral grey backdrop, Khronos PBR Neutral view
Reflective product (metal, glass, car paint) large softboxes/strip lights reflected in the surface, plus a black/white gradient environment. Shape the reflections, not the illumination
Exterior day Sun light (angle 0.5° for sharp, 2–5° for softer) + sky (ShaderNodeTexSky, sky_type MULTIPLE_SCATTERING/SINGLE_SCATTERING; 5.x replaced "Nishita"; PREETHAM/HOSEK_WILKIE legacy) with sun_elevation/sun_rotation matching the Sun light, or an HDRI of the matching time of day
Interior HDRI/sky through the windows + portal area lights in the openings, bounces ≥ 4, then practical lights (lamps) at real wattage
Character / portrait soft key from above-front, a reflector-like fill, rim or hair light, an eye catchlight. 85–135 mm lens
Stylized / game screenshot match the engine: one directional + ambient/HDRI, no fancy GI, so it looks like it will in-game
  • HDRI: Poly Haven (CC0) via the blender-mcp search_assets/import_asset, or ShaderNodeTexEnvironment + Mapping (Z rotation aligns the sun). Strength 0.5–1.5. Clamp sun hotspots if they cause fireflies.
  • Light linking (4.0+, Cycles + EEVEE): set light_obj.light_linking.receiver_collection / blocker_collection (on the light object) to light only what you choose, like a hero rim that doesn't touch the backdrop. Portals: light.cycles.is_portal = True on area lights in window openings.
  • Units: point/spot/area in Watts (a 60 W bulb ≈ point light 40–60 W in Blender), sun in W/m² (irradiance; 1000 ≈ physical midday, but use 3–10 with AgX for natural results), emission strength ≈ W/m². Keep lights physically plausible and control the overall image with exposure.
  • Shadows: light size controls softness. A bigger, closer light is softer. Contact shadows should exist where objects touch, so check that nothing floats (blender-asset-qa ground_z).

Camera rules

  • Focal length: 24–35 mm environments/interiors (keep verticals straight: camera level, or shift instead of tilting), 50 mm natural, 85–135 mm products and portraits (no distortion), 200 mm+ compressed telephoto.
  • Composition: rule of thirds / centered symmetric for products, horizon off-center, leading lines, headroom. Show the silhouette (3/4 view at slight elevation 10–25°).
  • DOF (cam.data.dof.use_dof, focus_object, aperture_fstop): f/2.8–5.6 for products at real scale. DOF depends on scale, so a wrong scene scale ruins it.
  • Clip start/end tight around the subject (the script does this), which avoids precision artifacts.
  • Sensor fit AUTO uses the larger axis. Portrait renders need framing on the width.

Look-dev procedure (material approval)

  1. Neutral setup: --rig studio or a neutral HDRI, grey backdrop, Khronos PBR Neutral or AgX (pick one and keep it).
  2. Add a calibration chart object if needed (a grey 18% sphere, a chrome sphere, a Macbeth chart) next to the asset.
  3. Turntable at 24–30 fps, 120–240 frames, 85 mm. Render previews with render_batch.py --preset preview --format MP4.
  4. Check the materials under 2–3 different HDRIs. A good PBR material holds up in all of them (blender-pbr-materials sanity checks).

Gotchas

  • World lighting is invisible if world.node_tree has no Background → World Output link (the script ensures one).
  • EEVEE needs use_raytracing for good reflections. Light probes (Volume/Sphere/Plane) still help static GI in interiors.
  • Area lights that are too small and bright make fireflies in Cycles. Increase the size, decrease the power.
  • A turntable that rotates the asset changes its transforms and animation data, which is why this rig orbits the camera instead.