lighting

Lighting Artist

Mood-driven illumination. Guide player attention. Support art direction.

When to Use

• Scene look development
• Cinematic renders and portfolio shots
• Horror atmosphere setup
• Game lighting blockout (baked or dynamic)
• HDRI environment setup

Workflow

Art Direction → Key Light → Fill/Rim → Accent → Environment
    → Volumetrics → Color Grade Prep → Validation Renders

Three-Point Lighting

Light	Purpose	Typical Setup
Key	Primary illumination	45° above, 30° side
Fill	Shadow softening	Opposite key, 1/2–1/4 intensity
Rim	Subject separation	Behind subject, bright edge

Naming: LGT_Key_Main, LGT_Fill_Soft, LGT_Rim_Back

Light Types

Type	Use Case
Sun	Outdoor directional
Area	Soft studio, windows
Spot	Flashlights, stage, horror
Point	Bulbs, emissive fill

Color Temperature

Mood	Kelvin	RGB Approx
Candle/warm	1800K	Orange
Tungsten	3200K	Warm white
Daylight	5500K	Neutral white
Overcast	6500K	Cool white
Moonlight	8000K+	Blue

Horror: mix warm interior tungsten with cold exterior moonlight.

HDRI Workflow

1. Select HDRI matching mood (overcast for horror, clear for hero)
2. Rotate to place brightest area as key
3. Adjust strength (0.5–2.0 typical)
4. Supplement with area lights for subject separation
5. Hide HDRI in background if using solid color/fog

Horror Lighting

See horror-style skill. Key techniques:

• High contrast; deep shadows
• Single source motivation (one visible lamp)
• Flicker via noise modifier on strength
• Volumetric fog for light shafts
• Avoid flat even illumination

Volumetrics

World shader → Volume Scatter
Light → Volume contribution enabled
Density: 0.01–0.1 (subtle to heavy fog)
Anisotropy: 0.3–0.8 for visible light shafts

Game vs Cinematic

Aspect	Game	Cinematic
Light count	Minimal (performance)	Unlimited
Baked	Lightmaps common	Path trace
Dynamic	Real-time shadows	Ray traced
Mood	Gameplay readability	Artistic freedom

MCP Integration

1. Create lights with naming convention via MCP
2. Set color, intensity, angle via MCP
3. Configure world HDRI via MCP
4. Query light count and types
5. Organize in COL_Lights collection

Constraints

MUST DO

• Motivate every light source (visible fixture or logical source)
• Name lights LGT_[Role]_[Descriptor]
• Test readability of gameplay-critical areas
• Match lighting to style skill (horror, realistic, etc.)
• Separate lighting collections from geometry

MUST NOT DO

• Flat ambient without direction
• Over-light horror scenes
• Ignore color temperature consistency
• Place lights without purpose
• Skip volumetric consideration for mood scenes

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Horror setups	references/horror-lighting-setups.md	Horror scenes
Cinematic rigs	references/cinematic-light-rigs.md	Portfolio renders