Week 7 Class Practical: Part 2 - Lighting Introduction

In Maya you can create lighting additional to the default lighting. When creating a new light source, the default lighting is switched off. There are 6 main types of lighting you can create in Maya, each with different characteristics. I added a red blinn texture to the objects from the camera scene in part 1 and applied different lighting sources to the scene. Below are examples of these light sources.

Ambient
Ambient lighting applies an even light source across the whole scene. This lighting has no specific direction or source and all objects illuminated will appear flat.

Directional
Directional light casts light in a single direction, creating shadow and depth. This is a good representation of natural sunlight.

Point
This lighting source casts an even light from a specific source. This type of lighting is great when trying to recreate light sources such as light bulbs.

Spot
Spot lights are a combination of point and directional lights, casting a light source in a direction from a specific point. This type of lighting is a good representation of a flash light. You can also change the target point of the light by going to the "Modify" menu, selecting "Transformation Tools" and then "Show Manipulator".

Area
Area lighting is very similar to point lighting but instead of the light emanating from a single point, it emanates from a rectangular shaped area. This lighting is a good representation of a flood light, or a light coming from a shaped bulb, like a fluorescent light.

Volume
Volume lights are the same as area lights but instead of emitting the light from a rectangular area, you can change the volumetric shape of the light source.

When adding lighting into a scene it is a good practice to add the lighting to it's own layer. This allows you to easily turn the lighting on or off by toggling layer visibility.