How To Use Light like Caravaggio in 3D Scenes

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Lighting Mastery - Caravaggio

The foundation of cinematography and lighting techniques is essential to study at any level in your artistic development. This brings us to Caravaggio, the Master of Light.

Together with cinematographer Erick Alcaraz we started a series of YouTube videos exploring and learning the lighting techniques of influential painters.

It has been an incredibly valuable experience for us to learn how to use the power of a single light source. The strong defined shadows sculpt the shapes in the scene. Adding depth to cg shots has always been a challenge.

When only using an HDRI the light values become flat. However, Caravaggio shows us the power of exactly the opposite technique:

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Lighting like Caravaggio in CGI

It’s truly wonderful how a combination of defined lights can create a much stronger sense of depth. As we explore the masters of lighting, we are gaining confidence in our personal work. We start with a dark scene and will use 3 lights to create the final result.

Similar to Caravaggio we will be using a Keylight, Toplight and Background light.

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The process of lighting like Caravaggio comes down to understanding the concept of Chiaroscuro. This is a technique in art that refers to the contrast between light and dark. What we can see clearly in the paintings of Caravaggio is how he clearly defines what is visible and what isn't. Not everything needs to be in light to become beautiful. And the omission of detail can focus the viewer to what is important, creating a stronger composition and narrative in the image.

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Conclusion

You will learn how to use minimal lighting set-ups by playing around with the Color Temperature, Angle, Directionality and Intensity.
I hope you enjoy the tutorial and learn something as well :)

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