#62 - Animation - Lighting
Once I had the movement done and I could see all for the individual frames rendered from the animation camera's panel (the one I will be rendering the final animation from), I realised that some parts of the animation were just not bright enough. The first area was the back of the Venator destroyer. You could see the glow of the engines just fine, but the actual model from the top was and underneath was almost invisible. To fix this, I added a directional light behind the Venator, pointing light directly at it, so when the animation renders you can actually see the colour of the ship now.
I also added in a point light underneath the Invisible Hand where it is positioned during the Jedi Star Fighter sequence, because originally when it zoomed in on the star fighter you could barely see it. Now, with the point light, it is totally visible, as is the bottom of the Invisible Hand.
Finally, I tried to make use of the bright blue sun I have in the distance by slightly changing the texture colour on some of the Invisible Hand's faces as it moves past the sun. The sun is on the left of the Invisible Hand from the camera's view in the first scene. I added a blinn and set it to be grey but reflecting a faint blue, to make it look like the sun was glaring off the side of the ship. I would say this texture has worked, and improves the appearance of the Invisible Hand in the first scene, but it was difficult to get the colour balance exactly right so in the rendered animation the changed textures look slightly too different from the rest of the textures. Ultimately it is an improvement though.
As for the directional light, this significantly improved the third and fourth scenes as it made the Venator visible before it launches its EMP blast, and you can see it much more clearly during the second scene when it flies in. The point light had a similar effect in that it improved the visibility of the ship, whilst the sun and the engine and hangar glow textures balanced out the rest of the visible light in the scene. The lighting may not be used in the most effective way but the main thing is that nothing is invisible or even difficult to see throughout the animation.
I also added in a point light underneath the Invisible Hand where it is positioned during the Jedi Star Fighter sequence, because originally when it zoomed in on the star fighter you could barely see it. Now, with the point light, it is totally visible, as is the bottom of the Invisible Hand.
Finally, I tried to make use of the bright blue sun I have in the distance by slightly changing the texture colour on some of the Invisible Hand's faces as it moves past the sun. The sun is on the left of the Invisible Hand from the camera's view in the first scene. I added a blinn and set it to be grey but reflecting a faint blue, to make it look like the sun was glaring off the side of the ship. I would say this texture has worked, and improves the appearance of the Invisible Hand in the first scene, but it was difficult to get the colour balance exactly right so in the rendered animation the changed textures look slightly too different from the rest of the textures. Ultimately it is an improvement though.
As for the directional light, this significantly improved the third and fourth scenes as it made the Venator visible before it launches its EMP blast, and you can see it much more clearly during the second scene when it flies in. The point light had a similar effect in that it improved the visibility of the ship, whilst the sun and the engine and hangar glow textures balanced out the rest of the visible light in the scene. The lighting may not be used in the most effective way but the main thing is that nothing is invisible or even difficult to see throughout the animation.
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