Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters

Analyzing the Real Footage

Before you add lights, you should carefully analyze the real footage into which you want to fit your 3D scene. Take a look at the shadows; they’ll tell you where the light is coming from and its intensity, and pay attention to how diffused or rigid the shadows are as well. The light color is also very important.

In the footage we’ll be using, the only light source is the sun, but usually on a sunny day you have more light sources such as the blue sky, which can also illuminate the scenery. For example, look at the shadows in Figure 14.1; they are not completely black, but instead they are slightly illuminated by the light bouncing off various surfaces and they also have a blue tinge due to the reflected light of the ...