3D Lighting and Rendering

GH₵ 1000

GH₵ 655

Duration

Software

Maya and Arnold

2 weeks

Level

Beginner

Mentorship

1 month

Create cinematic 3D renders in our intensive 2-week course

Designed for Aspiring Lighting and Look Development Artists , this comprehensive two-week course on Seed LMS guides you step-by-step through Autodesk Maya, Arnold Renderer, and modern AI workflows. You will develop the essential skills of digital lighting, physical shading, mood creation, and rendering optimisation while building a professional lookdev pipeline. Beyond the core two weeks, you’ll receive a full month of free, one-on-one mentorship to polish your final frames, troubleshoot your render noise in real-time, and confidently build your 3D portfolio. Choose from our curated pool of 10 exciting lighting briefs, refine your skills, and graduate with portfolio-ready, high-quality images.

Course Outline

Week 1: The Physics of Light & Materials

Topic A: Lighting Fundamentals

Direct vs. Indirect Light: Understanding light bounces (Ray Tracing).
Arnold Light Types: Area Lights (Soft shadows), Skydome (HDRI), Spotlights, and Mesh Lights.
Light Attributes: Exposure vs. Intensity, Colour Temperature (Kelvin), and Samples.

Topic B: Shading & Lookdev

Standard Surface Shader: Mastering the “Uber Shader” parameters.
PBR Workflow: Diffuse, Roughness, Metalness, and Normal Maps.
Transmission & Sub-Surface Scattering (SSS): Creating glass, skin, and wax.

Topic C: The Studio Setup

3-Point Lighting: Key, Fill, and Rim light logic.
HDRI Lighting: Using High Dynamic Range Images for realistic reflections and ambient light.

Week 2: Mood, Storytelling & Rendering

Topic A: Mood & Atmosphere

Volumetrics: Creating fog, god rays, and atmospheric perspective using aiAtmosphereVolume.
Light Linking: Breaking the laws of physics to light specific objects without affecting others.
Gobos & Blockers: Casting shadows to create visual interest (e.g., window blinds pattern).

Topic B: Innovative AI Workflow (Using Gemini)

The Lighting Director: Describing a scene’s emotion to Gemini to get a lighting diagram.
- Prompt Example: “I have a 3D scene of a detective’s office. Describe a lighting setup (key, fill, rim positions and colours) that evokes a ‘Film Noir’ mystery mood.”
Texture Generation: Using Gemini to brainstorm prompts for AI texture generators (like Adobe Firefly or free alternatives) to create seamless textures for walls/floors.
Render Troubleshooting: Pasting Arnold log errors into Gemini for instant fixes.

Topic C: Rendering & AOV Strategy

Sampling: Optimising AA (Anti-Aliasing), Diffuse, and Specular samples to remove noise.
AOVs (Render Passes): Exporting Diffuse, Specular, Z-Depth, and CryptoMatte passes for compositing.
Linear Workflow: Understanding Colour Space (ACES/sRGB) and Gamma correction.

Mentorship & Portfolio Polish

After two weeks of core instruction, students enter a free 1-month mentorship delivered online via Discord. This phase shifts the focus from learning new tools to applying them to industry standards.

Project Polish & Portfolio Building: Finish or redo your 2 required projects. High-quality submissions ensure better scores and a stronger portfolio.
Weekly 1-on-1 Sessions: Each student is assigned a dedicated mentor for a personalised 30 to 60-minute weekly guidance session.
Open File Reviews: Present open project files via live screen sharing for direct mentor critiques and feedback.
Live Debugging: Join dedicated livestreams where instructors actively troubleshoot settings and fix your project errors in real-time.
Final Premiere: Submit your fully rendered images or video for the Virtual Viewing Party to watch and critique final reels with the class.
Certification & Next Steps: Complete the course evaluation and submit all final polished projects to finalise grading and unlock your Certificate of Completion.

3D Lighting and Rendering