Lighting In 3D Art: Why It Matters & How To Improve It

Introduction

I'm Yon Lee, a 3D artist with around four years of experience across mobile games and animation. I've contributed to projects such as Home Design Makeover, Ellen's Garden Restoration, Dream Garden Restoration, and Property Brothers at Storm8, working on real-time environment art. I also worked on short animated films like Canary, where I handled both character and environment assets.

Since my last interview, my work has shifted from character-focused modeling in animation to production work in the mobile game industry, where I’ve been working in real-time rendering environments. In that context, lighting plays a direct role in how assets are read, prioritized, and integrated into a scene.

Working across both characters and environments made it clear that lighting isn't just a final step, but a core part of how the overall quality is perceived. It affects readability, hierarchy, and how efficiently assets communicate their form on screen, especially within real-time constraints.

Importance of Lighting

Lighting defines how a model is read and understood. Without it, even well-built assets can appear flat or unclear. Early in my career, I focused heavily on modeling quality, assuming that strong forms would naturally translate into a strong final image. In practice, the main difference often came down to lighting. When revisiting older work, the issue wasn’t the model itself, but how it was presented.

Lighting controls value separation, depth, and visual hierarchy. If everything sits within a narrow value range, the form collapses and becomes harder to read. Even small adjustments in direction or intensity can significantly improve clarity.

Lighting also has a direct impact on how materials are perceived. Even with the same textures and shaders, poor lighting can make surfaces look flat or overly artificial, while well-controlled lighting allows materials to respond more naturally and reveal subtle surface variation.

In the earlier version, rendered in 2020, the character blends into the dark background. Most of the values are compressed into a similar range, which makes the form feel flatter and less defined. The lighting is also more evenly distributed, so there is no clear focal point.

In the updated version, a brighter background and more controlled lighting improve separation, making the silhouette much easier to read. The value range is expanded to better define the form, and the lighting is focused to emphasize the face, creating a clearer focal point. The materials also respond more naturally under the improved lighting, resulting in a more refined final image.

In production, lighting is not a final polish. It directly defines how assets communicate their form, how materials respond, and how clearly the final image reads on screen.

Go-to Lighting Setup

I usually start with a simple setup and build complexity only when needed. For characters, I usually begin with a soft fill to establish a balanced value range and prevent the image from becoming too contrast-heavy. From there, I introduce a key light to shape the form and selectively emphasize the focal areas. Rim lighting is then used to separate the silhouette and reinforce edges where the form tends to blend into the background.

This fill lighting establishes a balanced value range across the model, preventing overly harsh shadows and maintaining overall readability. It serves as a foundation before introducing a more directional key light.

This key light is used to shape the form and define the primary areas of focus. Compared to the base fill, it introduces a stronger contrast, helping to create clearer light and shadow separation.

In most cases, the key light is positioned from an upper diagonal angle, either from the left or right, to naturally define the form. For a more dramatic effect, it can also be placed more directly above the character to create stronger shadow definition and emphasize specific areas.

This rim lighting is used to define the silhouette and separate the character from the background. It adds a clear edge highlight that improves readability, especially in darker setups where the form can easily get lost.

In this case, I also used it to enhance subsurface scattering, allowing light to pass through thinner areas and create a softer, more natural transition along the edges. This helps add depth and subtle variation without overwhelming the overall lighting.

In the final lighting setup, all elements are combined. The base fill establishes a balanced value range, the key light shapes the form and defines the focal areas, and the rim light enhances the silhouette and separation from the background.

Together, these elements create a clear visual hierarchy, improve readability, and allow the materials to respond more naturally, resulting in a more cohesive and polished final image.

This color-coded viewport shows the complete lighting setup, illustrating how the fill (blue), key (yellow), and rim (red) lights are positioned and used together. While this setup works well for characters, the approach changes depending on the type of asset.

For environments, the focus shifts toward overall cohesion. Instead of isolating a single subject, lighting is used to support the mood and guide attention across the scene while maintaining consistency. For props, I keep the setup more controlled. The priority is clear from the definition and readability without introducing unnecessary complexity or competing focal points.

In all cases, each light is introduced with a specific purpose. If a light doesn't contribute to form, contrast, or focus, it usually isn't needed.

Lighting Process

When working with lighting, the main goal is to maintain clarity while guiding the viewer's attention. This comes down to controlling value, separation, and focal hierarchy rather than simply adding more lights.

My process usually starts with establishing a balanced base using fill lighting. At this stage, the goal is to define an overall value range and avoid overly harsh contrast. This helps maintain readability across the entire model and prevents important forms from getting lost too early in the process.

This stage focuses on establishing a clean base using fill lighting. A large area light is used to create soft, even illumination across the model, helping define an overall value range without introducing strong contrast.

In addition, a subtle directional light is used to gently lift the shadow values, preventing darker areas from becoming too heavy while maintaining a balanced and readable result.

Once the base is established, I decide where I want the viewer's attention to go. From there, I introduce a key light to shape the form and create stronger contrast in those focal areas. This step is less about lighting everything evenly and more about selectively emphasizing important parts of the model.

After shaping the primary forms with the key light, I introduce rim lighting as part of the final lighting pass to refine the silhouette and improve separation. This is especially important when working with darker backgrounds, where the form can easily blend in. Rim lighting helps reinforce edges and adds subtle depth without overwhelming the overall lighting.

Throughout the process, I constantly evaluate the value range and adjust accordingly. If the lighting becomes too flat, I increase contrast. If it becomes too harsh, I rebalance the fill. The goal is to maintain a clear hierarchy where the viewer's eye is naturally guided to the focal point.

In the final stage, all elements are combined to create a cohesive result. At this point, the focus is on fine adjustments, ensuring smooth transitions, consistent material response, and a balanced overall image.

Practical Tips

One of the key insights I developed through my work is the critical role of value separation and lighting in determining how a 3D asset is perceived.

In earlier work, as shown in the "before" example, the character was placed against a dark background with a similar value range. This resulted in insufficient separation between the subject and the background, causing the silhouette to become less readable. Additionally, the lighting lacked a clear value hierarchy, with minimal contrast guiding the viewer’s attention. As a result, the overall image appeared visually flat despite the underlying modeling quality.

In the revised version, I addressed these issues by establishing clearer value separation and a more controlled lighting structure. By adjusting the background value and introducing more intentional contrast, particularly around the face and upper body, the focal point becomes more defined, and the silhouette is significantly improved.

This comparison demonstrates how lighting functions not only as a technical component but as a primary tool for visual communication. Even with identical geometry, textures, and materials, changes in lighting alone can significantly improve readability, depth, and overall visual impact.

Based on this experience, I emphasize the importance of evaluating lighting in terms of visual hierarchy and focal clarity. Strategic decisions regarding background value, light direction, and contrast placement often have a greater impact on the final result than increasing technical complexity.

Overall, my approach to lighting has evolved from focusing primarily on visibility to understanding its role as a key factor in visual communication and image quality. Through continued analysis and refinement, I have developed a workflow that prioritizes clarity, hierarchy, and material response, allowing 3D assets to be presented more effectively.

By sharing these observations and practical approaches, I aim to contribute to the broader artist community, particularly for those transitioning from foundational modeling skills to more advanced presentation and production-level work. I believe that improving how artists understand and apply lighting can have a direct impact on the overall quality of work across the industry.

Yon Lee, 3D Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine