Hello, and welcome to this lesson on lighting and cameras.

My name is Mr. Coxhead and in today's lesson we're gonna be going through how we can use lighting and cameras in Blender.

Let's make a start.

The outcome for this lesson is I can set up lighting and cameras.

And here are the keywords.

Adjust: to move something slightly in order to achieve the desired result.

A light object: an object that illuminates a scene by simulating the properties of light.

Composition: the arrangement and positioning of visual elements within a camera's frame.

There are two parts to this lesson.

In the first part, we're going to look at how we can set up lighting in Blender.

In the second part, we're going to look at how we can set up cameras.

Let's move on to the first part of the lesson, which is setting up lighting.

Look at the images below.

Can you spot the odd one out? Pause the video and see if you can spot the odd one out.

Okay, did you spot it? Well, it is this image, because this image has artificial sources of light and the others only have natural sources of light, such as the Moon, the Sun, and stars.

When 3D modelling and animating, lighting must be added and adjusted to give the desired look and feel.

The position, colour, and type of lighting used in Blender can have a dramatic effect on the scene.

In Blender, four types of light objects can be used to provide light to the scene: a point light, a sun light, a spot light, and an area light.

Each type of light object has unique properties that make it useful.

The point light object gives out light in all directions from a single point in 3D space.

The icon looks like this, and the light given out is similar to that of a light bulb.

The sun light object gives out light from a single direction, and the icon looks like this.

The angle of light is adjustable and the entire space is affected no matter how big the scene is.

The spot light object gives out light from a focused area, and the icon looks like this.

This is similar to how a spotlight would work on stage.

An area light object gives out light from a flat 2D area.

And the icon looks like this.

The shape of the area can be adjusted to alter the lighting effect.

Light objects can be added to a scene from the top menu bar.

Adjustments can be made in the properties panel.

The colour of light objects can also be adjusted.

Click on the colour wheel and move the cursor to adjust the colour.

This feature can be used to change the look and feel of a scene, or to add highlights to objects.

Light objects can be animated just like other objects in Blender.

Animating light objects can add drama and atmosphere.

And here we are on the first check for understanding of this lesson.

And the question is, which type of light object gives out a focused area of light? Is it A, sun; B, spot; or C, area? Pause the video and think about your answer.

Welcome back.

And the answer to that question is a spot light.

Well done if you got that correct.

And don't worry if you didn't, we can always go back and have a look through some of the previous content.

So multiple light objects can be animated within a scene.

In this scene, a spot light and sun are animated.

Here's a video clip showing how this can be done.

Add a spot light.

Increase the power of the spot light.

Move into position.

Rotate the spot light.

Move to frame 100.

Add a keyframe by pressing I, and move to frame 160.

Rotate the spot light 360 degrees.

Press I to insert keyframe.

Play the animation.

Add a sun light source.

Change the strength to five.

Ensure the animation is on frame one.

Hover over the strength and press I to add keyframe.

Move to frame 100.

Adjust the strength to zero.

Hover over strength and press I to add keyframe.

Play the animation.

Welcome back, and here's a question to check our understanding of lighting.

True or false? The strength, position, and colour of light objects can all be animated.

Is this true or false? Pause the video and think of your answer.

And the answer to this question is true.

So well done if you got that right.

And don't worry if not, you can always go back through the content or have another look through the video.

Let's move on to the first task of the lesson.

And the first task is Task A, and we're going to add and animate light objects into a scene.

In the first part of the question, I'd like you to add a spot light to the lighthouse and animate it so that it spins around.

And in the second part of this task, I would like you to add a sun to the scene and animate that to give the effect of a sunset.

Don't forget, you can always use the example Blender scene provided, or you can use your own If you have one.

Good luck with this task.

I can't wait to see what you produce.

Pause the video and have a go.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed that task, animating all those lights in the scene.

Let's have a look at some example answers.

So in the first part of the task, we have to add a spot light and we have to animate it to spin around.

And here's Aisha and she used the example Blender scene, and she found it quite straightforward to animate and move the light around.

In the second part, we have to add a sun to the scene and animate it to give the effect of a sunset.

And here's Aisha again, and she added a sun to the scene and inserted keyframes to mark the day and the night strengths.

And she's really happy with the animation, and it's great to see those two animations working together there.

So I hope you managed to do that task really well and you enjoyed adding the spot light and the sun light and animating them.

Let's move on to the next part of the lesson.

And in this part of the lesson, we're going to look at how we can set up and use cameras inside of Blender.

Take a look at the images below.

And what is happening? Pause the video and think about your answer.

Okay, welcome back.

And in these pictures we are capturing an image and we are capturing video footage.

In the real world, cameras are used to capture photos and video footage.

In Blender, cameras can be added to a scene.

Cameras are used to capture images and animations from a certain position within the 3D scene.

Like other objects in Blender, cameras can be moved and rotated in the 3D viewport.

This is like moving a camera in the real world to get the photo that you want.

Note that what is displayed in the 3D viewport is not what is viewed from the camera.

The camera view must be enabled to look through the camera.

To look through the camera, click on the camera icon, which looks like this.

You can also press 0 on the number pad to look through the camera.

To return to the 3D viewport, click on the camera view icon again.

The camera can be adjusted whilst inside the camera view.

Press G to grab and move the camera, and press X, Y, or Z to move along an axis.

Note that it's usually easier to make adjustments whilst you're inside camera view.

Composition is the arrangement and positioning of visual elements within a camera's frame.

One way to get good composition is to use the rule of thirds.

To use the rule of thirds, divide the frame into nine equal parts and place the subject in the left or right-hand third.

And here we are on the first check for understanding in the second part of the lesson.

And the question is, in which of the following do you think the rule of thirds has been used to get good composition? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video and think about which one you think has used the rule of thirds.

Welcome back.

So which one did you think it is? Well, it's actually C.

Well done if you got that correct.

And don't worry if not, you can always go back and look through the previous content.

And the second check for understanding is the arrangement and positioning of visual elements within the camera's frame is known as, A, composition; B, focus; or C, a viewport? Pause the video and think about which one you think is correct.

Welcome back.

And the answer to that question is composition.

Well done if you got that correct, and if you didn't, remember, you can always go back and look through some of the previous content.

Let's move on.

So Blender has a useful tool to help set up good composition.

In this image, the camera view has been split into thirds using a composition guide.

The composition guide can be enabled through the properties panel.

To access the composition guide, select the camera, click on the Viewport Display, click on Composition Guides, and tick the Thirds box.

The camera can be focused on objects or to a certain distance.

To focus on an object, click on the dropper tool and then the object.

Now we're onto Task B of this lesson.

Now, this is the final task of the lesson.

We're gonna practise using a camera and setting it up to get a really great shot.

In this task, you're going to create your own camera view of objects within a 3D scene.

Part one of this task is to add a camera and adjust the composition of the camera view.

Part two of the task is to use the depth of field eyedropper tool to focus the camera on the main subject.

Part three of the task is to use your modelling skills to add any extra details.

There's a few tips for success.

Be creative and explore interesting angles for the camera and focus.

Use the rule of thirds to help with your composition.

And you can use your own Blender scene or the example provided.

Good luck with this task.

I can't wait to see what you produce.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Let's take a look at some example answers.

So, part one of this task was to a camera and adjust the composition of the camera view.

And here we have Jacob, and he used his own scene and adjusted the camera to make the palm tree the subject of the frame.

And he used the composition tool to help him use the rule of thirds.

Part two of the task was to use the depth of field eyedropper tool to focus the camera on the main subject.

And Jacob focused the camera on the palm tree trunk, and he really likes the way that it's blurred the boat slightly.

And this picture's starting to come together really nicely now.

Part three of the task was to use your modelling skills to add any extra details.

And here we can see Jacob, and he says that he had a little extra time and so he added a fluffy cloud to the sky by scaling some spheres, and he's really pleased with the scene.

Now, I think Jacob's done a fabulous job here.

He's got great composition with his palm tree, he's used the focus tool to add a little bit of blurriness to the foreground and the background, and he's even had time to add in that cloud, which gives it a little bit more kind of depth and realism.

So I hope you've enjoyed that task and I hope you've enjoyed this lesson developing your skills using lighting and cameras in Blender, and the thing to do now is to keep practising those skills and get even better.

Now we're nearly at the end of a lesson.

We're just going to take a look at the summary for this lesson.

Lighting objects are used to illuminate scenes and objects.

Lighting objects are adjusted and animated to add atmosphere and realism to scenes.

Cameras are used to capture images and animations.

And the properties of cameras can be adjusted to achieve good composition.

Now, I've really enjoyed this lesson, and we've learnt a lot about how we can set up lighting and set up cameras in Blender to make really excellent shots of our photos and animations.

So well done, I hope you enjoyed the tasks, and I look forward to seeing you in future lessons.