Evaluation
In Unit 72, I aimed to create a level where I have experimented with and used different lighting and lighting techniques. I set out to learn about lighting in UE4 - how it works, the techniques used, issues that might be faced and , develop new skills in lighting and how to create atmosphere in level design. To demonstrate this, I was to make my own level using a variety of different lighting techniques. This project was useful as I learnt a lot about lighting - I have learnt about lighting in cinema and tv before, but there is a lot that is different in game lighting and I learnt a lot of new information that I will improve on and be able to implement in future works.
I enjoyed working on this unit and experimenting with lighting - learning how to best use various lights and adding together different lights and effects. I used mainly used rectangle lights, spot lights and point lights in this assignment as they fit the most with my level. I did also use some directional lights and added 2 layers of fog to give the level a 'golden hour' look. I used a mix of movable and stationary lights and set up the movable lights so that they move with the animation of the swinging lamps. There are still a lot of aspects of lighting that I didn't experiment with during this assignment, which I am going to look at in my own time. The options and aspects of lighting in UE4 are a lot more vast than I was expecting and I also wasn't expecting it to differ so much from film and TV lighting.
An issue I came across was the stationary lights overlapping. When I first set my lights up how I wanted them, a lot of them were overlapping. I looked up what could be done to improve this, and I found that I could either make them smaller or add them to different channels. I resolved the issue my decreasing the scale of the lights so they didn't overlap. I also deleted some lights that I didn't think I needed, as in some areas I had multiple lights where they weren't necessarily needed - I deleted some and then increased the intensity of the ones I had remaining.
I found when I was doing research about lighting in UE4, that there is so much to take into account when thinking about lighting and rendering in UE4. I am confident that I understand the basics, the types of lighting and how they are used, however all the details that go into lighting such as lightmaps, lightmass importance volume, etc, I feel like I understand on a basic level but I could still learn a lot about.
Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment and lighting my level. I liked being able to give the level a certain feel and aesthetic using lighting techniques. I learnt a lot about lighting and how important it is to game development. I am happy with how the lighting in the level turned out - my favourite part is how I have created the golden hour look I was aiming to create. There are a few changes I would like to make to the level but that would be to do with the assets used and asset placement - I am happy with the lighting. Even though I am pleased with my final project, I think there is more I could have added to the level, and I could have thought more about the shadows created, and experimented with making harsh or soft shadows and I could have experimented with the exposure. I think I could implement everything that I have learnt in this assignment in my future work and I will continue to experiment with lighting and its affects.