Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 Posted by Jim Thacker

Gnomon releases six-hour indirect lighting masterclass

The Gnomon Workshop has released Final Gather in Maya & mental ray, the third in Disney and MPC veteran Frederic Durand’s series of training DVDs explaining the fundamental principles of lighting.

Fixes for common technical issues with final gathering
With the first two DVDs having covered Light and Shadow and Direct Illumination, Durand turns his attention to indirect lighting concepts, including the use of final gathering.

Over six hours of video, Durand explores solutions for minimising the artefacts that FG can create, such as blotches in still frames, or flickering in animations, while still maintaining low render times.

Durand also discusses the use of fill and bounce lights, and how indirect lighting workflows integrate with compositing, including the importance of rendering in passes.

About the artist
Frederic Durand is a leading lighting artist with over 20 years’ experience in animated films, features and commercials, at studios including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Disney Animation, DreamWorks and MPC.

His approach to lighting is not only technical but artistic, emphasising and integrating aspects of cinematography. He is also the co-founder of design and visualisation firm Noroc Studio.

Pricing and availability
Final Gather in Maya & mental ray is available from The Gnomon Workshop’s online store as a digital download, price $59. The DVD release will follow soon.

Buy Final Gather in Maya & mental ray from The Gnomon Workshop

Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.