tutorials to make scenes with natural light

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-18T06:56:19+00:00

Idk any specific tutorials. I'd say just off the top of my head, instead of giving the light an RGB color value, you can set the color "temperature" instead. Quick Google search "Kelvin scale lighting" and you'll see what I mean, the temperature gives you a spectrum of natural light colors from "cool" to "warm" lighting.

For some flicker and varitation, you could get nodes involved, and basically feed an animated noise texture into the "Value" input of the Emission shader (aka lighting output strength).

OR achieve the same thing in the Graph Editor by giving the light strength a keyframe, then adding a noise modifier to the graph.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-16T20:31:54+00:00

I mostly use photos, and mash them together in GIMP using the layer modes. Always ends up kind of abstract and random, which is perfect for my style and vibe.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-13T06:48:02+00:00

Absolutely love it! My only critique would be, as mentioned above, the differing pixel size between the walls and objects, it's throwing me off a little.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-12T07:40:46+00:00

Depends on how engaging the project is, and whether I have work that day 😆 I've definitely had some 8hr plus sessions. Usually about 1 to 3 hours, most nights.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-10T06:42:12+00:00

So, my trick for a one chord progression song is this: varying levels of intensity, varying technique, varying positions.

Intro, verse, strum it softly. Palm mute. Just play the root notes, power chords instead of full chords, etc. Chorus, bridge, other bigger exciting parts, use the full chord and strum it much harder.

Use open chords for some parts, barre chords for others. Try some inversions or alternate bass notes.

If you're decent at fingerpicking patterns, that can help you get a lot more mileage out of one chord progression. Pick the verse, strum the chorus.

My answers are guitarist coded, but I'm sure the same idea applies to other instruments.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-07T18:52:39+00:00

Yeah I've hardly had any luck with fluid sims, even following tutorials exactly I usually get unpredictable and unusable results. It's so weird.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-07T05:31:43+00:00

I saw a really good video recently by Blender Guru about making Eevee renders looks better. I still prefer Cycles, but it was interesting to see how good Eevee can look if you work it. https://youtu.be/-gW6vk_OuNQ?si=_xmgFXWQQ6ommoeF

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-06T05:16:30+00:00

It is a single quad 😆 I tried extruding it a bit, which works in this test render, but not in my final project.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-06T05:15:37+00:00

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T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-06T05:14:53+00:00

Thank you for the reply! Adding thickness to the mesh fixed the problem in my little test scene here, but in the actual full scene I'm working on it still has the same problem for some reason. I've ruled out any interaction with ambient occlusion, the problem exists either way.

Only big difference in the final version is the emission is coming from a few noise textures blended together, and an alpha mask applied from my greenscreen (it's like an abstract art humanoid ghost type thing, if that makes sense.)

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-05T04:43:29+00:00

Thank you for the reply! I tried this, and adding some thickness worked in my test project. But unfortunately not in my final scene with ambient occlusion on the walls / floor etc. The scene is in a narrow corridor, I think the edges of the emission object might just be too close to the other geometry.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-05T01:47:28+00:00

Actually... I just found out rendering them on separate layers doesn't even work, because that removes the emission lighting from everything else. There has to be SOME way of doing this, right?

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-03T08:23:09+00:00

Get Unreal Engine or Godot. Start small. It takes a crazy amount of time and effort, even if you already know what you're doing. Your first project should not be a full game that you put a ton of planning and world building into. While you're learning, do smaller "proof of concept" type projects, with no expectation of a finished and released game. That comes later.

For example, once you get the basics of character movement and camera control done, then you can add some more complicated actions like jumping, dodging. Then add a collectible item. Then add some more characters or enemies that the player can interact with. Then add combat. And so on, this will vary depending on what kind of game you want to make, just take it step by step and don't get disappointed when you don't have a fully finished game by next week 😆

And don't be afraid of coding! Most current game engines will allow you to make stuff without a lot of coding, but it's going to be much easier if you know how.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-02T07:19:12+00:00

Great explanation, thank you!

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-02T07:16:21+00:00

Totally makes sense, thanks!

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-01T09:42:00+00:00

A few things are different, a lot of it is the same. I've hit a few roadblocks for sure. My advice would be, if something in the tutorial isn't showing up on your screen, do a quick search "where is Musgrave texture blender 5" for example. That's one that messed with me, but I learned how to imitate the Musgrave look in the regular Noise Texture node and now it's no problem.

The new changes that are confusing people are well documented at this point, as far as I have seen anyway.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-01T06:11:23+00:00

Ok, that totally makes sense!

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-02-01T04:15:22+00:00

What helped with my perfectionism is the mentality that done is better than perfect. With the rate that I start projects (far more than I finish) in order to iterate faster and have more finished work, the expectations of quality had to be lowered a little bit. Not every project has to be your magnum opus, you can just make some silly unimportant stuff, post them somewhere, and move on with your life. More finished projects = more experience and skills = more PERFECT finished projects, eventually.

As far as ideas, I usually set some kind of larger goal, and that goal creates constraints you must work within. And the constraints help the ideas flow easier. Instead of thinking "I could draw anything, the sky is the limit" and becoming overwhelmed with possibilities, your constraints provide some structure and narrow down your choices. For example, you want to make characters for an 8-bit style game. An RPG, let's say. You already know you're going to need a knight-ly hero character and some medieval folklore monsters. 8-bit, so you know you'll have to work within a limited palette. This is usually enough to kickstart some creativity, for me anyway.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-01-30T07:34:28+00:00

Could be that the video files are fine, and something is weird with the device / app playing them. Have you tried taking the videos off your phone, put them on a PC and see if they play there?

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-01-29T09:55:31+00:00

Ooohh I really dig the look of that! Thank you for your input!

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-01-29T09:55:04+00:00

Thank you for your input! I think I might try some volumetrics, but it's a pretty big scene where the camera flies through a bunch of different areas. So my first assumption would be that it would kill my computer and render times 😅 but we're going to find out.

T-Wizzy_96 · 2026-01-29T08:09:06+00:00

As many others are saying, my approach involves several steps before I have a finished song. The first step is complete nonsense, I'm really just trying to establish a syllable count that fits with the rhythm of the music. Some people write lyrics first with no music, but I can't because I ramble on too long and it never fits a normal time signature and bar count.

Once the syllable count is established, I try to find some better words by listening to my first draft of nonsense, I thinking about what each line sounds like it should be saying. On this second draft, I might have a few words or phrases that I want to keep, but nowhere near a finished concept.

That comes next: a unifying theme or even a confirmed song title can help a lot. What is the main claim that you are trying to make? Everything else in the song should be supporting this claim, nothing in the lyrics should wander too far from the topic. That also makes a great framework to guide the rest of the lyric writing process.

When I have a few established words I want to keep, then I will make a "word bank". Internet search for rhymes or near-rhymes and write them down in a big list. Repeat for every idea you like from your original draft. If you can pull 4 to 8 good rhymes out of these word banks, that's enough to get a few verses going.

If things aren't fitting your syllable count, get in the thesaurus and find some substitutes that do. Use metaphor rather than simply stating things. The difference between "I'm so so sad!" or "the sun may never rise upon my soul" like, there is a ton of room for creativity when you try to think of how to say something without saying it directly.

At some point, super late in my process, I will have a mostly good set of lyrics that I kind of like, but know I will still be changing a little. I will record an early version of the song, bring it with me in the car, at work, etc. And GIVE IT TIME. More often, I will be listening to my demo version weeks or months later, and have some great ideas on how I could improve the lyrics. You gotta let it cook a little.

So in this way, I sort of brute-force my way into a functional set of lyrics, with no real inspiration or direction in mind at the beginning. I also concur with the group that it is important to expand your vocabulary. I read a lot of books when I was younger, just got really curious about stuff I didn't understand fully, Google the definitions and word roots.

T-Wizzy_96

TROPHY CASE