Sky and lighting editing ~ part 1

Add comment!

July 11th, 2009

Lighting is a big part of what ties a scene together and gives it a distinct mood. Until recently, all our Overgrowth levels had, for the most part, the same lighting conditions. We had sandy deserts, rolling plains, and mountainous valleys, but they all had a similar tone: bright afternoon on a cool, cheery day. Now we can make things a bit more interesting. In the following video we demonstrate how, with a live updating sky and a set of new controls, we can match a brisk, blue morning, a flat, cloudy tea time, a blistering, yellow sunset, and even our own sublime Berkeley dusk!

Click here to watch the video in HD!

And here is a quick overview of the sun editor controls. These tools are currently available in the latest alpha, available to preorderers. Just double click the sun to try them out!

Sky editor controlsPosition the sun by clicking its center and dragging (left), set its color by dragging the orbiting color ball (middle), and control its 'diffuseness' by pulling the gray circle in and out.

We will talk more about how this all works, from a technical and design perspective, in part 2.

What do you guys think of the video?