Category · 18 articles
Lighting work from the ArchVizDaily journal
Every lighting breakdown and tutorial we have published, from render setup to final grade. Sorted newest first.
LightingCorona · 11 min
Dark, moody interior rendering: how to keep shadow detail without flattening the mood
Dark interiors fail in two directions: crushed black holes or a flat, over-lifted grey. A practical guide to exposure, local contrast, practical lights and post work that keeps a moody interior rich and readable.
LightingCorona · 11 min
Skylights and rooflights: rendering daylight when the sun comes from above
A rooflight changes the geometry of daylight completely, and most renders ignore that. The shaft, the reveal, the bright ceiling and the blue glass are what make a skylight space read as real. How to light and model top-lit interiors properly.
LightingV-Ray · 10 min
Downlights in renders: spacing, cut-off angles, and the scallops on the wall
Downlights are the default ceiling specification and the most misrendered fixture in archviz. The scallop shape, the spacing rhythm and the wall offset are all decisions the lighting designer already made. Render them like it.
LightingV-Ray · 11 min
Fireflies in glass and mirror interiors: find the light, not the denoiser
A stray white pixel in a reflection is not a sampling problem to be drowned in settings. It is a light that is too small and too bright, seen through a path almost nothing else sampled. Why reflective interiors breed fireflies, and the order in which to fix them.
LightingCorona · 11 min
Sun angle and shadow quality: the two settings that decide an exterior render
Shadow softness, sun altitude, and contact behaviour tell the viewer more about your competence than any material in the scene. What to set and why.
LightingCorona Renderer · 13 min
Why your interior render looks flat, and the contrast ratio fix
Flat renders are almost never a sampling problem. They are a light ratio problem. Here is how to build a proper key, fill, and bounce hierarchy so an interior reads with depth.