THUNDEER'S 3D LEARNING RESOURCES
💡 LIGHTING
Resources for learning to light 3D scenes.
Resources directed primarily for learning character creation in 3D.
Pick resources that fit your learning style, instead of brute forcing learning in a way you don't enjoy - that's why I tried including multiple options in each topic for you to pick from!
Software Agnostic
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Lighting Resources
Lighting Resources
👨🎓 STANDALONE COURSES
📺 YOUTUBE
Ultimate Guide to Cinematic Lighting — Types of Light & Gear Explained [Shot List Ep. 12]
StudioBinder
Ultimate Guide to Cinematic Lighting Pt. 2 — How to Light Subjects and Locations
StudioBinder
Video Lighting Techniques — Nailing that Cinematic Look (with a Fill Light)
StudioBinder
Outdoor Lighting in 3D | Is there a magic formula?
Gleb Alexandrov
Understanding Lighting - 3D Fundamentals
FlippedNormals
10 Lighting Setups for Your Animated Shots
Sir Wade Neistadt
Lighting a 3D Scene Like Pixar | Lights Breakdown
Leo in Color
💻 BLOG POSTS
Lighting 101: A Quick Guide for Lighting Film
Premium Beat
From three-point lighting to motivated setups, here is everything you need to know about lighting placement and schemes.
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/basic-light-placements/
12 tips for realistic 3D lighting
CreativeBloq
Take a professional approach to light up your images.
https://www.creativebloq.com/how-to/12-tips-for-realistic-3d-lighting
📚 BOOKS
Essential CG Lighting Techniques
Darren Brooker
Lighting for Animation
Jasmine Katatikarn, Michael Tanzillo
Light — Science & Magic, 6th Edition
Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua, Robin Reid
Real-Time Rendering, Fourth Edition, 4th Edition
Tomas Akenine-Möller, Eric Haines, Naty Hoffman
Blender
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Lighting Resources (Blender)
Lighting Resources (Blender)
👨🎓 STANDALONE COURSES
PAID ($65)
Eevee Realistic Lighting And Rendering
Creative Shrimp
Master realistic lighting in EEVEE - rendered in fractions of a second. Introducing: a complete course unlocking the true power of EEVEE in Blender 5.0 with Vulkan.
https://superhivemarket.com/products/eevee-realistic-lighting-rendering/?=ref88
📺 YOUTUBE
Lighting 3D Characters for Storytelling
CG Boost
Tutorial: Cinematic Lighting in Blender
Polyfjord
How to Light Almost Anything in Blender #b3d
CG Boost
8 Cinematic Fundamentals for 3D Short Films #b3d
CG Boost
Master Lighting in Blender
Scenefiller
💻 BLOG POSTS
Cartoon Character Shading with Geometry Nodes
Blender Studio
A close look at how the cartoony character shading was done for Wing It! using the power of Geometry Nodes.
https://studio.blender.org/blog/cartoon-character-shading-with-geometry-nodes/
🌀 MISC
PAID ($49)
Blender Lighting Scenes
FlippedNormals
FlippedNormals Portfolio Kit The FlippedNormals Portfolio Kit for Blender was built with one goal in mind: to help you create stunning portfolio renders with minimal effort. We’ve crafted 20 bespoke setups for 3D characters and props, designed to cover all your needs—whether you're going for realistic, stylized, or ver
https://flippednormals.com/collections/tools/products/flippednormals-lighting-scenes
Zbrush
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Lighting Resources (Zbrush)
Lighting Resources (Zbrush)
💻 BLOG POSTS
Unreal Engine
This thread will be constantly updating.
(Last updated: 07/09/2026)