Lighting theory

When creating a 3D environment one has to consider lighting. Lighting can be used to visually depict certain emotions, atmospheres, genres and moods. Before placement in 3D environment one must also understand the technical boundaries and factors of lighting in order to display maximum realism and accuracy of the desired outcome.
With this understanding, I have located some useful pointers from John Boud's Lighting Design in Buildings (1973); split up into multiple categories for a greater understanding of lighting in the televisual industry. 

Illumination

Chapter 2 (P. 5)

But the spontaneous first question about most lighting schemes is 'How much light do we want?' The answer depends on a number of factors, the most important being acuity and amenity

Visual acuity, or sharpness of vision, depends on how much light there is. We recognise this almost without a second thought; we acknowledge this every time we take something with small detail or subtle contrast to the window or the desk lamp to examine it.


Glare

Chapter 3 (P. 11, 12, 13)

Glare is difficult to define, partly because the word is used for a wider range of effects.
We are concerned with the discomfort caused by brightness and the ways of confining it within acceptable limits-which means, of course, that we must understand what those limits are.

The glare caused by an area of brightness increases very rapidly with that brightness (or, strictly objectively, its luminance)
Indirect or reflected glare is not easily subject to analysis, and is due as much to the finish of room surfaces and furnishing as to the lighting arrangement.

Over glare, in general, there are few absolutes; what would be intolerable in an office could be exciting in a fairground.


Brightness balance

Chapter 4 (P. 14)

Looking at the brightest part of a field of view is a basic animal reaction.
Making the visual task the brightest area one can see brings together conscious motivation and subconscious inclination.

It used to be said that working in a room lit by a desk lamp alone was 'bad for the eyes', or in some other way unsatisfactory, because the contrast between the work and the surroundings was excessive.

The region where brightnesses are too high is obviously associated with glare, the conclusion, however, is that glare is more difficult to avoid as general levels rise, it certainly seems to be borne out in practise.

Colour

Chapter 5 (P. 19)

The subject of colour embraces physics, physiology and psychology; colour is an important part of man's culture generally and it is expressed in art, taste and fashion.

The apparent colour of a surface is to some extent in the eye of the beholder.

We make a major advance in understanding the relationship of colour and lighting when we recognise the fact that sources with very different spectral compositions may all produce effects we accept as 'natural'-while we realise, of course, that there are others which do not.

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