【Shoost Tips】 Tips for creating a sense of unity between the background and the characters. (Patreon)

Hello everyone. Here I would like to introduce a little tip from Shoost.

This time I would like to introduce lighting. Matching lighting creates a sense of unity with the background.

Adjust the direction of the light.

When matching the background and characters, it is important to match the color and direction of the light. First, determine where the light source of the background is located. (A light source is where light is emitted.)

For example, in this background, the light is coming through the window. In other words, the light source is positioned at the window. We will adjust the parameters with this in mind.

First, adjust the Flare parameters so that the light is coming in through the window.

Adjust Angle and Intensity to match the window position.

Next, add RimLight.

Adjust the Angle and Intensity of RimLight in the same way as for Flare. Adjust the light expression so that it touches the outline just slightly, without adding too much light.

Since the light from the window is a little blue, make the Color of Flare a little blue.

Finally, fine-tune the brightness and contrast and you are done.

The light has been adjusted to match the light coming through the window onto the character. Basically, you should also change the shadows and highlights of the character illustration itself. As expected, Shoost alone cannot redraw the illustration.

If the position of the light source does not change, it is best to assume that the light is basically shining from top to bottom.

For example, in a room, the light is usually coming from the ceiling (fluorescent light or other light source), so it is good to assume that the light is coming from the top down.

What happens if a character goes dark?

When using dark backgrounds, such as night scenes, characters may appear too dark.

If the character is dark, use Blend AutoColor or Brightness to adjust it.

Blend AutoColor is the value of AutoColor. Lower values result in the image color before the tones are adjusted with AutoColor.

Brightness adjusts the brightness of the tones after Auto Color adjusts the tones.

It is better to adjust both Blend AutoColor and Brightness with a combination of parameters than to use only one of them.

After adjusting the brightness of the character, make the same adjustments while keeping the light source in mind.

In this background, the light source is an outside light. The light from the outside lamp is slightly orange, so the Color of Flare and RimLight is set to an orange color.

As a final tweak, since the mood of the scene is nighttime, the Color Filter is set to a slightly blue color.

Another effective way is to use RimLight to outline the contours.

In dark scenes, the outlines of characters are blurred, so using RimLight to make the outlines clearer makes them easier to recognize.

If the character is backlit or otherwise has a strong light source, darken the brightness of the character slightly and outline it with RimLight to give it a sense of light.

Please try to be aware of the light source and adjust it to create a cohesive overall look and to improve the appearance.