Multiple lighting setups

I have a scene with various cameras, and it’s easy enough to switch between the cameras. However, I also have multiple light setups, and the one used will depend on the camera used (or, indeed, my own whims). Is there a way to easily switch light setups (for example, to turn on/off a group of lights en-bloc).

EDIT: Probably worth noting that this is a combination of lights and emission. I’d like to control both.

At the moment, I’ve simply saved multiple copies of the scene, but this isn’t ideal. For example, if I change a texture, I have to replicate that change through each saved copy. If I could change the light setup on the fly it would improve my workflow considerably.

Like, e. g. having each light setup on its own layer and switching those layers active/inactive as you need?

But perhaps I don’t quite get what you intend to do…

I feel like such a fool, now. Never once thought of using layers. That’s the problem coming from Cinema4D to Blender. In Cinema I’d have used XPresso, and so was over thinking the problem in Blender.

Thank you.

Are you talking about creating different blend files or different scenes? with different scenes you can link all your common objects, and have a light and camera setup specifically for each scene… Every change you do in the linked objects will reflect through all the scenes.
https://www.blender.org/manual/data_system/scenes.html

Ahh, that’s even better. You live and learn :slight_smile:

Thank you.

Also: “think like real movie-makers do.” Scenes are shot independently, then “cut together” by the editor and cinematographer to produce the final, continuous show that the audience sees.

Frequently, the set for a particular group of shots will be configured with cameras in various positions (in a group of cameras), and lighting rigs (organized as groups), and various blend-files (and scenes within those files) which correspond to the various shots will “link to” those things as library assets. (In this way, the shot-files remain consistent, and changes to the library will be instantly reflected in them all.) The shots, all planned in advance, are shot in a non-chronological sequence, then finally assembled in a video editor and paired with a soundtrack.

The CG workflow has been described as: “Edit, then Shoot.”

The shots might initially be done using OpenGL Preview renders, which can be produced in near-real time, and these renders used in subsequent video editing before the final renders are produced. As with “real” movie making, more “takes” might be shot in this way than are used in the film, and they might contain a few extra seconds of action to facilitate editing. All of this extra footage, as with everything that “winds up on the cutting-room floor,” will never be known by the appreciative audience unless someone decides to put together a “goodie reel.” So, you do not try to initially render the “final cut” that will be the eventual product of the editing process … and you also do not final-render a frame in order to then decide whether-or-not you will use it. (If you’re not going to use it, you never produce it.) OpenGL renders by definition will perfectly match their “final” equivalents … and, for some passing shots, might even be “the finals.”

1 Like

Really appreciate this info. I’m coming from 3ds max and learning the concepts of Blender. Thanks for the breakdown of how to manage larger productions. I’ve struggled with these issues for years.
Thanks!

Is there a “render all” tool? If you make changes to your e.g. environment or assets and want to re-render all shots in your sequence, across multiple lighting setups and cameras… can you re-render everything in one go.
I currently do this with RM Manager in 3ds max but even that is pretty limited.