How light size affects sharpness/softness of shadows

V-Ray V-Ray Common Tutorials, Tips & Tricks
1

Hi guys,

I made a short animation showing one of the fundamental rules of studio lighting in photography (and by extension lighting in V-Ray) that the bigger the light source is in relation to the subject, the softer the shadow. And the smaller the light source, the sharper the shadow.

So,

big light = soft shadow,
small light = sharp shadow

I had to animate the camera’s exposure control to compensate for the light intensity increase caused by the increase in size.

I made this animation for educational purposes. I think this is one of the most important, albeit simple, concepts in lighting that I see many amateur photographers having a difficulty to grasp. Hope this helps someone out there!

2

Thanks for sharing!

3

You’re welcome, M.Max!

4

You could use size-invariant units for your lights (Lm, W), and avoid the issue altogether. :slight_smile:
cfr. : Chaos Docs

5

Oh wow, of course! Saw your response just now after months. Thanks. Learned something new today. :slight_smile:
Turns we have even more control over light than I thought.