Learning how to frame your renders is an essential skill that every 3D artist should have. Without proper framing, your images will look weird and unprofessional. We'll cover:

– The 'Golden Ratio' in 3D
– Leading Lines & Visual Weight
– The Power of Odd Numbers
– Cropping & Negative Space
– Why Breathing Space Is So Important
– Focus, Reflections, & Background Elements
– Frame Filling
– Symmetry & Elements of Importance
– Camera Focal Length & Depth of Field (DOF)

You’ll finish this section with a profound understanding of how to use framing to communicate power & competence in your images.

Lighting is the most important element in your renders. With proper lighting, you can make anything look amazing. This is where most 3D artists struggle the most. We'll cover:

– The types of lights you need for a good render
– Qualities of lighting that make your images more powerful
– How to properly set up lights (and fix common distracting elements)
– A simple way to create depth using light & color
– Why exposure can be a problem if not used correctly
– Why you’re probably using lights in Blender incorrectly (and how to fix it)

Most 3D artists put no effort into their lighting, or simply don't know what they're doing. If you can use lighting to your advantage the right way, your work will stand out amongst your competition and bring attention to your work - guaranteed.

There are plenty of different rendering engines that exist in today's 3D world - but there are two that we use the most in Blender: Cycles & Eevee. However, these concepts apply to just about any rendering engine. We'll cover:

– How to get the most out of your rendering engine
– How we render with a low sample count (even with a slow computer!)
– Our personal rendering settings that we've been using for years (average render time: 1–2 minutes)
– The best way to utilize nodes in Blender for professional rendering results
– How to set up the compositor & shader editor for maximum results
– Simple environment example — render a desert scene from scratch
– (Bonus Video) Rules of Composite Images
– (Bonus Video) Story Telling

Rendering engines are super important to get set up correctly. After you've set it up once, you generally don't need to touch it. But it's important that you get it right to maximize your potential results.

Our final chapter is all about putting everything together with a practical example. We're going to design a scene completely from scratch, and use all the topics covered in the course up to this point. We'll cover:

– How to assemble a complex scene from scratch
– Compositing, lighting & rendering techniques — practical application
– Post-processing in Photoshop to achieve refined imagery
– How to use Blender's node system & compositor to maximize the effect of your renders
– HDRI setup for a realistic feeling in your scenes
– How to put everything from the first 3 chapters together
– Detailed explanation of the thought process behind composition & framing

It's one thing to focus on concepts and theory, but it's another thing to see it all in action. In this section, we're going to create an entire scene from scratch using all the concepts presented in the course.