There are literally hundreds of different techniques for illuminating your scene. A whole book could be devoted to just demonstrating lighting options. While it is not possible to cover all lighting techniques here, there are some hard and fast techniques that work well. A common mistake is to pound all the lights you think you need right into a scene. This might work if you build similar scenes all the time and have discovered a lighting method that works best all the time. Because most animators build and work with all sorts of different scenes, often little commonality exists between lighting setups.

Many users start lighting a scene without considering the materials they intend to use. They instead rely on your 3D application's default coloring system to give themselves some sense of surface properties. This technique rarely works in the end, though. Your lighting typically changes when you assign the actual material you intend to use. Usually, it is best to first assign your initial (first draft) materials before you begin with your actual lighting design. You can then later tweak materials in conjunction with the lights until both look right. Of course, some animators find other methods work best for them, which may differ from our suggestion. When your scene involves multiple light sources, start by introducing one light source at a time.

it is usually best to start with lighting the subject by its primary light source. Once you have added a light, render the scene. This way, you can check to see if the light is both positioned properly and that its settings, such as color and intensity, are right. Then add another light source. Each time, you are rendering and checking the effect on your scene. Note that you may have to go back and adjust some of the intensities of lights that you set up earlier. If you are trying to compare the effect of two or more lights on an area of your scene, turn off all other lights. That way, you can properly judge the lights involved and their effect on the scene.