Lighting Fundamentals
CinematographyLight scenes for cinematic and real-time rendering: three-point lighting, Lumen GI, light types, shadows, and sky atmosphere.
/skill lighting-fundamentals What This Skill Does
Lighting Fundamentals teaches you how to light Unreal Engine scenes for both cinematic and real-time rendering. This skill bridges the gap between traditional film lighting language: key lights, fill lights, rim lights, practicals, and bounce: and UE5's light actors, Lumen Global Illumination, and shadow systems. Whether you are setting up a dramatic three-point lighting rig for a character close-up or configuring a sky atmosphere for an outdoor landscape, this skill provides the knowledge to achieve professional lighting results.
Covers
- UE5 light types (Directional, Point, Spot, Rect, Sky)
- Lumen Global Illumination for dynamic indirect lighting
- Three-point lighting and cinematic lighting design
- Light Mobility (Static, Stationary, Movable) and its performance implications
- Shadow configuration and Virtual Shadow Maps
- Sky Atmosphere and Sky Light for outdoor environments
- Light channels for selective illumination
- IES profiles and photometric lighting for realistic fixtures
- Exposure adaptation and auto-exposure tuning
Does Not Cover
- Post-process effects (color grading, bloom, tone mapping) → Post-Process Fundamentals
- Emissive materials → Material Basics
- Baked lightmaps → lightmass-baking (future)
- Volumetric fog → atmosphere-effects (future)
- Physical camera exposure settings → Lens & Optics
How to Use
Invoke this skill in Claude Code:
/skill lighting-fundamentalsThis skill is also auto-detected when your prompt mentions lighting, shadows, exposure, Lumen, or illumination intent. AgentUX will automatically activate Lighting Fundamentals when it recognizes relevant lighting context in your request.
Key Unreal Engine Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
UDirectionalLightComponent | A light that simulates distant sources like the sun, casting parallel rays across the entire scene with configurable shadow cascades. |
UPointLightComponent | An omnidirectional light that emits from a single point in space, with configurable radius, falloff, and attenuation. |
USpotLightComponent | A cone-shaped light useful for focused illumination like stage lights, flashlights, and practical fixtures. |
URectLightComponent | An area light that emits from a rectangular surface, producing soft shadows ideal for simulating windows and studio softboxes. |
Lumen GI | UE5's dynamic global illumination system that computes indirect lighting and reflections in real time without baking. |
USkyAtmosphereComponent | A physically-based atmosphere rendering component that simulates realistic sky color, aerial perspective, and sun disc. |
USkyLightComponent | A light that captures and projects the sky as ambient illumination, providing fill light from the environment or a specified cubemap. |
Virtual Shadow Maps | UE5's high-resolution shadow system that provides detailed, soft shadows for all light types with automatic LOD management. |
Related Skills
camera-placement
Place cameras within scenes for cinematic and gameplay purposes
lens-optics
Configure optical properties: focal length, aperture, and depth of field
post-process-fundamentals
Post-process pipeline effects: color grading, bloom, and tone mapping
material-basics
Apply and configure materials: PBR model and dynamic materials
What You'll Learn
- How to set up three-point lighting and other cinematic lighting rigs in UE5
- When to use each light type (Directional, Point, Spot, Rect, Sky) for your scene
- Best practices for configuring Lumen Global Illumination for dynamic scenes
- How to choose the right Light Mobility (Static, Stationary, Movable) for performance and quality
- How to configure Sky Atmosphere and Sky Light for realistic outdoor environments