Suite Effects: Reactive Lighting

Well, DJTV came out with their new episode of Suite Effects recently, their visual effects tips and tricks podcast show, and it is quite worth the watch.  I’m really glad they’ve kept up the sort of showcase type segment at the end of their episodes, showing what can be done with each of the techniques demonstrated in each episode.  This episode is on reactive lighting – a “secondary” effect used to simulate the light coming from an effect that acts as a light source (lighting, explosions, muzzle flares, etc.) on the actor’s face and body and surrounding environment to really sell the effect.  Often missed or forgotten, this is key to any effects shot to make the effect real and believable.  Sean Mullen, the host, uses a sort of off-kilter shot as an example, but does quite a good job of demonstrating and explaining the techniques and methods used to create the effect needed to sell your shot to your audience.  I’m not going to go into it any more, but definitely check out the video at the link below, even if you’re not using After Effects, I believe Premiere, Final Cut and Motion and Shake and other similar programs will all have different methods of achieving this technique.  Try it out, see how much better you can make your effects.

Link: http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail…