In the last few years, I’ve really seen the VFX industry pushing for more realistic lighting, based on real-life light calculation. This is commonly called Physically Based Rendering, or PBR, and was not possible a few years ago because computers were not powerful enough. It’s great because the light reacts more like it does in real life, but the downside is that it takes longer to create an image. 

As a lighting teacher, I try to focus on the art of lighting as much as possible, not the tools. What I try to develop in the classroom is a good balance in between technical and artist. A good lighter will know the tools they need to make their shot look good and they will know how to find work arounds when the specific tools they use is not working for the specific task they are working on. At the end when the image is final, the tools or software are not important. Only the look counts.

I do this because, as a lighter, you often move to different companies and the tools and software change from company to company. A good lighter will want to use great tools, like Katana, but the tools you use won’t make you a great lighter, just as a good saw won’t make you a great carpenter. 

Because machines are stronger and renderers are more physically accurate, there are more places to express our artistic lighting skills. In the past, a great part of the lighting process was making the lighting look real. With the upcoming technology, there are more and more places to express emotion through lighting, which is a great part of what is supposed to be done in lighting. I’m a strong believer in working by doing it again and again. There is no shortcut, so be patient, and spend many hours sitting in the dark hitting render.