Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

 

If you struggle with ambient lighting and shadow placement, then this feature of Clip Studio Paint’s 3D models can help! This week let’s explore lighting and casting shadows on 3D models to help cure your shading woes!

 

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Adjusting Directional and Ambient Lighting

Casting Shadows

 

Let’s explore shading!

 

 

Adjusting Directional and Ambient Lighting

To start I put a few models on my canvas and posed them close to one another. This is so that they will be in position to cast shadows on one another once we get to casting shadows. This is easiest if all your models are on the same 3D layer as well, because it is almost impossible to get the light source settings the same across multiple layers.

 

Once you have your model or models in place, it may be helpful to click outside of the models on the canvas so that the settings will take effect on all models instead of just one that is selected.

 

With the 3D layer active, select the Operation - Object subtool if it is not already selected. Then, in the Tool Property palette click on the wrench icon in the bottom right to bring up the Sub Tool Detail window. Click on the Light Source category on the left side of the Sub Tool Detail window.

 

If you aren’t seeing any shading at all on your models, check that the “Apply light source” checkbox, shown in red below, is checked.

 

 

Once we click on Apply Light Source, the models in my canvas are shown quite dark because of their orientation to the direction of the light source. That’s okay because we can fix this very easily!

The sphere at the top of the Light Source options controls the direction of the light source. As you can see, it is quite dark with just a bit of light mostly at the right side and a lot of shading across the rest of the sphere. This is also how the shadows are showing on the models.

Click and drag on the sphere to adjust the amount of light and shadow and the direction of the light. I wanted my shadows on the left side of the models with the light coming from the right, so I clicked and dragged down and to the left to adjust the amount of light. The lighting on the models will adjust as you drag.

Click on the Directional Light Color box to change the color of the light. This is great when wanting to do lighting special effects that you need a reference for, especially if used on models with color (or ones that you have drawn details on yourself https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/10747 ) so you can see how the light changes the underlying color.

The Directional Light intensity slider controls how dark or light the scene is. Turning down the intensity makes the light less bright and lowers the contrast between the light and dark areas of the models.

Turning the intensity slider up, however, makes the directional light brighter and the contrast much higher.

Now we’re going to skip down to the Ambient Light settings. To show these settings better I have switched to 3D models with coloring and details. In the Ambient Light section, we can set the ambient light to a single color, use an image from our own files, or use an Image material. Click on the Material icon to open the Material Library.

Choose a Material you’d like to use as the ambient light. I’m going with the Classroom 01_evening material.

Once you set the Ambient Light source, you can then adjust the intensity of how Clip Studio applies that light. In the example below the intensity is low.

As we turn the intensity up, it’s easier to see how the golden tones of the material color interact with the colors of the models!

 

 

If you want to use your own photo or image as inspiration for the ambient lighting colors instead, click on the “File” icon under Ambient Light. Locate the image you would like to use or your device.

Adjust the intensity and you’re all set!

Casting Shadows

Now that we’ve gotten the directional and ambient lighting down, let’s check out the Shadow options and see how they can help with our image! If the Shadows dropdown is set to “Off” then there will only be shadows from the ambient and directional light, and the shadows from each model will not interact with one another or the ground plane.

Turning on “Cast on Ground Only” shows the model shadows on the ground - handy for complex shapes! Ground shadows can help your subjects feel like they aren’t floating in space by giving suggestion of a floor underneath.

The next option in the dropdown menu is Cast on 3D Models Only. This allows the 3D models to cast shadows on themselves and each other. For instance, if you look at the example above and then the one below, you will notice that the character’s head is casting a shadow on the arm on the left because of the angle of the light. This is a great reference for where shadows should fall both on the character model but also on models they are overlapping.

The final option is “Cast on Ground and Models” which shows both the ground shadows and the shadows of the 3D models interacting so we get an even better reference!

Conclusion

For those who struggle with where to place cast shadows, this new 3D feature is a game changer! This will be such a help, especially with complex poses or complex objects like the motorcycle in the examples above. I hope you find a way to incorporate these options in your work!

 

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com