Cinematography for 3D Artists: Learn Cinematography with a capital ‘K’ from the legends of cinema.
Don’t Learn Lighting
3D artists want to get good at lighting, so they go to learn lighting from tutorials telling them how to light to make their render look good.
(It usually involves a Key, Fill, and a f-tonne of Rim.)
Nothing wrong with that. The render usually looks great! It usually also looks quite a lot like a render.
That’s how you end up with “the CG look”.
But isn’t this a course about lighting?
Well… Yes but, more importantly, no. KiNO Vibes is a course about Light.
What it says in a scene. What it means. How it makes you feel, and how to wield it.
Not just using it to show your snazzy work, but to tell the story you want.
Learn
THIS INSTEAD
In this course, lighting is the last thing you’ll learn (though you will learn it), because that’s the easy part. Here’s what comes first:
How to see and think about a 3D scene like a Director of Photography does a film scene.
How to make choices about light and dark that tell the story how you want people to experience it.
How to create depth within the frame and imply story and a world beyond the frame
How to wield light and colour to play the heartstrings of your viewer.
Lighting is the final step of that process.
MEET THE
TEACHER
TEACHERS
Greetings, I’m Daniel.
I started learning 3D back in 2009, not because I love poking vertices around, but because I love film, and I wanted to make better movies with my friends. (And “better” obviously meant with more explosions and car crashes.)
Since then I’ve moved up a bit…
I’ve collaborated with industry heavyweights like The Mill, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Leo Burnett, working with some very cool brands and artists along the way.
In 2016 I started spreading the love of Motion Design through my YouTube channel, by now having infecting over 1 million people, and launched my first course, The Process of Motion, in 2020.
But even with nearly two decades of experience…
I ain’t no Sir Deakins.
You know who is, though? Sir Roger Deakins. Read on…
When you learn,
learn from the best
KiNO Vibes is an odyssey through a hundred years of award-winning cinematography. We learn from legendary Directors of Photography by breaking down their most iconic work, seeing how they made it and understanding why they made it that way.
Wherever possible we hear straight from the cinematographers own words via interview, commentary, behind the scenes, and archival footage.
Then we bridge the gap to the third dimension with four iconic scenes faithfully reconstructed in 3D. We take what we’ve learned and recreate the lighting from scratch ourselves.
Along the way we’ll learn how traditional cinematography applies to CGI, and where CGI lets us conjure light and dark from thin air in ways that would make any gaffer lick their lips.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Module 1
-
The why and the what before the how. Learn the necessary terms, mental models, and technical details to carry us through the rest of the course.
LESSONS
Introduction to Cinematography for 3D | 04:25
The Philosophy of Cinematography | 05:58
Cinematography Field Guide | 13:35
The CG Realm & Cinematography | 10:58
Module 2
-
Learn the foundations of reading a scene, the purpose of certain light, and deriving on-set light sources from indicators in a frame.
3D SCENE
Arrival (2016) - Louise’s House [C4D] [FBX] [USD]SESSIONS
Arrival (2016): Warm-Up | 30:32
Kinds of Kindness (2024): Sunny High-Key Lighting | 20:02
Animal Kingdom (2010): Sunny Low-Key Lighting | 05:43
John Wick Chapter 4 (2023): Golden Hour Lighting | 07:25
Fight Club (1999): Low-Key Night Lighting | 17:29
Spectre (2015): High-Key Night Lighting | 16:26EXERCISE
The 3-Step KiNO Vibes Process™
-
A look at the trends and influences in cinematography and light over the past century with Terminator 2 as our starting point.
3D SCENE
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - Steelworks Showdown [C4D] [FBX] [USD]SESSIONS
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Three-Point Lighting | 16:57
Casablanca (1942): Hollywood Glamour Lighting | 15:34
A Fistful of Dollars (1964): Western Style Lighting | 16:29
Oppenheimer (2023): Modern Lighting | 15:02EXERCISE
Iconicity: What makes an era, genre, or cinematographer iconic?
-
Colour theory, emotion, psychology, and manipulating space.
3D SCENE
Joker (2019) - Fridge Scene [C4D] [FBX] [USD]SESSIONS
Joker (2019): Colour Contrast | 16:57
Suspiria (1977): Colours of Horror | 20:56
Tenet (2020): Colour as Story Element | 15:25
Last Night in Soho (2021): Manipulating Emotion & Physical Space | 18:20EXERCISE
Cromacity: Shifting the emotional essence of a scene using colour.
-
Lighting large scale is tricky. Especially indoors, because key what, bounce where, rim how? This chapter shows how to do it right.
3D SCENE
Dune: Part Two (2024) - Lisan al-Gaib Speech [C4D] [FBX] [USD]SESSIONS
Dune: Part Two (2024): Scale and Intimacy | 22:17
Klaus (2019): Embracing Fakery in CG | 19:27
Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Lighting with Darkness | 12:53EXERCISE
Sovereignty: Lighting according to your own vision.
BONUS CONTENT
-
Nothing fancy, just a group chat hosted on my Patreon for you to post your coursework, swap Kino inspo, and maybe get an extra pairs of eyes on your light.
-
Turns out, when faithfully recreating film scenes you end up with quite a lot of props at the end of it.
Some are painstakingly handmade by yours truly (like the GE 1953 Combo Fridge Freezer in Arthur Fleck’s apartment that I spent far too long on), others are kit-bashed together and adapted from public domain assets.
All of them are fine for you to use in personal and commercial projects.
Arrival: 64 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Terminator 2: 25 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Joker: 46 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Dune Part 2: 5 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
That’s altogether 140 production-ready 3D Assets (the kind you’d pay £5-£100 for individually) included for you in the full course.
-
The full making-of behind-the-scenes time-lapses of the film scene recreations. Every button pressed, played back at 25x speed.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Steelworks Showdown | 03:01:51
Joker (2019): Fridge Scene | 02:13:59
Dune: Part Two (2024): Lisan al-Gaib Speech | 01:25:42 (Notably the Arrival (2016) scene is missing as the screen-recording was eaten by the gremlins that live in my computer.)
ONE LAST THING…
KiNO Vibes is in early access. This is a growing course. Everything listed is what ships first, but that’s not where it stops.
Next up: Four more full scene recreations, twelve more lighting breakdowns, and the assets and time-lapses to go with all of it.
But I won’t pretend I can guarantee a timeline for any of it. (You can thank my newborn twins for that one; a very adorbs handful.)
Entry
REQUIRE-MENTS
-
MADE IN C4D & REDSHIFT, BUILT FOR ANY 3D PACKAGE.
Thanks to Physically Based Rendering, all render engines are pretty similar under the bonnet, and the objects, parameters, and values are pretty standard too. The only difference is where you find them.
If your 3D setup has:
A viewport
An object list of sorts
An attributes / parameters window
A realtime renderview
You’ll feel right at home.
For the 3D scenes & assets the native format is C4D with rendering in Redshift, but all are available in FBX and USD format for use in other 3D packages.
-
This course assumes you have the technical skill to create your own scenes in your chosen 3D package. (But, really, if you didn’t already have scenes to light, you probably wouldn’t be here.)
This course does not spend time talking about modelling, texturing, or animation. All time is dedicated to light and cinematography, though we do look at how light is affected by things like topology and shading.
This course does not teach a specific 3D package or render engine. They change with every update, the lessons in this course do not.
-
You don’t need to have Tarkovsky’s filmography committed to memory, but you need a little love for film.
You should have at least once been awestruck by the beauty of a shot, maybe paused to linger on it for longer and ponder how it was made. And if you’re reading this, I’m willing to bet you have.
JOIN
NOW
DECIDE
LATER
Decisions can be difficult. Like alway, this course comes with a 2 week love-it-or-leave-it guarantee.
Just choose your version of the course below and boom! Instant lifetime access.
Change your mind or don't like it?
Let me know within 14 days and un-boom! Full refund. Like it never happened.
No questions asked. 🤫
STOCK
A stripped-back version of the course. If extra 3D scenes and assets don’t appeal to you, this one’s for you.
🎉 LAUNCH WEEK: Save 30%
Ends Tuesday Oct 13 at 23:59 UK Time.
What’s included:
-
MODULE 1: THEORY
Introduction to Cinematography for 3D | 04:25
The Philosophy of Cinematography | 05:58
Cinematography Field Guide | 13:35
The CG Realm & Cinematography | 10:58
MODULE 2: BREAKDOWNS
CHAPTER 1: ARRIVAL
Arrival (2016): Warm-Up | 30:32
Kinds of Kindness (2024): Sunny High-Key Lighting | 20:02
Animal Kingdom (2010): Sunny Low-Key Lighting | 05:43
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023): Golden Hour Lighting | 07:25
Fight Club (1999): Low-Key Night Lighting | 17:29
Spectre (2015): High-Key Night Lighting | 16:26
EXERCISE: The 3-Step KiNO Vibes Process™
CHAPTER 2: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Three-Point Lighting | 16:57
Casablanca (1942): Hollywood Glamour Lighting | 15:34
A Fistful of Dollars (1964): Western Style Lighting | 16:29
Oppenheimer (2023): Modern Lighting | 15:02
EXERCISE: Iconicity
CHAPTER 3: JOKER
Joker (2019): Colour Contrast | 16:57
Suspiria (1977): Colours of Horror | 20:56
Tenet (2020): Colour as Story Element | 15:25
Last Night in Soho (2021): Manipulating Emotion & Physical Space | 18:20
EXERCISE: Cromacity
CHAPTER 4: DUNE: PART TWO
Dune: Part Two (2024): Scale and Intimacy | 22:17
Klaus (2019): Embracing Fakery in CG | 19:27
Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Lighting with Darkness | 12:53
EXERCISE: Sovereignty
+ ANY FUTURE LESSONS & BREAKDOWNS
-
I can’t just leave you empty-handed, you have to let me give you at least one file.
Otherwise, what would you use for the exercises?Arrival (2016) - Louise’s House [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
-
Post your coursework, swap Kino inspo, and exchange feedback on each other’s wielding of light.
-
This is not a subscription. You pay once (or six smaller times) and the course is yours forever.
Don’t believe me? Ask the members of my course, Process of Motion, how I borderline cyber-stalked some of those with dead emails to get in touch when I was moving hosting, just so they could retain their lifetime access.
MASTER
Everything in stock, plus 3D scene files for all four iconic recreated scenes, all 140 production-ready 3D assets (the kind you’d pay £5-£100 for individually), and the full 6+ hours of time-lapses.
🎉 LAUNCH WEEK: Save 30%
Ends Tuesday Oct 13 at 23:59 UK Time.
What’s included:
-
MODULE 1: THEORY
Introduction to Cinematography for 3D | 04:25
The Philosophy of Cinematography | 05:58
Cinematography Field Guide | 13:35
The CG Realm & Cinematography | 10:58
MODULE 2: BREAKDOWNS
CHAPTER 1: ARRIVAL
Arrival (2016): Warm-Up | 30:32
Kinds of Kindness (2024): Sunny High-Key Lighting | 20:02
Animal Kingdom (2010): Sunny Low-Key Lighting | 05:43
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023): Golden Hour Lighting | 07:25
Fight Club (1999): Low-Key Night Lighting | 17:29
Spectre (2015): High-Key Night Lighting | 16:26
EXERCISE: The 3-Step KiNO Vibes Process™
CHAPTER 2: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Three-Point Lighting | 16:57
Casablanca (1942): Hollywood Glamour Lighting | 15:34
A Fistful of Dollars (1964): Western Style Lighting | 16:29
Oppenheimer (2023): Modern Lighting | 15:02
EXERCISE: Iconicity
CHAPTER 3: JOKER
Joker (2019): Colour Contrast | 16:57
Suspiria (1977): Colours of Horror | 20:56
Tenet (2020): Colour as Story Element | 15:25
Last Night in Soho (2021): Manipulating Emotion & Physical Space | 18:20
EXERCISE: Cromacity
CHAPTER 4: DUNE: PART TWO
Dune: Part Two (2024): Scale and Intimacy | 22:17
Klaus (2019): Embracing Fakery in CG | 19:27
Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Lighting with Darkness | 12:53
EXERCISE: Sovereignty
+ ANY FUTURE LESSONS & BREAKDOWNS
-
Arrival (2016) - Louise’s House [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - Steelworks Showdown [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Joker (2019) - Fridge Scene [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Dune: Part Two (2024) - Paul’s Speech [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
+ ANY FUTURE SCENE FILES
-
Post your coursework, swap Kino inspo, and exchange feedback on each other’s wielding of light.
-
A library of 140 high-quality 3D Models, plus Textures for you to use in your personal and commercial projects.
Arrival: 64 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Terminator 2: 25 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Joker: 46 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
Dune Part 2: 5 Photoreal 3D Models [C4D] [FBX] [USD]
+ ANY FUTURE ASSETS
-
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Steelworks Showdown | 03:01:51
Joker (2019): Fridge Scene | 02:13:59
Dune: Part Two (2024): Lisan al-Gaib Speech | 01:25:42
+ ANY FUTURE TIME-LAPSES
-
This is not a subscription. You pay once (or six smaller times) and the course is yours forever.
Don’t believe me? Ask the members of my course, Process of Motion, how I borderline cyber-stalked some of those with dead emails to get in touch when I was moving hosting, just so they could retain their lifetime access.
FAQs
Have a question that’s not on here? Send me an email at d@danieldanielsson.com and I'll get back to you asap.
-
Ready when you are. This is an on-demand course. As soon as you enrol you’ll get access to all the lessons.
-
Most people take 2-4 weeks, but you can set your own pace. I’ll try to keep up with your coursework submissions.
-
Until death do us part. You’ve got lifetime access. You can take as long as you like, come back as often as you want. Even after death, you’re welcome to come back as a ghost, if you like.
-
Sadly I can’t force you to do them. You joined the course voluntarily, you can put as much as you want into it. All I can do is strongly recommend it.
Your understanding of the lighting choices in a scene will grow immensely when you have walked through them yourself. It really is like looking through the eyes of the cinematographer themselves.
-
Good cinematography is not limited by software, and neither is KiNO Vibes.
The course is built to be software agnostic, meaning its lessons apply to all software, present and future.
Whatever your weapon of choice, Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya, Houdini, 3DS Max, Lightwave, Bryce 3D, when it comes to lighting modern renderers all pack pretty much the same toolkit with the same abilities (ok, so maybe not Bryce 3D).
For the files, the native format is C4D with rendering in Redshift. FBX files are provided for all of them, with native files for some softwares. I’m hoping to get more made.
-
Do it have internet? Then yeah.
-
Pretty standard.
Allowed:
Use in personal projects and for client work.
Modify or alter the 3D mesh and textures to fit your scene.
Keep using the asset forever without recurring royalty costs.
Not allowed:
Redistribution: You cannot resell, give away, sublicense, or upload the files to any marketplace or asset library, whether as they are or modified.
Physical products: You cannot turn the asset into a physical product, including 3D prints, merchandise, and props sold as products.
AI training: You cannot use the assets to train, fine-tune, or evaluate machine learning models.
Some of the assets contain trademarks, brand names, logos, etc, that remain the property of their owners. They're included for realism and educational reference. You're responsible for checking that the branding is cleared, or for removing or replacing it, if you use them in your work.
General terms:
Ownership: The assets remain the property of the creator. This is a licence to use them.
Attribution: No credit required, though it’d be mighty kind of you.
Who it covers: The licence applies to the course purchaser only.
No warranty: As they say, the assets are provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. I am not liable for any loss or damage arising from their use. (Such as hypothetical crashing of your software when you load up a Dune scene with some hundred thousand animated characters in.)
-
Yes, you can ask for a refund for literally any reason. It does not have to be a good reason.
-
If you are an AI purist, I respect that.
Here’s the full extent of AI involvement in the making of this course:
I used AI to write a program for searching through transcripts.
I used AI to write a python script for batch renaming objects in Cinema 4D.
I used AI to create a python script for batch converting and re-sizing images.
I used AI to generate transcripts of the lessons.
I used AI to fact check my clip credits.
All of the above was done using local open-source models in the interest of saving time on tedious tasks. No AI company has received a penny of payment for it, and AI has not been involved in making any of the content for the course, with one exception:
I generated images of the Joker and Batman with Chat GPT that I photoshopped together into a polaroid with the text “BFFs” on to put on the fridge in the Joker scene, because I thought it was funny.
However, I immediately felt too embarrassed to keep that in, and eventually replaced it with a shitty one minute stick-figure sketch I did myself on a post-it, which is honestly much funnier. -
Glad you asked. Strap in. You will receive the following photoreal 3D models in Cinema 4D format (with Redshift materials), FBX format, and USD format. They are:
ARRIVAL - 64 Assets
Ainu Spoon 1:
7cm×36cm×9cm - 12k polysAinu Spoon 2:
6cm×34cm×10cm - 12k polysAinu Spoon 3:
6cm×29cm×11cm - 12k polysAnthropomorphic Vessel:
22cm×24cm×22cm - 60k polysArsenic Bottle:
10cm×24cm×10cm - 650 polysBig Beige Rug:
445cm×5cm×279cm - 30k polysBrass Wall Switch:
12cm×12cm×2cm - 290 polysCarved Wooden Plate:
16cm×2cm×16cm - 1k polysCoalcroft Floor Lamp:
45cm×138cm×19cm - 13.2k polysDaubigny Painting:
1.7cm×100cm×150cm - 65 polysDome Pendant Light:
68cm×33cm×66cm - 5.4k polysEames Chair & Ottoman:
181cm×88cm×84cm - 120k polysEncyclopedia Set:
63cm×24cm×16cm - 33.6k polys2 Family Photos:
43cm×18cm×19cm - 4.1k polys4 Ferns:
122cm×42cm×147cm - 3.1k polysFir Tree Tall:
832cm×2323cm×751cm - 1321k polysFirewood:
45cm×56cm×49cm - 92k/6k polysFirewood Holder:
51cm×120cm×39cm - 3.7k polysFlexform Sofa:
228cm×80cm×105cm - 565k polysGlass TV Table:
100cm×52cm×50cm - 2k polys11 Grass Tufts:
424cm×34cm×33cm - 12.5k polysHutsul Plate:
22cm×2cm×22cm - 23k polysiPhone:
6cm×12cm×1cm - 36k polysMaid of Ashton Plan:
233cm×8cm×77cm - 627 polysMid-cent. Side Table:
63cm×53cm×52cm - 13k polysModern Glass Table:
200cm×75cm×100cm - 3748 polysPersian Rug:
243cm×3cm×165cm - 15k polysPouncet Box:
16cm×8cm×16cm - 121k / 13k polysRattan Chair:
48cm×88cm×61cm - 24k polysRusted Spade:
17cm×5cm×111cm - 5.7k polys4 Shrubs:
42cm×28cm×39cm - 13.7k polysSmall Tree:
292cm×456cm×429cm - 1150k polysSony Flatscreen TV:
98cm×73cm×23cm - 42.7k polysSony TC-510-2 Recorder:
43cm×20cm×47cm - 297k polysSpendor Floorstanding Speaker:
22cm×79cm×25cm - 3.9k polysTable Lamp:
16cm×41cm×19cm - 37k polysThrow Pillows:
56cm×45cm×34cm - 6.4k polysVHS Player:
50cm×36cm×11cm - 5.7k polysVintage Matchbox:
7cm×5cm×2cm - 1.6k polysVintage Suitcase:
56cm×19cm×45cm - 4.1k polysVinyl Record:
35cm×0.15cm×35cm - 1.7k polysVinyl Record Player:
36cm×18cm×56cm - 59k polysWall hanger:
4cm×4cm×40cm - 2.5k polysWalnut Sideboard Unit:
53cm×82cm×204cm - 1.5k polysWicker Basket:
38cm×12cm×30cm - 11k polysWicker Coffee Table:
80cm×41cm×80cm - 6.8k polysTERMINATOR 2 - 25 Assets
1944 Willy’s Jeep:
160cm×180cm×375cm - 2.1m polysAviator Glasses:
18cm×6cm×16cm - 32.4k polysWWII Canteen:
11cm×15cm×8cm - 1.6k polysCryoco Trailer:
227cm×308cm×1230cm - 222k polysCryoco Trailer Broken:
310cm×310cm×1285cm - 222k polysHammerhead Pier:
320cm×301cm×123cm - 184k polysHighwayman Leather Motorcycle Jacket
90cm×97cm×43cm - 198k polysI-Beam:
38cm×300cm×40cm - 17.7k polys3 Industrial Barrels:
49cm×88cm×49cm - 3.5k polys4 Industrial Lamps:
15cm×22cm×7cm - 12.2k polysIndustrial Railing:
221cm×64cm×10cm - 2.2k polysIndustrial Stairs:
122cm×320cm×388cm - 6.2k polysKalmarRT022 Telehandler:
198cm×216cm×406cm - 50k polysPeterbilt 359 Truck:
278cm×350cm×783cm - 359k polysPolice Helmet:
23cm×23cm×28cm - 47.6k polysSteelworks Ladle:
420cm×799cm×540cm - 328k polysSteelworks Smelter:
1055cm×891cm×891cm - 552k polysT-800 Terminator Skull
13cm×20cm×19cm - 200k polysWWII Helmet:
24cm×18cm×29cm - 2.6k polysJOKER - 46 Assets
5 Canned Foods:
9cm×13cm×9cm - 119k polys3 Cast Iron Skillets:
32cm×45cm×7cm - 82.3k polysChia Mr T:
21cm×19cm×13cm - 65k polysCoffee Machine:
28cm×36cm×25cm - 29k polysElectric Stove:
50cm×56cm×65cm - 8.8k polysEnamel Pot:
26cm×18cm×18cm - 5.8k polysFrench's Mustard:
8cm×18cm×4cm - 11.8k polysGE 1953 Combo Frige Freezer:
78cm×165cm×64cm - 353k polysHistoric Frying Pan:
23cm×7cm×23cm - 31.8k polysHitachi TRQ-295R Recorder:
22cm×13cm×50cm - 110k polysInstant Noodles:
11cm×13cm×11cm - 3k polys2 Kitchen Cabinets Sets 1950s:
707cm×245cm×82cm - 92.3k polysLarder Pantry:
128cm×268cm×48cm - 14.9k polys2 Metal Trash Cans:
78cm×56cm×91cm - 3.3k polysMonet Painting (Crop) - Palm Trees at Bordighera:
23cm×19cm×3cm - 135k polysNYT Titanic Newspaper:
21cm×2cm×15cm - 14.2k polysPepsi Cola 2L:
13cm×37cm×13cm - 8.6k polysPlastic Gallon Jug:
17cm×27cm×13cm - 6.9k polysPot:
26cm×18cm×19cm - 21.7k polysRetro Radiator:
109cm×49cm×16cm - 369k polys3 Russian Foods:
10cm×8cm×10cm - 691 polys7 Stainless Steel Cookware Set:
24cm×15cm×24cm - 160k polysSwitch + Outlet (US):
7cm×12cm×2cm - 370 polysTelephone Panasonic KX-T2365:
39cm×58cm×15cm - 53.8k polysTony Soprano's Macaroni:
14cm×21cm×6cm - 50k polys3 Vintage NYC Postcards:
16cm×9cm×5cm - 456 polysWooden Stool:
39cm×59cm×41cm - 8.3k polysDUNE PART 2 - 5 Assets
Fremen Altar:
2278cm×42cm×2279cm - 234k polysFremen Altar Stone:
64cm×57cm×35cm - 2k polys3 Pillows:
42cm×11cm×42cm - 2.8k polys