This course is an advanced, production-oriented lighting and look-development program inside Solaris/Karma, built around taking a full CG shot from assets → layout → FX → lighting → rendering → compositing. Unlike a general Houdini course, this one focuses specifically on lighting, lookdev, scene assembly, and rendering workflows using the latest industry standards (Solaris/LOPs, Karma CPU, ACES, USD).
WEEK 1 | INTRODCTION
Intro To Solaris, scene overview and setups used – main built-in (SideFX) setups, custom setups; Textures workflow – ACES, rat,; Setup a simple shading and lookdev workflow with some lights, turntable
WEEK 2 | SINGLE ASSET
Setting The lighting systems for the traffic Lights / street lights, signboards, overpass, vehicles
WEEK 3 | COMPLEX ASSET
Setting up the Street and Parking Lighting the street and parking
WEEK 4 | PROCEDURAL ASSET
Building parts preparing, Building procedural setup, Building shading, Building lighting, Instances primvar variations.
WEEK 5 | HERO ASSET
Bracer (Robot)/ Queen of spikes (Creature) asset preparation, Lookdev and efficient Animation workflow
WEEK 6 | ENVIRONMENT
Layers workflow, Set Manifest, Layout (step by step adding static assets), Animation (detailed), Setdress (incl. signboards)
WEEK 7 | FX PREP
Setting FX for environment atmospheric, ocean and cars
WEEK 8 | LIGHTING SHOT
Basic light sources / blockers, Fog setup, Light linkers for optimization, RGS for optimization, “LPE Rename” HDA for combining light sources
WEEK 9 | RENDERING
Render vars, Render products and combining render vars, “Split Per LPE Emission” HDA for exporting Per LPE Emission, Preparing Beauty, Preparing Utility, Render settings (incl. deeps, denoise limits etc)
WEEK 10 | COMPOSITNG
Compositing In Nuke
