Lighting in Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners

This tutorial is for the beginners out there. Lighting is tricky. It's not always the most obvious thing to get right, and lighting in Unreal poses its own share of challenges on top of that. That's where this video comes in, where we'll learn all about the very fundamentals of light, what kind of lights are available to us, how they work, how to make of the most of them, followed by a deep explanation of how light behaves in the real world, and mimicking that in Unreal. Then we'll learn how to light an environment from total scratch, twice. Once for a daytime lighting, and a second time for an overcast, dark, moody day look.
Fasten your seatbelt because this is a long one!

- Visit CG Spectrum if you want to learn Unreal Engine with the guidance of a mentor:
Or visit their YouTube channel here:

- To learn more about baked lighting:

- Deep dive on LUMEN:

- Learn about NANITE:

- Dedicated video about the SKYLIGHT:

- Megascans Abandoned Apartment Scene:

Article about why 18% grey is mid-grey:

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
00:41 - CGSpectrum
01:35 - Project Settings
03:18 - Lighting Basics & Light Types
10:09 - Lighting Basics & The Magic Sauce
13:18 - VSM vs Raytraced Shadows
16:07 - Helpers & Guides
17:45 - Indirect Lighting
20:17 - Reflective Objects Quick Tip
23:13 - Emissive Materials
25:21 - Lighting your Scene & Daylight
33:49 - GODRAYS!
39:19 - Overcast Lighting

---------Cameras and Gear Used To Film This Video -------
DISCLAIMER: This video/description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!

My Streaming / Recording Setup (How this Video was Recorded)

[WilliamFaucher]

I'd like to issue a small corrective statement! @17:08 I state that exposure isn't linear. That's not... quite correct. Exposure in itself is linear, but our perception of light, values/brightness, and reflectance, is not linear. That technicality aside, an albedo of 0.18 *IS* still the middle-grey value you should be using as a guide to gauge the exposure of your scene, that remains unchanged.

[DominikMorse]

Make a coffee, pause all work, start William's video. Life is good.

[peacefusion]

No repeating, no rambling, no losing interest, no ambigious knowledge of how lighting works. Great teacher.

[ALEXSilva-zyfr]

Got a notebook and took notes... I’m making it out the hood

[edwardhoare]

I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you for these tutorials. You explain with such depth and clarity. Legend.

[pwnisher]

The KING! Thank god for your existence Will.

[Dan-ejdx]

I've been a 3d Artist for around 8 years now (3DsMax + Corona), I've now started to learn Unreal...and this video alone taught me so much. Thanks for the content and the clarity of your lessons. Just another person letting you know how much your videos help

[oakhousemedia]

I've been wanting to dip into Unreal for a very long time. You're tutorials are fantastic and have been crucial with helping me get past the learning curve. Thanks for all you do.

[lumatrace]

This is the best lighting tutorial for UE5 that I've seen yet. I can't thank you enough for spreading your knowledge in such a comprehensive way!

[alpinejonny]

I'm not a beginner, but I learned so much from this video it made me feel like a beginner. What a fantastic video. Thank you!

[JacksonHayes]

Oh, Will! This is going to be such a lovely resource for so many people, and I can't wait to sit down and go through this in its entirety tomorrow morning! Your videos are ~truly~ the gold standard for UE education on the internet, thank you for putting so much time and effort into it. It's made my explorations into UE5 so much easier.

[Toetech]

It's amazing how you can turn a very confusing set of parameters into a VERY clean, understandable, and straightforward workflow. These are probably THE most quality tutorials I've ever come across.

[sergehamel]

This is a great tutorial. I come from the Unity engine world and I am a complete Unreal Newbie. I watched some of your other tutorials and I learned a lot every time. You turn me into an Unreal addict and a William Faucher subscriber. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[ericrogers]

This is awesome. I think a lot of the environment artists I know feel like they struggle with lighting. It's great to have a professional rundown like this, especially one that covers Lumen. Really appreciate the content. <3

[Silpheedx]

Oh hell yeah! I honestly can't say how thankful I am that you do these tutorials. I basically owe my career and livelihood to tutorials like this and that is not an exaggeration. So very truly Thank You so incredibly much!

[joaquinotazu]

I've been teaching Unreal for almost 8 years at digital universities,
and much of what you cover I explain in the same way, which makes me proud of it and a punch of positive reinforcement. You are a great teacher, William!

[summerliu]

This is literally so far the best Unreal Engine beginner lighting tutorial I've found over the internet! Thanks so much Will!

[levliversidge]

I've been doing 3D for 4 years now, and this video has completely changed my perspective on lighting. Thank you so much! I can't wait to get working on new projects using the info from this video, easily the best tutorial I've ever watched. Your enthusiasm and explanations made it super enjoyable to watch. Earned a sub!

[Dcgame]

I shared a comment yesterday expressing my frustration with some issue about the compiling shaders, and I have to say, I didn't properly expressed how much I am grateful to find such content available for beginners like me... Man you are truly a gem on the internet for proposing such complete and clear tutorials about this program. It can be so overwhelming when you first open up the UE5, even for someone who has some experience in blender, or C4D or other 3D softwares, and to be able to just find 45 minutes content taking you by the hand and explaining to you how it works is just unbelievable. All for free, damn it ! Again, thank you so much for that !

[catdavey]

love that you even explained how to get the UI to match yours, Its such a simple thing that can make navigating following tutorials so much more difficult for beginners. Thank you!!