Volumetric Lighting is a technique of 3D modelling lighting in Blender. It is used often to create “god rays” and smoke-like lighting for cinematic purposes. In the viewport, it allows artists to see a light shining through the environment. In volumetric lighting, the lighting emitter can pierce through an actual 3D medium to add a foggy, steamy, smoky effect around the world environment.
Volumetric lighting in the creativity aspect enhances the depth and mood of a specific scene. Depending on the scene, it is to create a cinematic atmosphere and mood. It could enhance the audience’s emotional impact on the project.
Volumetric Lighting in technicality is not complicated to work with. Though it may seem beautiful and simple, the rendering time varies on how much density of the volumetric lighting is in the world properties. The higher the density, the darker the world becomes and the more “smoky” it gets. The lower the density, the lighter the world becomes and the lesser “smoky” it gets. Rendering time varies on how high the density is. A higher amount could increase the rendering time due to the fact that volumetric lighting eats up memory space.
Personally, I use volumetric lighting in almost all of my projects and it clearly becomes an identity I’m creating for myself. I use volumetric lighting to not only manipulate lighting in the world properties but to also manipulate the emotional impact towards viewers that are gazing through my projects.
