In this Marmoset Tutorial, you’ll learn how to set up lighting and the render camera to get the most out of the model in the final render shot.
Get step-by-step guidance on optimizing your 3D renders.
-Workflow
Before we set up the background and lights we first need to make a new camera for the render shot.
Click the camera icon inside the Scene outliner and name it.
To name the camera, double-click on the name and type out the new name.
Inside the Render camera, change the Tone Mapping from Linear to ACES to get more vibrant colors from the base color.
Another thing to set up is the Filed of View.
You can use the slider or change the mm value.
If you want to have a more flat shot, set the mm to 95-150.
In the Render settings, scroll down through the options until you find the Output tab.
From there, change the Image Resolution to whatever resolution you want the shot to be.
To see the border of the resolution size, go inside the Render camera, in the Lens tab, tick the Set Frame box.
You can place the camera however you see fit for the shot.
In the Render settings, you can also activate Ray Tracing while you work but it might slow down your computer depending on how powerful it is.
If it slows down the software, activate the Ray Tracing when you are ready to render out the image.
In the Sky are the background settings.
Just like in Substance Painter, there is a Library of pre-made environments with different lights to choose from.
If you want to use any of them, double-click on the one that you want to use and wait for it to finish downloading.
Once it has finished downloading, a green tick will appear in the lower right corner inside the box.
You can control the Brightness of the environment.
Unlike in the camera, if you change the brightness there, it will only affect that specific camera, but if you change the environment Brightness, it will affect any of the cameras.
In the Backdrop tab, you can choose between different Modes for the background.
Color will only give you a solid color for a background.
Sky will include the sky dome from the chosen environment.
Blurred Sky works the same way as Sky but the background is blurred.
Ambient Sky is a color with a bit of gradient.
If you choose the Color Mode, you can change the background color to a different one by clicking the Color box on the right side.
A window will open up with a color square, select the color you want then press OK. If you don’t press OK and just close the window after selecting the color, it will not change the background color.
In the Sky Light options, you can also add a Child-Light, which is basically an extra light in the background, by clicking on the Image below the brightness settings.
You can move this light around inside the image and it will affect the background and the model.
The Child-Light has its own brightness slider as well.
To prevent from accidentally moving your render shot, make sure to lock the render camera by pressing the lock icon next to it.
This will also lock all the settings inside the camera and won’t be able to be edited until you unlock it again.
Besides the Sky, you can also add your own lights that aren’t inside the Sky environment.
Click the lightbulb icon inside the Scene Outliner and a light will be added inside the scene.
The light can be selected and moved with the tolls similar ones like inside of Autodesk Maya.
W - move tool.
E - rotate tool.
R - scale tool.
Q - selection tool.
To set up the light, it is best to use the Render view or mode.
From there, change one of the cameras to your Render camera, and the other one to the Main Camera or the default camera where you can move around in and make changes to the background without messing up the rendered shot.
You can also set up to move a light inside of a camera, and the light will move in the direction where you are looking at your model.
This is a great way to set up the light source without using any of the tools.
The light’s color can also be changed the same way as the background.
There are a few settings that can be changed in the Light.
The brightness will change how bright the light is.
The Lens Flare Strength is for how intense you want the flare to be.
The Area and Shape of the light. The shape can be either a Sphere or a Rectangle.
The Diameter controls the Sphere shape of the light.
The Rectangle shape has its own Shape slider which is the Width and Height.
These sliders are only available if the shape of the light is a Rectangle.
The Spot light settings control the sharpness, angle, and vignette of the light.
The Spot Angle controls how big the light is going to be.
The Type of light can also be changed.
The Directional type behaves more like the sun instead of a stage light, while the Omni light is a more extreme version of the Directional.
It’s nice to put multiple light sources in your scene to create interesting lighting.
Changing their color also helps to set the mood better and overall get a better rendered image.
Inside the Render setting, set the Shadow Quality to High to get better shadows.
In the Render Camera, there is a Focus tab that automatically is turned off.
Turning it on will help you create a better render by blurring out some of the distance behind the model by adjusting the scales.
Still inside the camera in Post Effects, there are sliders that control the exposure, contrast, and saturation of the image.
To add more depth to the image, increase the Strength of the Vignette to add dark gradients on the edges of the frame.
You can also change the color of the Vignette the same way we do with the light or background.
Once everything has been set up and ready, inside the Render setting, scroll all the way down and add the Render camera inside the Rencer Cameras by clicking the Add New button.
To not render the default camera, you can either hide it by unchecking the box before it or completely remove the camera by pressing the X on the end.
Set the Image Format of your choice then press Render Image.
After the bar has finished loading, the render image is finished.
End Result.
Bonus - Marmoset Viewer
There is a different type of export you can do with Marmoset.
That export is the Marmoset Viewer.
Marmoset Viewer is an interactable file where people can rotate the model, move around the space, and look at the different texture maps.
It is a small window separate from the Marmoset workspace.
You can upload this file on many art websites, most notably on ArtStation, where people can get the chance to look at the 3D model up close instead of through a 2D image.
To make an export like this, open the File tab, hover over the export options, and select the Marmoset Viewer.
A new window will open with different options.
From here you can enter the title of the project, the author, and a link leading to maybe your portfolio or any of your other social media.
You can set the texture to be at a Low (1k), High (2k) and Unreasonable (4k) resolution.
There are also boxes you can check for if you have an animation on your model.
Set the resolution of the Marmoset Viewer file, the path the file gets exported at, and then click on Export.
Wait for the bar to load and the export is done.
Open the file from where you set it to export, wait for the window to load, and enjoy.