Lighting, Rendering and Compositing

Choosing an engine

Cycles settings that matter

• Device: GPU (enable CUDA/OptiX/HIP/Metal in Preferences).
• Samples: start low with denoising on (OpenImageDenoise or OptiX).
• Light paths: reduce bounces for speed where scenes allow.
• Use adaptive sampling to stop clean areas early.

Product lighting setup

• An HDRI for realistic reflections (Poly Haven, CC0), rotated for the best highlights.
• Large area lights as key and fill; a rim light for separation.
• A seamless curved backdrop (bend a plane and bevel it) for studio shots.
• Camera at 50–100 mm; depth of field with a focus object.

Colour management

Use the AgX view transform (Blender 4.x default) for natural highlights; adjust exposure in Color Management rather than cranking lights.

Compositing

In the Compositor, enable passes (diffuse, glossy, AO, cryptomatte) to adjust the image after rendering: colour grading, glare, lens distortion, and isolating objects with cryptomatte masks.

Rendering animations

Render to PNG/EXR image sequences, then encode to video, so a crash does not cost the whole render.

Exercise

Create a studio product render of your speaker model: curved backdrop, HDRI plus area lights, depth of field, Cycles with denoising, AgX colour management, and a compositor grade with glare. Compare against an EEVEE version.

Check yourself

• When is EEVEE the better choice?
• Why render animations as image sequences?
• What does cryptomatte help with in compositing?