Challenge: Create a new HDRP Area Light

In Interpreting concept art for lighting, you explored an overview of the Lighting Artist’s design process for Buried Memories: Serekh, and reviewed the main sources of lighting in the two rooms.

In this challenge, you’ll create a HDRP Area Light in the Learning Scene for this course.

Although spotlights reflecting through the pools is the most significant source of lighting in the demo’s Service Room, Area Lights increase the light in the room and contribute to the ambience.

Challenge steps

In this challenge, you will:

• Identify a location for the Area Light in the Learning Scene
• Create and configure the light
• Evaluate its potential impact on the polish of a finished room

If you haven’t already done so, download the course Learning Scene.

To help you complete this challenge, review the following:

• Introduction to HDRP Lights
• HDRP Area Lights

You can also review the Unity HDRP Lighting documentation.

Before you begin creating the HDRP Area Light, consider where you want to locate it and how it will contribute to the environment in the Learning Scene.

Although the learning Scene is not as evocative as the demo Scene, light location and intensity will impact the look and feel of the room.

If you want to match the demo Scene closely, locate your Area Light on the balcony in the learning Scene to match the light in the demo:

Balcony with HDRP Area Light in the Buried Memories: Serekh demo

To create and configure a HDRP Area Light:

1. Open the Learning Scene in Unity Editor.

2. Create a HDRP Area Light and place it in your chosen location. If you need to, review HDRP Area Lights.

3. Configure the Area Light Properties. Although the learning Scene lacks the detail of the demo, consider how it impacts the room:

• How might it impact the player character when they explore the room?
  
• Does it reveal more of the environment around its location?
  
• Does it enhance or detract from the established atmosphere for the room?

In this challenge, you have:

• Created a HDRP Area Light in the learning Scene
• Calibrated the light to achieve a desired level of illumination
• Evaluated the impact of your new light on the overall lighting of the learning Scene