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You will receive this free 3D gobo texture pack, but you’ll also get our 500+ other 3D freebies as well.
Gobo textures are one of the most underrated tools in a motion designer’s lighting toolkit. They can instantly elevate a bland scene into a cinematic shot with mood, depth, and visual interest. In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to use gobo textures in Cinema 4D with Redshift and also other 3D render engines.
Notice the light rays and dramatic contrast that the gobo adds. It’s perfect for a moody, filmic look.
A gobo is a stencil or texture placed in front of a light source to control the shape of the light beam and shadows. Think of it like shining a flashlight through leaves or blinds to cast shadows on your scene. Gobo stands for “Goes Before Optics” because filmmakers use physical gobo inserts inside of actual lights (aka, before optics) on film sets. We’re doing the digital version of this!
In Redshift, gobos are used by applying a texture to a spotlight or area light, casting dramatic shadows or dappled light. The same concept applies to nearly any 3D application or render engine. It’s a universal concept.
1. Create a Light. Add a spotlight or area light.
2. Enable the Texture Slot. In the Redshift Light settings, find the Texture slot and load your gobo image (black-and-white PNG or JPG works best).
3. Adjust Light Settings. Cone angle to re-size the gobo. Color & Intensity for mood control.
4. Transform the texture using the lights rotation, scale or position. Soften the shadows by clicking the “Softness Affects Gobo” checkbox in the lights “details/shadow” section. Then increase the softness slider.
5. For more control in the lights’ “Object” section, click on “add graph” and then “edit graph.”
This will open up the Gobo setup in a graph layout. Now you can remap the scale to tile the gobo, or you can mix multiple gobos, or you can add color correction nodes, etc. This graph layout will give you much more control!
Gobo lighting is one of the simplest ways to add high-end style to your renders. Once you understand how to set them up, you’ll find endless creative applications in your motion design work.
Grab our free pack of 35 Gobos and get started!
Joren Kandel is an Emmy Award winning artist with 15 years of experience in sports motion design. He is also Founder and CEO of The Pixel Lab, which has become the biggest collection of 3D VFX and VDB assets in the world!