Lighting, rendering and compositing

Version 0.1 (2026-09-24), part of Blender Expert Skills v0.1.

Expert lighting controls where the eye goes. Shape comes from gradients, the subject is separated from its surroundings by value (checked desaturated), every light has a source and a purpose, and every decision is measured on the render, not on lamp values. Work from a controlled base, change one thing at a time, and compare.

REQUIRED BACKGROUND: blender-expert (execution channel, review loop, 5.2 API changes). Related: blender-texturing-shading (materials, skin SSS), blender-previs-storyboard (shot planning, cameras).

Toolkit: scripts/bx_light.py (tested on 5.2.1): rigs placed relative to subject and camera, EEVEE/Cycles presets, color setup and audit, 5.x compositor helpers, render analysis. Import: sys.path.append("<this skill>/scripts"); import bx_light as BL.