Home - The Lighting Lab

Are you passionate about cinematography, photography, and animation?

Join a community of passionate lighting professionals and learn from industry veterans with experience in studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks, Mikros Animation, Axis Studios, Lightbox Animation Studios…

Have you ever wondered how the final look of Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks films is achieved? This process is called lighting; this is the transformation after it passes through our hands

Before After

What is The Lighting Lab?

If you also want to know how to do this, you’re in the right place. At The Lighting Lab, you will learn how to tell a story through lighting and how to convey emotions through light and color.

The animation film industry is highly competitive, and it can be frustrating not to land that dream job. I’ve been there too, which is why I decided to create The Lighting Lab, to help people like me in the past, who also dream of working as a Lighting Artist in animation.

Academy's character

Introducing Yih (Self-Portrait created by Yih Yao), one of the characters we will light during our courses and mentorships.

Fully modeled, with hair (xgen), fully rigged and textured, ready for animation and lighting.

3D Lighting course

Introducing Yih (Self-Portrait created by Yih Yao), one of the characters we will light during our courses and mentorships.

Fully modeled, with hair (xgen), fully rigged and textured, ready for animation and lighting.

eeks, from the most artistic to the most technical aspects.

The course is designed for both beginners with no knowledge of lighting (but some understanding of 3D) and those with some experience who want to take their skills to the next level.

What does the lighting course include?

Mentorships

The mentorships are aimed at individuals with some experience in lighting and/or composition.

Focused on learning advanced concepts, you will have access to the lighting course, where we will light an animation shot in 6 weeks and try to match a reference from a scene in a movie we like.

What does the mentorship include?

Access to the 3D lighting course
Access to the community.
Group chat with the mentor.
Daily feedback and Corrections on chat
Paintovers.
Simple scenes to light
"Yih" character ready to light
Weekly call to solve complex questions and receive feedback
More advanced lessons and extra content
Reduced groups for a more individual attention
Original animation shot (one different shot per student, based on availability).

Animated shots to light

The Lighting Lab has collaborations with various online animation schools, such as Lupin House among others, which will provide us with animated material for our students to light. This way, you will have production-quality animation shots for your demo reel.

Testimonial

What do our students say?

“Ivan is an excellent mentor; he is very attentive and passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience. He truly listens, motivates, and challenges his students to continue developing as professionals and have fun in the process. I hope many people have the fortune to collaborate with him.”

Adolfo Salas

Before/After, Adolfo Salas, academy student.

“Enroling in The Lighting Lab has been a great learning experience.

The course is very comprehensive, and I highly recommend the mentorship sessions. Thanks to them, I’ve developed both technical and artistic skills, such as learning important programs like Nuke or how to light a shot correctly from scratch.

I feel quite confident about my future career thanks to this course and the shots I’ve developed during this period.”

Sara Llull

Sara Llull's shot, mentorships student.

“The Lighting Lab Course stands out to me as an ideal platform to deepen my understanding of lighting principles. The course gives you to explore deeper concepts in lighting but also has the flexibility to learn the essentials, it perfectly suits my learning objectives. Ivan really takes the time to teach you well-explained and in a clear manner.

I have found immense joy in the process of creating my own lighting setups for animated shots. This experience has not only enriched my skill set but has also allowed me to integrate theorical knowledge into practical application.”

Fabián Martínez (Character animator at ICON Creative Studios)

Shot by Fabián Martínez, 3D Lighting course student

“Working with Ivan was great! Despite being in different time zones, Ivan was consistently available, knowledgeable, and provided valuable feedback. I loved that we pushed the scene’s mood, emphasizing the importance of lighting for animation!

It’s worth noting that the Mentorship and Courses are offered in both English and Spanish, making it accessible to a broader audience, which I think is fantastic! Also, as an added benefit, the Mentorship program provided access to complete 3D lighting courses, covering valuable lighting concepts in detail and a quality animation scene, which I can use in my reel!! It’s a great option for those looking to improve their lighting skills!!”

Rubi Rivas

Shot by Rubi Rivas, mentorship student

“I am a 3D animator with several years of experience in the industry and I had always wanted to light my own animated shots. In a very short time, I have learned everything I expected and much more than I could imagine thanks to The Lighting Lab’s mentorships.

These have helped me reach a level of production quality that I was not able to achieve after many years studying on my own. The lighting and compositing courses are very extensive and very well explained. Iván is very attentive to all the details; He answered my questions everytime and he is very generous in sharing everything he has learned in his career. I am very grateful for this experience at The Lighting Lab.”

Frank Molina (Senior character animator at Jellyfish Pictures)

Shot by Frank Molina, mentorship student

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