Welcome to the first entry in our Relight Series, featuring a beautifully crafted saloon scene in Unreal Engine 5. This is the first project of an ongoing series focused on exploring lighting through variation and experimentation.
The goal of the series is for our lighting team to work from the same scene and create distinct interpretations, each exploring different moods, atmospheres, and lighting scenarios.
Research
We began by gathering visual references that capture the saloon mood we wanted to explore, then built several moodboards to define tone, color palette, and compositional ideas.
We used Miro as a shared workspace to pin reference images, leave annotations, and group notes by shot, color, and atmosphere.
Splitting references into sections like color, contrast, and atmospherics makes creative decisions clearer and easier to test. Organizing references this way reduces ambiguity, speeds iteration, and ensures each relight focuses on a single visual goal.
Preparation work
So we selected the Saloon scene made by Quixel Megascans as a base for our project and modified it to fit our needs and to create more camera positioning and lighting opportunities.
You can find the asset here on fab, Unreal engine's asset marketplace.
Base scene
Modified scene
In addition we added some assets for the ‘’Old West’’ asset pack made by Dekogon to create some storytelling opportunities and add some details.
Here is the final iteration that will serve as a base for our lighting team to work on
Relight Results
And finally, here are the results from multiple lighting iterations exploring different moods and scenarios.
Aliens
The goal for this lighting was to create a strong cinematic feeling with clear storytelling on a fun topic.
Overcast
For this lighting we wanted to create a realistic overcast mood of a cold and foggy day.
WARM
For this relight, we set out to explore a different direction by pushing a stylized lighting approach, using warm and cool contrast, vibrant color choices, and an unrealistic, dreamy mood. We aimed to reimagine the scene while inside a realistic environment.
Horror
With this lighting we played with fog to create a strong atmosphere. The use of muted colors and soft lighting is an unexpected twist on horror lighting.
Morning
This lighting depicts a dreamy sunrise with strong saturated colors that blurs the line between stylized and realistic lighting.
Here's a look at all the Relights in fullscreen
Thank you for reading! You can explore our other recent work here, and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us on BlueSky, X, or LinkedIn.
Tuatara Team
