Blender Eevee: The guide to real-time rendering with Blender 2.8

Eevee is the brand new real-time render engine for Blender 2.8 that can deliver stunning images and animations in a matter of seconds. It uses a different approach from Cycles, which puts it close to the technology used in game engines.

What makes people struggle to understand in Eevee is the unique way it works in comparison with Cycles. You have to use a set of new objects like probes to process indirect lights and reflections.

Do you want to start using Eevee for realistic renders with Blender 2.8? With Blender Eevee: The guide to real-time rendering with Blender 2.8 book, you will learn everything you need to start using cutting edge technology to get your ready in a matter of seconds.

The book about Blender Eevee

What will you learn with Blender Eevee: The guide to real-time rendering with Blender 2.8? The book has a practical approach to Blender 2.8 tools and features, using examples and guides to describe how you can perform the most important tasks related to Eevee.

Here is a list of all the chapters:

  • Chapter 1 – Rendering with Eevee and Blender
  • Chapter 2 – Environment lights with Eevee
  • Chapter 3 – PBR materials with Eevee
  • Chapter 4 – Probes and lights for Eevee
  • Chapter 5 – Indirect Lights with Eevee
  • Chapter 6 – Interior lights with Eevee
  • Chapter 7 – External lights with Eevee
  • Chapter 8 – Color management and effects with Eevee

Rendering with Eevee and Blender

The first thing you have to learn with Eevee is how to render your scenes using either the Renderer shading mode or saving still images and animations. You will learn how to keep your data with the highest possible quality and manage cameras. We will cover topics like:

  • Using shading modes in Blender
  • When you should use Cycles instead of Eevee
  • Viewing the scene in real-time render
  • Set your view with an active camera
  • Save your renders from the 3D Viewport
  • Create video files from animation
  • Save previews from your viewport

Environment lights with Eevee

One of the best ways to add lights in a project is with environmental lights. In Eevee, you can use several options to add such lights. You can use an HDR map or standard Blender lights. In this section you find information about:

  • How to add an HDR map to the background
  • Control HDR rotation
  • HDR limitations with Eevee
  • Visibility controls for HDR maps
  • Use Area Lights instead of HDR maps

PBR materials with Eevee

What would be of a realistic render without good materials? We will cover how to set up PBR materials for Eevee with some unique settings for effects like transparency. You will learn in this section:

  • Create and manage materials
  • Add materials to objects
  • Get materials from external files
  • Use PBR materials in Eevee
  • Control tilling and mapping from PBR materials
  • Create glass shaders for Eevee
  • Use the Principled BSDF for your materials

Probes and lights with Eevee

A key difference between Cycles and Eevee is that you will have to use some helper objects to get a few effects in Eevee. Those helpers are the probes that will later help us with indirect lights and reflections. You will learn in this section:

  • Differences between all available probes
  • How to use and set up an Irradiance Volume
  • Best locations and settings for an Irradiance Volume
  • Use a Reflection Cubemap for glossy surfaces
  • Place and adjust a Cubemap
  • Add reflective surfaces with the Reflection Plane

Indirect lights with Eevee

After we have the probes in our scene, you will have to bake the scene to get reflections and indirect lights. You will learn in this section:

  • What is the baking process
  • Bake the Irradiance Volume and Cubemap
  • Optimize the baking calculations
  • Fix problems such as light bleed
  • Adjust lights to avoid light bleed

Interior lights with Eevee

The objective of this chapter is to show a complete workflow on how to set up an interior scene with Eevee. You will learn in this section:

  • Prepare the model for Eevee
  • Add environmental lights
  • Adjust background light sources
  • Apply materials to the surfaces
  • Add probes for interior scenes
  • Bake the probes
  • Fix potential problems regarding lights

External lights with Eevee

We have a similar objective from the last section here but with a focus on external scenes. You will learn in this section:

  • Review the model for rendering with Eevee
  • Use an HDR map in the background
  • Add a Sun as the main light source
  • Add materials and textures
  • Setup probes for external scenes
  • Bake the solution for external scenes

Color managment and effects with Eevee

As the last step in every project using Eevee, you can enhance your rendering using the Color Management settings. Besides that, you can also use some additional options to improve your projects. Here is what you will learn:

  • Use Exposure and Gamma controls to improve lights
  • Add volumetric effects in Eevee
  • Apply Depth of Field to the camera in real-time
  • Create a studio scene for product presentation with an infinity background

Book details

  • Release date: August 2019
  • Edition: 1st
  • Pages: 314 (eBook)
  • Pages: 228 (Paperback)
  • Autor: Allan Brito
  • Blender version used: Blender 2.8
  • ASIN Kindle: B07WZRVYK3
  • ISBN paperback: 9781689108256

Buy now from Amazon:

  • Available in eBook format (Worldwide)
  • Available as a paperback (some regions)

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