In this tutorial, I will show you how to use gobos to add interesting lighting to your project.
Gobos
A gobo is an object placed inside or in front of a light source to control the shape of the emitted light and its shadow
These were traditionally used for films and theater but have made their way into CGI workflows
Method 1: Photo
The first method I will show you is using a photo
I downloaded this tree image from Pexels
I add a spot light to the scene
I also switch to cycles renderer
I split my viewport and open the shader editor
I activate use nodes
I select the emission node
Using CTRL + T (with the node wrangler add-on activated), I add the proper nodes
I open the image I downloaded
I change the texture coordinates to Normal
Under the data object properties tab for the light, I increase the power
I also increase the radius to add some blur to the image
Method 2: Musgrave Texture
The second method involves using the Musgrave texture
I select the light and make sure use nodes is activated
I add a Musgrave texture node and a color ramp
I select the Musgrave texture
I use CTRL + T to add the mapping and texture coordinate nodes
I change the texture coordinate to normal
I use the options of the Musgrave texture to change the light and shadow
I use the Color Ramp to adjust the lighting and shadows
Method 3: Wave Texture
The third method involves using the wave texture
I select the light and make sure use nodes is activated
I add a wave texture node and a color ramp [color – fac]
I select the wave texture
I use CTRL + T to add the mapping and texture coordinate nodes
I change the texture coordinate to normal
I use the options of the wave texture to change the light and shadow
I use the Color Ramp to adjust the lighting and shadows
Method 4: Vector Graphic
The fourth method I will show you is using a graphic
I made this very simple graphic in Adobe Illustrator
I select the spotlight and make sure I have use nodes active in the shader editor
I select the emission node
Using CTRL + T, I add the proper nodes
I open the graphic I made
I change the texture coordinates to Normal
I also add an invert color node between the image texture and the emission shader so the transparent parts of the graphic are not casting a shadow
Under the data object properties tab for the light, I increase the radius to add some blur to the image