Are rim lights cheating? No.
Are they realistic lighting? Yes.
Rim lights are a matter of exposure. If an image is exposed for darks, there’ll be more info in the dark areas and less in the light. In the hulk image, I wanted a bright daytime look, so I crunched the light values.
Are they realistic lighting? Yes.
Rim lights are a matter of exposure. If an image is exposed for darks, there’ll be more info in the dark areas and less in the light. In the hulk image, I wanted a bright daytime look, so I crunched the light values.
In the Ultraman image (left)I exposed for the darks, and since the lighter dark values, there’s less of a gap between the information in the dark/light. If I bump up the exposure (right), you get “rim lighting” or the over exposed light side.
In this image, while it may seem confusing since its dark, I exposed for the lights. There’s more information on the lit surfaces than the ones in shadow. (Not a lot, but it’s there) if I put this next to the Hulk... see the difference of where more value information is placed?
I tend to crunch values with exposure since it mimics a camera, which has a more cinematic feel, and often (not always) that leads to some form of rim light.
TLDR
Rim lights are part of realistic lighting, it’s just a matter of exposure.
Rim lights are part of realistic lighting, it’s just a matter of exposure.