# Afterglow

## What is it?

**Afterglow** is a collection of **emissive lighting** assets designed to help you achieve incredible lighting with ease, packaged in the form of an [asset library](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/editors/asset_browser.html) (not to be confused with an addon).

Designed for the **Cycles rendering engine**, Afterglow helps to give your light setups a **physical presence**, providing **accurate reflections and soft bounce lighting**.

The types of assets available to you include **light cages** (see the studio cages and character cages sections below), materials, and more comprehensive **studio environments**, which have been designed to allow for an **immense level of customization**

<a href="https://curtisjamesholt.gumroad.com/l/afterglow" class="button primary" data-icon="dollar-sign">Get it on Gumroad</a>

<a href="https://superhivemarket.com/products/afterglow" class="button primary" data-icon="dollar-sign">Get it on Superhive</a>

## Installation

{% hint style="info" %}
Note: Afterglow is an asset library, not an addon.
{% endhint %}

To install Afterglow, you must download the Afterglow zip file. Inside of this zip file is the Afterglow asset library folder.

Extract this ‘Afterglow v#’ subfolder anywhere on your computer. We will now refer to it as the library folder.

If you look inside of the library folder, you should see a blend file (named Afterglow) along with a couple of text files (which define the categorical structure of the asset library). There may be other folders, such as ‘HDRIs’ which contain other asset content.

In Blender, go to Edit - Preferences - File Paths, then down to the ‘Asset Libraries’ section.

Make a new entry in the asset libraries list, and in the path field, make sure to add the directory for the **library folder** that you extracted.

A visual example of this installation is shown in the [official crash course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK1pQVK0tjY) at timestamp 18:59.

## Learning Material

The following are a collection of resources that will help you learn how to use Afterglow, as well as the general theory and applications of emissive lighting. Afterglow has been designed for Cycles in Blender, however the theory will be transferrable to any rendering engine that can simulate physical emissive mesh lighting.

<details>

<summary>Structured Courses</summary>

[The Official Crash Course](https://youtu.be/DK1pQVK0tjY)

</details>

<details>

<summary>Update Videos</summary>

[Afterglow V2.3](https://youtu.be/9lNO7QUrX4o)

[Afterglow V2.2](https://youtu.be/2-_zp3l7_cU)

[Afterglow V2.1](https://youtu.be/62j5fGlhOyk)

[Afterglow V2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJ3PxEbJDo)

</details>

<details>

<summary>Use Cases and Experiments</summary>

[Prehistoric Lighting in Blender! (Afterglow)](https://youtu.be/4lrWN0vLqhg)

[Product Vis Lighting Templates for Blender](https://youtu.be/EoFrRhKTkSc)

[Turning a Blender Scene into a Lighting Showcase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvnrHAwvK0)

[My Secret to Epic Lighting in Blender](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8pnEon3qM8)

</details>

<details>

<summary>Supplementary Learning</summary>

[Don't Be Afraid of Lighting in Blender](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DZ8vJmUb4s)

[Take Your Lighting Even Further in Blender](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o810jZk4FUs)

</details>


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