Documentation Center

Viz Artist User Guide

Version 3.14 | Published October 30, 2020 ©

Light Editor

The Light editor modifies the light settings in a Scene. A Scene can have up to eight active, simultaneous, lights.

images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_lea.png
The Light Editor consists of two panels:

  • Left panel (1): Shows a list of all eight editable lights.

  • Right panel (2): Shows the parameters for the currently selected light.

This page contains information on the following topics:

Light Editor Left Panel

The Light Editor left panel shows a list of all eight editable lights, and their current status.

images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_rlp.png

  • Number: The number of each available light, from 1 to 8.

  • Type: The type of light used, which is selected in the Light Editor Right Panel.

  • State: Sets the light On or Off.

  • Vis: Sets the visualization of a light On or Off (see Light Visualization):

    • On: The visualization of a light can be seen in the Scene Editor (and the Scene Editor Views).

    • Off: The visualization of a light cannot be seen in the output window.

Note: The Bounding Box (BB (see Scene Editor Buttons)) must be set to On. If it is set to Off no light visualizations can be seen in the Scene Editor or Scene Editor Views.

Note: If the Bounding Box is set to On, the visualization of a light, which State is set to On and is highlighted in the GUI (3), is always visible in the Scene Editor.

images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_lehla.png

Light Editor Right Panel

The Light Editor right panel shows the editable parameters for the currently selected light:

images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_lrp.png

  • Type: Select which Light type to use:

    • Local: See Local Light for light type details. The Local light has properties for Color and Position.

      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_local_lv.png

    • Spot: See Spot Light for light type details. The Spot light has properties for Color, Position, Direction/Rotation, and Spot (Penumbra and Cone Angle).

      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_spotlightv.png

    • Infinite: The Infinite light has properties for Color, Position, and Direction/Rotation. Infinite is selected by default.

      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_infinite_lv.png

  • Color: Sets the color of the light.

  • Position: Sets the position of the light along the X, Y, and Z axis.

  • Direction: Defines the direction vector for Spot or Infinite light.

  • Rotation: Sets the values to rotate the Spot or Infinite light sources.

  • Tracking: A light can be configured to track the Position, and Direction or Orientation of a Container (see Light Editor):

    • Position Tracking: The position of the light is the same as the target Containers position.

    • Direction Tracking: The direction of the light is updated to always point towards the current position of the target container.

    • Orientation Tracking: The rotation (orientation in space) of the light is the same as the target Containers rotation (orientation in space).

      Note: Direction and Orientation tracking cannot be used at the same time. The results would contradict each other (both of them result in a potentially different rotation value for the container).

      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_lighttrack.png
      The following parameters can also be adjusted for tracking with light:

    • Active/Inactive: Drag a Container to the drop zone, to automatically activate light tracking. To stop tracking, click the Active/Inactive button.

    • Reset: Disables light tracking.

  • Spot (available when Spot is selected):

    • Penumbra: Sets the concentration of the light (penumbra) within the light cone of the Spot light. When set to zero, the whole light cone has the same intensity. If set greater than zero, the intensity decreases away from the center

    • Cone Angle: Adjusts the cone angle to adjust the shape of the light.
      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_cone.png

      Note: A Material item must be used to show light effects.

Light Editor Procedures

To Apply Light in a Scene

  1. Click Built Ins.

  2. Click the Geom plug-ins tab.

  3. Drag an object into the Scene Tree.

  4. Add a material to the same Container.

  5. Click the Light tab to view the Light Editor.

    Note: Light number 1 is On by default.

    images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_le1.png

  6. In the left panel, click any or all of the lights in the State column to show different light perspectives:

    • One light (1)

    • First four lights (2)

    • All lights (3)

      images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_add_la.png

To Set a Light to Track Containers

A light can be configured to track containers in both position and direction (see Tracking in the Light Editor Right Panel)

  1. In the Scene Tree create two Objects (1), one to track position (Sphere_1) and one to track rotation (Sphere_2).

  2. In the right panel select the Light tab.

  3. Drag Sphere_1 to the Position Tracking drop zone (2).

  4. Drag Sphere_2 to the Direction Tracking drop zone (3).

    images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_track_rotatea.png

  5. In the Properties panel click the Container tab.

  6. Adjust the Position settings to track the objects.

    images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_tracklm.png

To Copy the Properties of One Light to Another Light

  1. Select the light for the source properties.

  2. Drag it onto the target light.

    images/download/attachments/41796895/lam_copypa.png

    The target light inherits all properties belonging to the source light.

See Also