Place Light
Used to place a Point Light, Spot Light, or Directional Light, light source cell, or to create an Area Light or a Sky Opening from existing elements.
You can access this tool from the following:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Point Light (icon) | Sets the light source type to a Point Light. |
| Spot Light (icon) | Sets the light source type to a Spot Light. |
| Area Light (icon) | Sets the light source type to an Area Light. |
| Directional Light (icon) | Sets the light source type to a Directional Light. |
| Sky Opening (icon) | Sets the object to a Sky Opening. |
| Preset | Option menu that lets you select from a list of predefined lights. |
| Name | Text field that lets you define a name for the light source that you are creating. Giving light sources unique names helps you identify them if you want to modify them in some way, or delete them. Where no name is input, the light is given a default name that identifies the type of light source. Where there are other light sources present of the same type, with the same name, then the name is incremented. For example, Spot Light, Spot Light (1), Spot Light (2), and so on, for Spot Light sources. |
| Color | Opens the color dialog, which is used to specify a color for the light source. |
| Temperature | Option menu that lets you assign a color temperature to the light source. |
| Intensity | Acts as a multiplier to the Lumens setting to brighten or dim a light source. |
| Lumens | Sets the light source brightness. Acts as a multiplier of the light source's Color and Intensity values to simulate real world lighting values. This value, when multiplied by the Intensity of the light, specifies the overall brightness, in Lumens. |
| Bulbs | Lets you assign multiple bulbs, with the defined settings, to the light source. |
| Cell Size | (Directional, Point, and Spot Lights only) Sets the size of the light cell, in master units. |
| Bulb Size | (Point Lights and Spot Lights only) Sets the size of the light source. For soft shadows calculations, the rendering process assumes a default size of 12 inches for all point and spot lights. This can cause unnatural lighting in situations where light sources are placed within fixtures, where the fixtures are expected to cast shadows. For these situations, you can change the default size with this setting. |
| Shadow | If on, the light source can cast shadows. Sharpness of the shadows is controlled by the Shadows setting on the of the Render Setup Manager dialog. If, however, Shadows is set to Per Light, then the sharpness of the shadows is controlled by the individual light source's Shadow option menu setting. This determines the number of samples used to calculate the shadows. |
| IES Data | If on, and an IES file has been selected, then IES data is used in the calculation of the light from the light source. |
| Rotation | Lets you enter a value to rotate the photometric characteristics for the IES light source. |
| Show Webs | If on, for an IES light source, then the photometric characteristics for the IES light source are displayed graphically. |
| Show IES Detailed Text | If on, for an IES light source, a text window opens to display the Photometric Data File Information for the IES light source. |
| Cone Angle | (Spot Light only) Sets the angle of the beam cone of a spot light source. Used to focus the beam. |
| Delta Angle | (Spot Light only) Sets the angle, at the edge of the beam cone, through which a Spot Light beam falls from full intensity to zero. |
| Volume Effects | If on, volume effects are calculated for the light source. |
| Volume light effect settings | Pop-up dialog that contains settings for Volume Effects. These settings vary, depending on the chosen light source. |
