When you create a new light, the default light remains in the scene until deleted. A new light does not replace the scene’s default light.
Each of the light types available from the toolbar creates a new light. Each type of light simulates a different real-world light source.
The default light in Autodesk Softimage is an infinite-type light set to white with an intensity of 0.75. By default, the light is hidden. When creating a new scene, you may want to remove the default light from the new scene.
To remove the default light
1. Choose Selection > Lights from the Select panel. This opens an explorer containing all of the scene’s lights, both hidden and non-hidden.
2. If you have just opened a new scene, the only light in the explorer list is the scene’s hidden default light. Select it by clicking on its name.
3. Press Delete to remove the light from the scene.
You can add several types of lights to your scene. Once you have added a light, you can set its properties or you can load a preset as described in Saving and Loading Shader Presets [ Material and Shader Basics ].
In addition, you can set area light options for point lights and spotlights. For more information about area lights, see Creating Soft Shadows with Area Lights.
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When you create a new light, the default light remains in the scene until deleted. A new light does not replace the scene’s default light. |
To create a new light with the default options
1. Choose Get > Primitive > Light from any toolbar.
2. Select either Spot, Neon, Light Box, Point, or Infinite. You can choose More... to open a browser from where you can select a light preset.
A new light is added to the scene and positioned at the origin. For a description of these lights, see Types of Lights.
The light’s property editor appears in a floating window.
You can select and manipulate lights as you would any other object. For more information on how to set a light’s properties, see Setting Light Properties.
For a complete description of all the light properties, refer to Light Property Editor.
You can translate, rotate, and scale lights as you would any other object. However, scaling a light only affects the size of the icon and does not change any of the light properties. Scaling has an effect only when manipulating an area light’s geometry. You can increase or decrease the size of the surface from which the area light rays emanate. For more information on area lights, see Creating Soft Shadows with Area Lights.
Manipulating Spotlights and Area Lights
Spotlights have a third set of manipulators that let you control their start and end falloff, as well as their spread and cone angles. Area lights also have a third set of manipulators that let you scale the geometric area from which the light rays emanate.
In either case, you access these manipulators by pressing b and then pressing Tab until the manipulators are displayed. For more information about manipulating spotlights, see Setting a Spotlight. For more information about manipulating area lights, see Creating Soft Shadows with Area Lights.
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5