Without lights, it doesn’t really matter what your scene looks like—you won’t be able to see it, plain and simple!
Each light in a scene contributes to the scene’s illumination and affects the way all objects’ surfaces appear in the rendered image. You can dramatically change the nature and mood of your images by modifying lights and their properties. You can add lights directly or you can work with lights from imported scenes.
Properties
Every light in a scene is defined by a set of properties. Some of these properties do not vary, no matter what type of light. These properties are referred to as the light’s rendering properties, as they determine its appearance when rendered. These include:
• Selectivity—you can specify which objects are affected by which lights. For more information about selective lights effects, see Using Selective Lights.
• Shadows—you can create several different kinds of shadows, including using area lights to define soft shadows. For more information about shadows, see Creating Shadows.
• Effects—you can create global-illumination effects (such as indirect lighting from diffuse reflections and color bleeding), as well as caustic-lighting effects (such as shimmering highlights on sand beneath rippling water).
There’s a light for every occasion. Although you cannot change an imported light’s type (except to define it as an area light), you can create several different types of light:
Infinite (Default)
Infinite lights simulate light sources that are infinitely far from objects in the scene. There is no position associated with an infinite light, only a direction. All objects are lit by parallel light rays. The scene’s default light is infinite.
Light Box
Light box lights simulate a light diffused with a white fabric, like a studio’s light box. The light and shadows created by this light are very soft. Speculars are still visible, but noticeably weaker. The box can be manipulated to shape the projected light.
Neon
Neon lights simulate real-world neon lights. They are essentially point lights with their settings and shapes altered to resemble neon or fluorescent tubes. The manipulators can be used to change the tube into any rectangular or square shape.
Point
Point lights casts rays in all directions from the position of the light. They are similar to light bulbs, whose light rays emanate from the bulb in all directions.
Spot
Spot lights cast rays in a cone-shape, simulating real spotlights. This is useful for lighting a specific object or area. The manipulators can be used to edit the light cone’s length, width, and falloff points.
