Light Viewport Controls

A Light viewport shows the view from a spotlight or directional light, looking at its target.

• Click or right-click the Point-Of-View (POV) viewport label. > Point-Of-View (POV) Viewport Label Menu > Lights > Lights submenu > Choose a light.
• Keyboard > $

Two of these controls are available in all viewports:

Zoom Extents All, Zoom Extents All Selected

Maximize Viewport Toggle

For photometric lights, the Light Hotspot control actually adjusts the beam angle. At the beam angle, the light is 50 per cent of the maximum intensity.

Targeted photometric lights can be used as views only when the light's distribution is set to spotlight.

Warning: Switching to or from a light view clears the Undo/Redo lists.

Procedures

To set a Light viewport:

1. Activate the viewport you want to show the view from a spotlight or directional light in the scene.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Press the keyboard shortcut $.
   • Click or right-click the Point-Of-View viewport label. 3ds Max opens the POV viewport label menu. Choose Lights and then choose the light from the Lights submenu.
3. If you have more than one spotlight or directional light in the scene (and none is selected), the Select Light dialog is displayed: choose the light you want.
4. If there are more than 10 lights listed, the last entry is "More Lights." Choose this to display the Choose a View dialog, which shows the complete list.

To undo changes to a Light viewport, do one of the following:

1. Click (Undo) on the Quick Access toolbar.
2. Press +Z.
   Note: This is different from orthographic viewports, which require the use of Views menu Undo, or +Z.