Creates a target point light.
Note: Starting with AutoCAD 2016-based products, all standard lights are calculated as photometric lights. It is recommended to update all standard lights in a scene to photometric lights. Photometric lighting is enabled by setting the LIGHTINGUNITS system variable to 1 or 2.
The following prompts are displayed.
Note: The options for this command vary slightly depending on the LIGHTINGUNITS setting.
Source location
Specifies where the light is located. Enter coordinate values or click to specify a point in the drawing.
Target location
Sets the location for the target light. Enter coordinate values or click a location in the drawing area.
Name
Specifies the name of the light. You can use uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) in the name.
Intensity/Intensity factor
Sets the intensity or brightness of the light.
Status
Turns the light on and off.
Photometry
Photometry is the measurement of the luminous intensities of visible light sources.
In photometry, luminous intensity is a measure of the perceived power emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous flux is the perceived power per unit of solid angle. The total luminous flux for a lamp is the perceived power emitted in all directions. Luminance is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area.
Note: The Photometry option is available only when the LIGHTINGUNITS system variable is set to 1 or 2.
- Intensity
-
Enter an intensity value in candelas, flux value, or illuminance value.
-
Intensity. Sets intensity based on candelas (cd), the SI base unit of luminous intensity. This value sets the perceived power emitted by a light source in a particular direction.
-
Flux. Sets intensity based on lux (lx), an SI unit of illuminance.
-
Illuminance.Sets intensity based on foot-candles (fc), the American unit of illuminance. Specify a distance to use to calculate illuminance.
- Color
-
Specifies the color of the light.
-
Color name. Specifies the name of the light color.
-
?. Displays a list of color names.
-
Kelvin. Specifies the color based on a Kelvin temperature value.
- Exit
-
Exits the Photometry prompt.
Shadow
Makes the light cast shadows.
Note: Starting with AutoCAD 2016-based products, shadows are always rendered no matter the current status or values of the Shadow option. This option is maintained for scripting and backwards compatibility.
- Off
-
Turns off the display and calculation of shadows for the light. Turning shadows off increases performance.
- Sharp
-
Displays shadows with sharp edges. Use this option to increase performance.
- Soft Mapped
-
Displays realistic shadows with soft edges.
- Map Size. Specifies the amount of memory to use to calculate the shadow map.
- Softness. Specifies the softness to use to calculate the shadow map.
- Soft Sampled
-
Displays realistic shadows with softer shadows (penumbra) based on extended light sources.
-
Shape. Species the shape of the shadow (disk or rectangle) and its dimensions (radius or shape and width).
-
Samples. Specifies the size of the sample.
-
Visible. Specifies whether the shape of the shadow is visible.
-
Exit. Returns to the previous prompt.
Attenuation
Controls how light diminishes over distance. The farther away an object is from a spotlight, the darker the object appears. Attenuation is also known as decay.
Note: When the LIGHTINGUNITS system variable is set to 1 or 2, the Attenuation option has no affect on the light when rendered. This option is maintained for scripting and backwards compatibility.
- Attenuation Type
-
Controls how light diminishes over distance. The farther away an object is from a point light, the darker the object appears. Attenuation is also known as decay.
- None. Sets no attenuation. Objects far from the point light are as bright as objects close to the light.
- Inverse Linear. Sets attenuation to be the inverse of the linear distance from the light. For example, at a distance of 2 units, light is half as strong as at the point light; at a distance of 4 units, light is one quarter as strong. The default value for inverse linear is half the maximum intensity.
- Inverse Squared. Sets attenuation to be the inverse of the square of the distance from the light. For example, at a distance of 2 units, light is one quarter as strong as at the point light; at a distance of 4 units, light is one sixteenth as strong.
- Use Limits
-
Specifies whether to use limits or not.
- Attenuation Start Limit
-
Specifies the point where light starts as an offset from the center of the light.
- Attenuation End Limit
-
Specifies the point where light ends as an offset from the center of the light. No light is cast beyond this point. Setting an end limit increases performance where the effect of lighting is so minimal that the calculations are wasted processing time.
Color/Filter Color
Controls the color of the light.
- True Color
-
Specifies a True Color. Enter in the format R,G,B (red, green, blue).
- Index
-
Specifies an ACI (AutoCAD Color Index) color.
- HSL
-
Specifies an HSL (hue, saturation, luminance) color.
- Color Book
-
Specifies a color from a color book.