Create a light source

To create a light

1. Do one of the following:
   • From the Create > Lights menu, select the type of light you want to create.

     By default, the light is added to the center of a scene.

     To set light options before adding the light to the scene, select Create > Lights > .

     (You can make a one-time change to the default options of a type of light before you add the light, or you can adjust the options to change the way all subsequent lights you create look and work. )

   • Click to open the Light Editor and click any of the light icons. See Create and group lights in the Light Editor.
   • Click the light icon on the Rendering shelf.

Each type of light is represented by a different icon in the viewport. A light’s default options determine how the light affects the scene and whether or not it casts shadows, but you can (and typically will) change most of these options on a per-light basis by adjusting the light’s attributes (see Adjust light source attributes).

Like any other object in your scene, you can select a light and move, scale, or rotate it interactively with a manipulator or with numerical precision by changing the values in the Channel Box or Attribute Editor. To direct the light emitted from a light source and otherwise position features of lights (such as a camera’s pivot point), see Show, hide, or resize a light manipulator.

For a description of the light options, refer to the following:

• Directional light options
• Ambient Light options
• Area Light options
• Point Light options
• Spot Light options
• Volume Light attributes

Note: Avoid instancing lights. This is particularly important for shadow depth maps and light fog.

Copy the lights instead of instancing. For light fog, make sure that light fog is duplicated independently of the light because when you duplicate a light, its light fog is not duplicated with it.

Related topics

• Direct light sources
• Default lighting