Create lightning

The Lightning clip effect creates a bolt of lightning between two or more objects or locators. The lightning bolt is made up of soft body curves with extruded surfaces, which are rendered. The motion of the lightning is derived from an expression on the particles that make up the soft body curve.

When you create lightning, you set the Lightning Creation Controls in the Create Lightning Effect Options window to determine certain aspects of the lightning. You cannot change these once the lightning is created. If you want to change them, you must delete the lightning and recreate it.

You can also set the Lightning Attributes in the options window. These attributes can be edited after you create the lightning.

To create lightning

1. Add the objects to the scene that you want the lightning to extend between.
2. Select the objects you want the lightning to extend between.

   By default, lightning will be created between all the selected objects. If you want to change the Lightning Creation Controls, see Set lightning creation controls. The order of selection determines the direction of the lightning, depending on the Creation Option you selected.

3. Select Effects > Lightning.

   A lightning node is created between each selected object.

   • To change the look of the lightning, see Edit lightning attributes.
   • To adjust the lightning position, see Position lightning.
4. Press the play button to see the lightning in motion.

Set lightning creation controls

The Lightning Creation Controls determine certain aspects of the lightning. You set these before you create the lightning.

To set the lightning creation controls

1. Select Effects > Lightning > .

   The Create Lightning Effect Options window is displayed.

2. Set the following attributes:

• Lightning Options

Edit lightning attributes

After you create the lightning, you can adjust the appearance of the lightning by editing the lightning attributes. You can do this using the Channel Box or the Attribute Editor.

To edit lightning attributes

1. Select the lightning you want to edit.
   Tip:

   You can select lightning in the Outliner or in the scene view. To select it in the scene view, you must pick the selection handle, which is located under the light icon in the middle of the lightning.

   
2. Do one of the following:
   • In the Channel Box, enter values for the following attributes.
   • Display the Attribute Editor and click Extra Attributes to display the lightning attributes.
     Note:

     In the Attribute editor, you’ll notice ten uneditable attributes under Extra Attributes. These display information about the lightning, such as the objects it extends between. You can’t edit these; however, you can click the > button to display the attributes for the nodes.

     Thickness

     The Thickness attribute determines how fat the lightning is. It specifies the radius of the circle that gets extruded along the curve that makes up the lightning.

     

     Max Spread

     Controls the amount of jitter in the lightning. The greater the value, the more the lightning jitters.

     

     Lightning Start

     When you create lightning, the first object you select is the start object and the second object you select is the end object. The Lightning Start attribute determines the point between the start and end objects where the lightning starts.

     If you set Lightning Start to 0, the lightning starts at the start object (the first object you selected when you created the lightning). If you set Lightning Start to 0.5, the lightning starts halfway between the start object and the end object. If you Lightning Start to 1, the lightning starts at the end object.

     

     Lightning End

     The Lightning End attribute determines the point between the start and end objects where the lightning ends (see Lightning Start above).

     If you set Lightning End to 1, the lightning ends at the end object. If you set Lightning End to 0.5, the lightning ends halfway between the start object and the end object. If you set Lightning End to 0, the lightning ends at the start object.

     Tip:

     You can animate the Lightning Start and Lightning End values to make lightning strike an object, or move from one object to another.

     Glow Intensity

     Specifies the brightness of the lightning when rendered.

     

     Light Intensity

     When you create lightning, a light at the center of the lightning is also created, which casts light on surrounding objects. The default intensity of the light is based on the Glow Intensity attribute, and the difference between the Lightning Start and the Lightning End attributes. The Light Intensity attribute multiplies this default intensity. Increase the value of Light Intensity to increase the lighting of the surrounding objects.

     

     Color R/G/B

     Sets the RGB values for the lightning. Adjust the Color RGB attributes to adjust the color of the lightning. The default is 0.5, 1, 1.

     Tip:

     You see the color of the lightning in the RenderView window. If you want to quickly preview the color without using the RenderView window, turn on Lighting > Use All Lights to see the color of the lightning reflected on surrounding surfaces.

Position lightning

You can adjust the direction the lightning moves away from the start object or toward the end object using the tangent manipulators.

To position the lightning

1. Pick the tangent manipulator for the end of the lightning you want to move.
2. Using the Move tool, drag the tangent manipulator to position the lightning.
   

Adjust the lightning shader

In the lightning shader, Color, Incandescence, and Glow Intensity are set by the lightning attributes and cannot be changed in the shader. You can adjust the other shader attributes.