Create a light optical effect

You can add an optical effect to any light.

Tip: The results of an optical effect (such as flame) applied to a light are not visible in the Scene View.

To see the results, IPR render the effect, then drag a marquee around the rendered object to watch how the effect changes as you adjust it.

Related topics

• Glows, halos, and lens flares

To create a light optical effect

1. Create a light for which you want to apply and position optical effects.
2. In the light’s Attribute Editor, map the Optical FX utility to one of the light’s attributes (for example, click the box beside Color then select Optical FX from the Maya > Glow in the Create Render Node window).
3. IPR render the scene to see the optical effect.
   

This short video illustrates the use of the IPR process to adjust the optical effect.

Re-position an optical light effect

You can move the glow or halo you have attached to a light or include more than one optical effect in the scene.

To re-position an Optical FX utility node

1. Create a Locator and place it anywhere in the scene (Create > Locator).
   
2. Shift-select the locator in the view, then select the light.
   

   You can now move the locator anywhere in the scene and the optical light effect moves with it.