POINTLIGHT (Command)

Source location

Specifies a location in the drawing for the light.

Name

Specifies the name of the light. You can use uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) in the name. The maximum length is 256 characters.

Intensity/Intensity factor

Sets the intensity or brightness of the light. The range is 0.00 to the maximum value that is supported by your system.

Status

Turns the light on and off. If lighting is not enabled in the drawing, this setting has no effect

Photometry

(Available when the LIGHTINGUNITS system variable = 1 or 2)

Adjusts the luminous intensities of visible light sources.

Intensity

Specifies luminous intensity, 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 is the perceived power emitted in all directions. Luminance is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area.

• Intensity. Specifies the intensity value in candelas (Cd).
• Flux. Specifies the perceived power in a luminous flux value (Lm).
• Illuminance. Specifies the intensity of the light based on an illuminance value. (Lx|Fc). The illuminance value can be specified in either lux or foot-candles. Enter d (Distance) to specify a distance to use to calculate illuminance.

NoteCandela (symbol: cd) is the SI unit of luminous intensity, perceived power emitted by a light source in a particular direction (Cd/Sr). Lux (symbol: lx) is the SI unit of illuminance (Lm/m^2). Foot-candle (symbol: fc) is the American unit of illuminance (Lm/ft^2).

Color

• Color name. Specifies a color name.
• ?. Displays a list of color names. Enter a text string using wild card characters to display a partial listing of color names, or an asterisk (*) to display all the possible choices.
• Kelvin. Specifies a Kelvin temperature value.

Exit

Exits the command option.

Shadow

Makes the light cast shadows.

Off / On

Turns off and turns on 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 (64/128/256/512/1024/2048/4096).
• Softness. Specifies the softness to use to calculate the shadow map. Enter a value (1-10).

Soft Sampled

Displays realistic shadows with softer shadows (penumbra) based on extended light sources.

• Shape. Specifies a shape (Linear, Disk, Rect, Sphere, Cylinder) and dimensions of the shape.
• Samples. Specifies the sample size.
• Visible. Specifies whether the shape of the shadow should be visible (Yes or No).
• Exit. Exits the command option.

Attenuation

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.

Attenuation type

Specifies how the light is attenuated.

• 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

Turns on and turns off attenuation limits.

Attenuation start limit

Specifies the point where light starts as an offset from the center of the light. The default is 0.

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.

Exit

Exits the command.