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Working with Lights

Find out how to create and edit lights, as well as illuminate objects. Also, learn about cloning and mirroring lights and how you can use this in VRED.

learnMore icon For reference on the Light Editor and lights, see the following:

  • Lights
  • Light Editor
  • Lens Flares and Elements
  • Bake Light and Shadows Module
  • Create Light Sources from HDR Module

How to Create a Light

Once you know the type of light you want to create, follow the instructions below to create one. To learn about the different lights in VRED, see About Lights.

  1. Do any of the following:

    • In the main Menu Bar, select Scene > Create Light.
    • In the Light Editor, either select Create or click Create New Light icon from the QuickActions Bar.
  2. Select the type of light you want to create:

    • Delta and area lights, which include directional, point, spot, spherical, disk, or rectangular lights.
    • IES Profiles and Ray Files (VRED Professional only).

    The newly created light appears in the Light Editor and Scenegraph tree views.

How to Duplicate a Selected Light

In the Light Editor, either select Edit > Duplicate or click Duplicate icon from the QuickActions Bar. This creates a duplicate of the selected light and places it below the original in the Scenegraph and Light Editor tree views.

How to Delete a Selected Light

Once the light to be deleted is selected, do any of the following:

  • In the Light Editor, either select Edit > Delete or click Delete icon from the QuickActions Bar.
  • Press the Delete key.

This deletes the selected light.

What's the Difference Between Toggling and Switching Lights On and Off

How to Toggle a Light On or Off

Once the light to be toggled on or off is selected, in the Light Editor, either select Edit > Toggle On/Off or click Toggle On/Off icon from the QuickActions Bar. This turns the light cast by the selected light on or off.

How to Switch a Light On or Off

Once the light to be switched on or off is selected, in the Light Editor, select Edit > Switch On or Switch Off.

How to Edit a Light

To edit lights, use the Light Editor. To learn about the different parameters, see Light Editor.

  1. In the Menu Bar, click Scene > Light Editor.
  2. On the left side of the Light Editor, select a light to edit.
  3. In the Attibutes, make changes to the light.

How to Rename Multiple Nodes

You can rename multiple light nodes at once, using multi-selection in the Light Editor. Once the nodes are selected, use either Ctrl + R or Edit > Rename and edit the name to see the name changed across all selected nodes.

How to Clone and Mirror Lights

Some things you should know about clones and mirrored clones are:

  • In the Light Editor, both cloned and mirrored cloned lights are only listed once and their names are underlined. In the Scenegraph, the original and clone will be listed.

    Cloned light in the Light Editor Cloned lights in the Scenegraph
    Cloned light in the Light Editor Cloned lights in the Scenegraph
  • A clone or mirrored clone's tooltip shows the number of instances that exist in the Scenegraph.

  • In the Light Editor, double-click a cloned or mirrored cloned light to select all instances in the Scenegraph.

Cloning and Mirroring Lights

  1. In the Scenegraph, select the light to be cloned or mirrored and cloned.

  2. Do any of the following:

    • Right-click and select Edit > Clone > Clone or Clone Mirror X, Y, or Z.
    • In the Edit menu, select Clone > Clone or Clone Mirror X, Y, or Z.
    • Use the shortcut (Ctrl + Shift + D) (Clone only).

    The clone appears at the bottom of the Scenegraph tree view. It does not appear in the Light Editor tree.

How to Connect Area Lights to HDRLS

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Area Lights from HDR Light Studio Video Captions: In VRED 2020.1, we have implemented the support of area lights from HDR Light Studio. When creating a light with HDR Light Studio and setting it as an area light, VRED will automatically creates an area light node under the environment group, using the same textures as in HDR Light Studio. All values will be taken over from HDR Light Studio, instantly, so you can directly see the changes in the VRED scene, like changing the brightness or moving the light or changing its size. This gives the user more flexibility and a seamless workflow for creating new environments, using HDR Light Studio and VRED.

See more

Connect your VRED environment to HDRLS (HDR Light Studio). For information on rendering, see the note in Rectangular Lights.

Note:

The Tungsten version or higher of HDR Light Studio must be installed to do this. It can be downloaded from here.

  1. In the Material Editor, select an environment material, then in the HDR Light Studio attributes section, click Edit & Load Settings.

    Edit & Load Settings

  2. Enable the Area Light option to create a light node in HDR Light Studio, that will promote this light to an area light. VRED automatically creates a rectangular area light, then receives a texture, transformation, enabled state, and primary visibility for the area light.

  3. In the Scenegraph, the light becomes part of the Environment node of the environment material connected to HDRLS. All area lights belonging to this environment are added to a group (both in Scenegraph and Light Editor).

  4. When switching the HDRLS Area Light option on/off, the light node is re-created in VRED.

    A Smart Dolly of 1000.0 (in HDR Light Studio) positions the area light 1000 units (default: mm in VRED) from the world center or last light paint point. If your object is bigger than 1000 mm (1 m), the light might be initially inside the object. Increase Smart Dolly or use light paint to move it out.

    Try setting the HDR Light Studio Smart Dolly Scalar preferences to 10. This sets the default distance of an area light of the world center or light paint position to 10.000 units in VRED. Use the Smart Dolly slider to bring the light closer and inside the dome. It helps to make the dome geometry larger, so the area light fits inside the dome.

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