Lights
The studio light, up to eight more lights of four kinds, moods to start from, gobos, and caustics through glass.
Open Studio Light in the left column. A new project starts with the studio light already on.
Across the top of the panel is a strip of tabs, one per light, the studio light first. Each tab wears the icon of its kind. One light's controls show at a time, underneath. The switch in the panel header turns the selected light on and off, and the eye beside it draws the outline of every light in the viewport, so you can find the one causing a problem.
The studio light
The main light of the scene. It casts shadows and it is the light caustics come from.
What it is
- Kind: Spot, a cone of light, or IES, the same spot shaped by a real lamp's profile. See IES lights.
- Colour.
Mood
Pick a mood to start from: Studio, Sunset, Dusk, Modern, Neon, Dramatic, Overhead, Rim, Stage, Lamp or Fill. A mood sets a bundle of values and gets out of the way, so everything stays editable afterwards. It is a starting place, not a mode.
Where it is
The ball shows the light hitting a sphere, so you see the result rather than two numbers. Drag around the ball to move the light, and scroll over it to bring it closer or push it away. The ring around it sets the temperature, from warm to cool.
The numbers
| Setting | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Brightness | How strong the light is |
| Focus (cone) | How wide the beam is |
| Softness | How soft the edge of the beam is |
| Distance | How far the light is from the middle of the scene |
| Surroundings | How much soft light fills the rest of the scene |
With the studio light off, a single Scene Light dial sets the soft fill light for the whole scene.
Gobo
The Gobo tile projects an image through the light, the way a theatre light throws a window frame or leaves onto a stage. Upload a picture: light passes through the bright parts and the dark parts cast shadow. A gobo takes the place of the light's profile while it is set, and it has its own remove button.
Caustics
Caustics are the bright patterns light makes after it passes through glass, the shimmer under a glass of water. Turn on the Caustics tile and the studio light bends through every glass object onto whatever is behind it. The pattern follows the shape of the glass, its refraction, its tint and its dispersion, and moves when the glass or the light moves.
| Setting | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Intensity | How bright the patterns are |
| Softness | How sharp or blurred they are |
| Aberration | Splits the light into rainbow edges |
| Artistry | From physically correct to stylised: a soft glow around the lines, streaks and deeper colour |
Each surface shows caustics through its own material: bright on matte, caught in the reflection on metal, absorbed by dark colours. Glass stops casting a solid shadow while caustics are on, because the light behind it is the caustic.
Moving the camera costs nothing. Caustics are worked out again only when the glass, the light, or what they land on changes.
Adding lights
Press + at the end of the tab strip to add a light. A scene can have up to eight added lights, each with its own kind, mood, colour and position. Remove the selected light with the button beside the +.
| Kind | What it is | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| Spot | A cone. The one that makes shadows. | Brightness, Cone, Softness, Distance, Shadow |
| Area | A soft panel, like a softbox | Brightness, Width, Height, Distance |
| IES | A spot shaped by a real fixture profile | Brightness, Spread, Distance, profile |
| Ambient | Fills everything evenly, with no direction | Brightness |
Added lights are placed with the same ball as the studio light, and have their own moods.
IES lights
An IES light is shaped by a fixture profile rather than a cone angle. That is the difference between a circle with a soft edge and a beam with a flat core and a hard cliff, the way real lamps throw light. Four profiles are included:
- Narrow spot: a tight beam that falls away fast.
- Fresnel: a long, even taper, like a stage lamp.
- Hard edge: flat in the middle, then stops.
- Lantern: throws wide, and upward too.
Good to know
- Lights save, sync to everyone in the project and undo like everything else.
- Light settings can differ per breakpoint.
- Metal and glass take most of their look from the environment, not from lights. If a shiny object looks dull, change the environment before adding more lights.