What's New in Director 8.5 > Working with Lights and Cameras > Working with lights and cameras overview > Light commands

 

Light commands

Use these commands to work with lights:

Command

Description

Returns

addChild(aNode, preserveWorld)

Adds the node aNode to this light's list of children. An equivalent operation is to set aNode.parent = this light.

The preserveWorld argument is optional. It can have two values: #preserveWorld or #preserveParent. If the value is #preserveWorld, the world transform of the child being added remains intact. If #preserveParent, the child's transform is interpreted as remaining parent-relative.

Nothing

child[index]

Returns the child at the specified position in the index.

Lingo light object

child(name)

Returns a reference to the named child.

Lingo light object

clone(name)

Clones a light named name, adds it to light's parent's child list, and adds it to the world.

All children of the light are automatically cloned.This can be avoided by removing the children, performing the cloning operation, and then adding the children back.

If the name is omitted or is "", the clone isn't added to the light palette, has no parent, and has no children. This option lets you quickly create temporary light instances.

Lingo light object

cloneDeep(name)

Clones both the light and all resources used by the light's children.

Lingo light object

addtoWorld()

Adds light to currently active 3D world, setting its parent as "world".Equivalent to: light.parent = member ("scene").light("world").

All newly created lights are added to the world by default, without it being necessary to use this command.

Nothing

removeFrom World()

For lights whose parent hierarchy terminates in the world, this sets their parent to void and removes them from the world. Otherwise it does nothing.

Nothing

isInWorld()

For lights whose parent hierarchy terminates in the world, the value is TRUE (1).

TRUE (1) or FALSE (0)

registerScript(eventName, handlerName, scriptInstance)

Registers a handler named handlerName that is called in the instance scriptInstance when the event eventName occurs.

If scriptInstance is 0, a movie script handler called eventName is called.

The user defines what eventName is.

TRUE (1) or FALSE (0), with TRUE (1) indicating that the event happened and FALSE (0) that it did not

translate(xIncrement,yIncrement,zIncrement,relativeTo)

Moves the light forward by xIncrement along the X axis, yIncrement along the Y axis, and zIncrement along the Z axis.

The relativeTo parameter is optional. It determines how arguments are interpreted. The possible values are as follows:

#self: the default. Increments are applied relative to the light's local coordinate system.

#parent: increments are relative to the light's parent's coordinate system.

#world: increments are relative to the world's coordinate system. Equivalent to #parent if the parent is the world.

node (model, light, camera, or group): increments are relative to the argument's coordinate system.

Nothing

translate(directionVector, relativeTo)

Moves the light directionVector.length() in the direction of the vector directionVector. The relativeTo argument is optional and defaults to #self.

Nothing

translate(x,y,z,relativeTo)

Moves the light distance x along the X axis, distance y along the Y axis, and distance z along the Z axis. The relativeTo argument is optional and defaults to #self.

This command can also be written astranslate (vector(x,y,z) relativeTo)

Nothing

rotate(x,y,z, relativeTo)

Rotates the light by x degrees around the X axis, y degrees around the Y axis, and z degrees around the Z axis.

The relativeTo argument is optional and defaults to #self. If included, it defines the coordinate space of the axes.

This command can also be written asrotate (vector(x,y,z) relativeTo)

Nothing

rotate (position, axis, angle, relativeTo)

Rotates the light around the axis vector in the specified position the specified number of degrees. The relativeTo argument is optional and defaults to #self.

Nothing

pointAt(worldPosition, worldUp)

Rotates the light until it points at the world-relative position worldPosition. The optional worldUp argument indicates the position of the light's Up axis.

Both the object-relative axes are defined by the pointAtOrientation property. Default values are an object-relative forward direction of vector (0,0,-1) and an object-relative up direction of vector (0,1,0).

Nothing

getWorldTransform()

Calculates and returns a transform that converts object-relative positions for this light into world-relative positions.

A transform object