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Visualization > Lights

Lights


There are three kinds of lights in AXEL: spot lights, point lights, and directional lights.

Spot Light

A spot light funnels the light from a source through an adjustable opening, allowing you to focus the lighting within a beam.

By adjusting or animating a light's position and orientation, you can create different lighting effects. You can also use a Pose constraint to attach the light to an object or the cursor, or a Direction constraint to point the light at an object or the cursor.


Point Light

A point light is similar to a light bulb or candle, sending light rays in all directions. The rays all emanate from a single point.

The light's position determines the source and the angle at which the light rays hit an object. Rotation and scaling do not affect the results of a point light.


Directional Light

A directional light is like sunlight, where all light rays seem to come from an infinitely distant source (the sun). Parallel light rays hit the entire World; all objects are lit with equal intensity from the same angle, determined by the orientation of the directional light.

Only the rotation of the light affects the result. A directional light pointing downwards (Rotation X= -90) result in a midday-sun result, while Rotation X= -30 simulates late afternoon light.



See also:

Pose constraint

Direction constraint

Animating parameters

Materials

Textures

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