Light Properties Dialog

To access this dialog:

In the Object Type Properties dialog, Lights pane, double-click <Add new light>.

The Light Properties dialog is used to set light type, attenuation and umbra parameters, position and orientation settings, for an object type. .

Lights are added to the Object Type and not individual Objects. This means that each object type can only have one lighting configuration which is then applied to all those objects of that type.

Field Details:

Type: light type options:

Directional: select this option to set a directional light type
Point: select this option to set a light which emanates from a single point in all directions
Spot: select this option to set a light which emanates from a single point in a specified direction
Color: select a light color from the drop-down.

Parameters:

These parameters are only available for certain Type options.

Attenuation: the suggested range of Attenuation values is 0.1 (weak - torch) to 0.01 (bright - headlight) to 0.001 (intense - searchlight).
Umbra: change the central cone of maximum brightness (degrees).

Position: define the X, Y and Z position for the light source in object coordinates.

These position parameters are only available for certain Type options.

Orientation: light orientation parameters:

These orientation parameters are only available for certain Type options. Rotations as follows:

Yaw: rotate the light source direction about the object Z (vertical) axis.
Pitch: rotate the light source direction about the object Y (transverse) axis.
Roll: rotate the light source direction about the object X (central) axis.

Lights and Objects

Choose this...	...to do this
Directional	A Directional light source will illuminate all surfaces and all objects equally and is not affected by the position of the object the light source is attached to. The direction of the light is specified relative to the object axes, and hence, is affected by the orientation of the object in the world.
Point	To create the effect of a light bulb which illuminates in all directions. A Point light source provides general localized lighting - the light intensity reduces as you move away from the light.
Spot	To create the effect of a searchlight, spotlight, headlight or a torch. A Spot light provides directional, localized lighting.

Only a hardware-specific amount of lights are available at any one time. This OpenGL-imposed limit can be checked for the current implementation (graphics card) by choosing the GL Info button from the InTouch About box, and is usually around 8 lights. Although you can specify as many lights as you want, only the the first active lights up to the limit will have an effect. When a light is deactivated (by hiding or deleting its associated VR Object), the OpenGL light resource will be freed up for any outstanding active lights to use.

Every 3D scene will always contain at least one light representing the global lighting.

	Related Topics
	Adding lights to stationary and mobile objects