Light
The lights in your scene inform the lighting, and therefore the shading, of materials that utilize scene lights. Learn more about Simple Lighting and Standard PBR material. These lights can create specular highlights and optionally cast shadows.
In the Demo Effect sections, you will learn how to cast shadows and configure lights for objects on different render layers. Download the following file to get started:
Add a Light Object
You can add light object to the scene by clicking the Add button [+] > Scene and selecting one of the following light types in the Hierarchy panel:
- Directional Light
- Point Light
- Spot Light
Object Hierarchy
Starting in Effect House v2.0.0, the Directional Light, Point Light, and Spot Light objects, along with their corresponding objects, are automatically added to the General render group in the Hierarchy panel. Learn more about render groups.
To apply a light source to objects across different render groups, the objects must be configured to be in the same layer as the light source.
Types of Lights
Learn about the three different types of lights and their properties.
When configuring the Layers property of a light source, all objects configured in the same layer will be affected.
Directional Light
A Directional Light acts as a large, faraway light source, replicating sunlight. It casts an even, uniform light from a specific direction, which can be set by the Rotation property of the Transform component.
Directional Light Properties
Intensity: The brightness of the light source.
Color: The color of the light.
Cast Shadow: Determine whether or not this light casts shadows. Learn more about Shadows.
Selecting the Cast Shadow checkbox will expand more properties, as shown in the screenshot above. Learn more about the different Shadow properties.
Layers: Select the layer or layers you want to apply the light to.
A maximum of three Directional Lights can be added to the scene.
Spot Light
A Spot Light is a cone-shaped light that sends light from a single point in a specific direction, falling off as it gets farther from the light source. Think of a flashlight or a theater spotlight.
Spot Light Properties
Intensity: The brightness of the light source.
Color: The color of the light.
Attenuation Range: The range of the light cone which informs the fall off.
Inner Angle: The angle of the inner attenuation which informs the beginning of the light spot.
Outer Angle: The angle of the outer attenuation which informs how far out the edge of the spot light will extend towards.
Layers: Select the layer or layers you want to apply the light to.
A maximum of two Spot Lights can be added to the scene.
Point Light
A Point Light is a point in 3D space that sends light out equally in all directions.
Point Light Properties
Intensity: Determine how bright the light source is.
Color: The color of the light.
Attenuation Range: The range of the light sphere which informs the fall off.
Layers: Select the layer or layers you want to apply the light to.
A maximum of two Point Lights can be added to the scene.
Configure a Light’s Layer
All three light types — Directional, Spot, and Point— have the Layers property. The light will only be applied to objects on the selected layer or layers.
Multiple lights can be applied to objects on the same layer. This allows you to flexibly apply lighting to achieve your design goal.
Demo Effect: Lights and Layers
In this demo, you’ll learn how to set up lights for different objects on different render layers.
Download the following project file to get started:
Make sure your 3D objects are comprised of materials that can react to lights. For example, a Standard PBR material.
The render order is important as it ensures that the visual effects in your project are displayed correctly. Learn more about using multiple cameras.
Demo Effect: Illuminated Face Mask
Check out this tutorial to learn how you can use animated lights to illuminate a 3D face mask.
