8

Free Direct Light 1147
To change a viewpor t to a Light view:
1.
Right-click the viewport label.
The viewport right-click menu is displayed.
2. Choose Views.
Thenameofeachspotlightordirectionallight
is displayed in the Views list.
3. Choosethenameofthelightyouwant.
Theviewportnowshowsthelight’spointof
view. You can use the
LightViewportControls
(page 3–792)
to adjust the light.
The default keyboard shortcut for switching to
aLightviewportis$.
Inter face
Clickingthelinethatconnectsthelightandits
target selects both objects. However, region
selection doesn’t recognize t he link line.
When you rename a target directional light,
the target is automatically renamed to match.
For example, renaming
Light01 to Sol causes
Light01.Target to become Sol.Target .Thetarget’s
name must have the extension .
Targe t .Renaming
thetargetobjectdoesnotrenamethelightobject.
Fr e e D ir e ct L i g ht
Create panel > Lights > Standard > Free Direct button
Create menu > Standard Lights > Directional Light
Top: Perspective view of a free directional light
Bottom: Top view of the same light
Directional lights cast para l lel light r ays in a
single direction, as the sun does (for al l practical
purposes) at the surf ace of the earth. Directional
lights are primarily used to simulate sunlight. You
can adjust the color of the light and position and
rotate the lig ht in 3D space.
Unlike a targeted directional lig ht, a Free Direct
light has no target object. You can move and rotate
the light object to aim it in any direction.
A Free Direct lig ht is used when you select a
Standardsuninyour
Daylight system (page
1–394)
.
Because directional rays are parallel, directional
lights have a beam in the shape of a circular or
rectangular prism instead of a "cone."
Note: Direct lights are supported in a radiosity
solution (page 3–50)
only if they are pointed