8
Spotlight Parameters 1183
A cloud casts a colore d shadow on the city.
Spotlight Parameters
Create a sta ndard Target S potlight or Free Spotlight, or a
photometric light with Spotlight distribution. > Spotlight
Parameters rollout
The Spotlight Parameters rollout appears when
you create or select a
Target Spot (page 2–1143)
or
Free Spot (page 2–1144)
,oraphotometriclight
with
spotlight distr ibution (page 2–1168)
.
Pr ocedur es
To see the spotl ight cone in viewports:
Theconeisalwaysvisiblewhilethelightisselected.
Thissettingkeepstheconevisiblewhenthelight
is unselected.
1. Select the spotlig ht.
2. In the Spotlight P arameters rollout > Light
Cone group, turn on Show Cone.
3. Select another object, deselecting the light.
A wireframe outline of the light’s cone appears.
The hotspot region is outlined in light blue, and
the falloff region is outlined in dark gray.
Note: Theconeisalwaysvisiblewhilethelight
is selected.
Tip: The hotspot and falloff borders are not
visible in shaded viewpor ts. Use controls in the
Light Cone group to adjust hotspot and falloff
in the vie wport. Render the scene to see the full
effect of the light’s border.
Spotlight cone displayed in a viewport
To a djus t the hots pot and fa llof f, do one of the
following:
• Use the Hotspot and Falloff spinners to increase
or decrease the size of the hotspot and falloff
regions. For spotlights, Hotspot and Falloff are
expressed i n degrees.
• Use manipulators to adjust hotspot and falloff
bydragginginaviewport,asdescribedinthe
procedure that follows.
By default, falloff value is always constrained to
be at least two degrees or two units g reater than
the hotspot value. The size of this constraint is a
preference that you can change in the
Rendering
panel (p age 3–863)
of the Preferences dialog. The
falloff value can range from 0 to 10,000 units.
When the hotspot and falloff values are close in
value, the light casts a hard-edged beam.
To use manipulators to control hotspot and falloff:
1.
Select the spotlight.
Tip: When you select multiple spotlights, all
their manipulators are accessible.