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General Lighting Parameters 1331
Common Lighting Rollouts
G ener al Li ghti ng Par a meter s
Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > General
Parameters rollout
Create menu > Photometric Lights > Create a light. >
Modify panel > General Parameters rollout.
The General Parameters rollout is displayed for al l
types of ligh ts. These controls turn a light on and
off, and exclude or include objects in the scene.
On the Modif y p anel, the General Parameters
rollout also lets you control the light’s target object
and change the light from one type to another.
Shadow Types
The General Parameters rollout als o lets you turn
shadow-casting on or off for the light, and choose
which ty pe of shadow the light uses.
Thefollowingtabledescribestheadvantagesand
disadvantages of each shadow t ype:
Shadow Type Advantages Disadvantages
Advanced
Ray-Traced
Supports
transparency and
opacity mapping.
Uses less RAM
than standard
ray-traced
shadows.
Recommended for
complex s cenes
with many lights
or faces.
Slower than
shadow maps.
Does not support
soft shadows.
Processes at every
frame.
Shadow Type Advantages Disadvantages
Area Shadows
Supports
transparency and
opacity mapping.
Uses very little
RAM.
Recommended for
complex scenes
with m any lights
or faces.
Supports different
formats for area
shadows.
Slower than
shadow maps.
Processes at every
frame.
mental ray
Shadow Maps
Can be quicker
than ray-traced
shadows with
the mental ray
renderer.
Not as accurate
as ray-traced
shadows.
Raytrace
Shadows
Supports
transparency and
opacity mapping.
Processes only
once if there are no
animated objects.
Can be slower than
shadow maps.
Does not support
soft shadows.
Shadow Maps Produces soft
shadows.
Processes only
once if there are no
animated objects.
Fastest shadow
type.
Uses a lot of
RAM. Does not
support objects
with transparency
or opacity maps.
Procedures
To turn a light on and off:
• Turn the On toggle on or off.
Default=on.
Tip: To make a standard light flash on and off,
set its Multiplier parameter to 0 in repeated
keyframes, and assign a step tangent (page
2–305) to this parameter.
To have a light cast shadows:
• In t he General Parameters rollout > Shadows
group, make sure On is selected.