2009

TIP To better simulate reflected light and variations in it due to the varying
reflectivity of objects in the scene, you can add more lights to a scene and set
them to exclude the objects you don’t want them to affect. You can also set up
lights to affect only the ambient component of surfaces. See
General Lighting
Parameters
on page 5076.
Color
You can set the color of 3ds Max lights. You can use the RGB values for color
temperatures as a guide for the principal lighting of a scene; see
Properties of
Light
on page 4978. Be aware, however, that we tend to perceive scenes as always
being lit by white light (this is a perceptual phenomenon known as color
constancy), so accurately reproducing the color of a light source can make the
rendered scene appear to be tinted oddly. Use the light source values as a
general guideline only.
Guidelines for Lighting
The guidelines for lighting used by photographers, filmmakers, and stage
designers can also help you set up the lighting for scenes in 3ds Max.
Your choice of lighting depends on whether your scene simulates natural or
artificial illumination. Naturally lit scenes, such as daylight or moonlight, get
their most important illumination from a single light source. Artificially lit
scenes, on the other hand, often have multiple light sources of similar
intensity.
NOTE If you use standard instead of photometric lights, both kinds of scenes
require multiple secondary light sources for effective illumination.
Whether a scene is indoors or outdoors can also affect your choice of material
colors. See
Designing Materials on page 5260.
4986 | Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras