2009

Samples group

U and V Adjust the quality of shadows cast by the area light. These values

specify how many samples to take within the light’s area. Higher values can

improve rendering quality at a cost of rendering time. For a spherical light, U

specifies the number of subdivisions along the radius, and V specifies the

number of angular subdivisions. For a cylindrical light, U specifies the number

of sampled subdivisions along the height, and V specifies the number of

angular subdivisions. Default=5 for both U and V.

mr Area Spotlight

Create panel > Lights > mr Area Spot button > Area Light Parameters rollout

When you render a scene using the

mental ray renderer on page 6230, an area

spotlight emits light from a rectangular or disc-shaped area, rather than from

a point source. With the default scanline renderer, the area spotlight behaves

like any other standard spotlight.

NOTE In 3ds Max, area spotlights are created and supported by a MAXScript

script. Only the mental ray renderer uses the parameters in the Area Light

Parameters rollout. See Enhancements to Standard Features on page 6241 for more

details.

TIP Area lights take longer to render than point lights. To create a quick test (or

draft) rendering, you can use the Area/Linear Lights as Point Lights toggle on the

Common Parameters rollout on page 6121 of the Render Setup dialog to speed up

your rendering.