2011

Table Of Contents
way to assign a shape to the light. The shape affects the rendering and shadows
in the same way that a panel light casts different light than a tube light in the
real world.
The Shape Property
The Shape property is available in the Properties Inspector. Under
ShadowDetail, there is a Type property. Whether the Shape property is
displayed depends on the Type property that is selected.
The following types are available: Soft (shadow) map, Sharp (default), Soft
(sampled). By selecting the Soft (sampled) option, the Shape property becomes
available.
The available shapes depend on the type of light. You can select the Type
property for the light distribution under the General panel in the Lighting
category. If Spotlight and Soft (sampled) are selected, then the Shape types
available are Rectangular and Disk. If Point and Soft (sampled) are selected,
then the following shapes are available: Linear, Rectangular, Disk, Cylinder,
and Sphere. If Web and Soft (sampled) are selected, then the following shapes
are available: Linear, Rectangular, Disk, Cylinder, and Sphere. You can use the
samples property on the area light to control the trade-off between rendering
time and shadow accuracy.
The Visible in Render option is also displayed under ShadowDetail and controls
the visibility of the shape when the scene is rendered.
Adjust and Manipulate Lights
You can add point lights, spotlights, and distant lights and set the location
and properties of each.
Control the Display of Lights
The display of lights can be turned on and off in the drawing.
A light glyph is a graphic representation of a light. Point lights and spotlights
can be placed in a drawing with a light glyph. Distant lights, such as sunlight,
are not represented with a light glyph.
The display of lights can be controlled several ways. On the Command Line,
the LIGHTGLYPHDISPLAY system variable controls the display of light glyphs
in the drawing.
978 | Chapter 36 Add Lighting to Your Model