5.0

Lights and light studios can be taken directly from the archives and applied to the scene by simply
dropping them into the palette. These can then be repositioned as you wish.
The Recommended archive contains five lights (Ambient, Distant, Eye, Point and Spot), a Standard
Light Studio, an Environment Light Studio, an Environment folder containing two Environment lights
utilising HDRI-based light sources (see Section 26.6.4, “ Image-based Lighting ” for more information),
and an Exterior folder, that contains three light studios for different city locations around the World (Clear
Sky, Overcast Sky and Sun Study).
If you are creating an external render of a building, for example, then you may find that one of the
Environment light studios can give a very realistic effect, using Image-based lighting to light the scene.
Alternatively, Exterior light studios may give you the effect you require. These do use physically accurate
lights however, which generally take longer to render the scene.
Alternatively, you may prefer to use the Standard Light Studio as a starting point and build up your
lighting from there, adding combinations of the basic recommended lights to create the desired effect..
The Standard archive contains a Default Eye Light studio (which is effectively rendering with a head
light); a folder of Exterior light studios which predominantly consist of studios that use a number of lights
to replicate the effect of a Sky light. Not using physically accurate lights means you don't have to turn on
Auto Exposure (see Section 29.4, “ Auto Exposure ”) which can negatively impact on the basic
recommended light settings; a folder of Interior light studios for use in internal scenes; a folder of Object
light studios which are best suited to lighting smaller models, such as a vehicle or piece of machinery, for
example; and a folder of Projector light studios, which can be used to project an image onto an object in
the scene.
The Templates archive contains all of the basic light shaders that are available. These can then be
edited (as can all lights) to create the exact lighting you require (see Section 26.4, “ Editing Lights ” for
more information on editing lights).
Adding lights to the scene
1. From one of the archives in the left hand pane of the Lighting tab, choose the light you wish to add
to the scene.
2. Drag the light and drop it into the palette (right hand pane of the Lighting tab). This will automatically
be added to the scene. To reposition the light within the scene, see Positioning lights in the scene.
Note
If you drag a light studio into the palette, this will replace any existing lights with those that make
up the light studio.
As a general guide, the more lights there are in a scene, the longer it will take to render it
photorealistically. For external rendered scenes, you may consider using the Standard Light
Studio, (from the Recommended archive) as a starting point, then strategically add a couple of
Point and Spot lights around the scene, (Point lights are good to light up a dark area of the
scene, whilst Spot lights can add an element of drama and enhance realism).
Positioning lights in the scene
Presenter Lighting
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