Photometric lights use photometric (light energy) values that enable you to more accurately define lights as they would be in the real world. You can create lights with various distribution and color characteristics, or import specific photometric files available from lighting manufacturers.
Note: Photometric lights always attenuate using an inverse-square falloff, and rely on your scene using realistic units.
Autodesk VIZ includes the following types of photometric light objects:
Target Point Light (Photometric)
Free Point Light (Photometric)
Target Linear Light (Photometric)
Free Linear Light (Photometric)
Target Area Light (Photometric)
Note: The remainder of this topic discusses photometric lights with the exception of mr Sky and mr Sun. For information about these light types, see mental ray Sun & Sky.
Each type of photometric light supports two or three different light distribution options.
The point light sources (target and free) support these distributions:
The linear and area light sources (target and free) support these distributions:
Most of the photometric light parameters are common to all photometric light types, and are described in the following topics:
Intensity/Color/Distribution Rollout
Photometric Linear and Area Lights have rollouts specific to them:
Linear Light Parameters Rollout
The remaining photometric light parameters are described in the following topics:
Name and Color Rollout (Lights)
Other photometric-specific topics include:
Example of Photometric Data File
Common Lamp Values for Photometric Lights
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A scene's lighting can also be affected by the Ambient Light setting on the Environment panel.
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You can use the Place Highlight command to change a light's position.
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You can use Create menu > Photometric Lights > Presets to create lights preset to common lamp types.
