The lessons in this tutorial introduce you to lighting in Autodesk VIZ. Lights are a fundamental part of Autodesk VIZ. They provide realism by casting shadows and indirect light, and help to illuminate or draw attention to different parts of your design.

In Autodesk VIZ, there are two types of lights: standard and photometric. Standard lights are useful for quick renderings, where accuracy and realism are not required. Photometric lights simulate real-world lights, and when used in conjunction with radiosity (scanline rendering) or global illumination (mental ray rendering), they provide a much more accurate way to light your scene.

A disadvantage of photometric lights is that they require a much greater degree of precision and completeness in your models: your rooms must have all four walls and a ceiling, or they will not be illuminated correctly. Scenes with photometric lights and radiosity can also take longer to render than scenes with standard lights.

The lessons in this tutorial will introduce you to the basics of lighting with standard and photometric lights. For global illumination and other features of mental ray rendering, see mental ray: Introduction to Materials, Shaders and Global Illumination.