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Create > Lights > Area Light |
Adds an area light to your scene.
In Maya, area lights are two-dimensional rectangular light sources. Use area lights to simulate the rectangular reflections of windows on surfaces. An area light is initially two units long and one unit wide. Use Maya’s transformation tools to resize and place area lights in the scene.
Compared to other light sources, area lights can take longer to render, but they can produce higher quality light and shadows. Area lights are particularly good for high-quality still images, but less advantageous for longer animations where rendering speed is crucial.
Area lights are physically based—there is no need for a decay option. The angles formed with the area light and the point that is shaded determine the illumination. As the point moves further away from the area light, the angle decreases and illumination decreases, much like decay.
Tip
Beginning Maya 8, you can turn a Maya area light into a mental ray area light. See Create a mental ray area light.
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Related topics
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Create > Lights > Area lights
Create > Lights > Area light >
Intensity
See Intensity.
Color
See Color.
Decay rate
See Decay Rate.
Cast Shadows
See Cast Shadows.
Shadow color
See Shadow Color.
Interactive Placement
Turn this option on so that you are automatically looking through the area light upon its creation.