Visible Lights
Visible Lights make your light source visible in the scene, like the ball of light that appears around a lamppost on a foggy night.
There are two types of Visible Lights:
When you create a Surface Visible Light, the light from the object appears as a semi-transparent shape extending from the light source.
Surface Visible Lights have the same attributes as non-visible lights, so you can use the Edge Softness control to make the shape that extends from the light fuzzier at the edges, to give it a more realistic feel, or the Falloff options to adjust the range of the light.
The properties within the light are controlled by the default Surface Material applied to the light object. The material can be edited in the Materials Lab. By changing the material, you can change the color of the light, the intensity of the light's color, and many other properties.
When you create a Volume Visible Light source, a preset Light-sensitive Volume Material is applied to the light source. This makes the light coming from the light source appear visible in the scene, so in the case of a spotlight, the light would appear as a cone. The light also becomes volumetric and reacts to other lights around it. Objects within the cone interact with the light. They can block it, reflect it, etc. Any textures applied to the light also have volume.
The material applied to the object is pre-defined for you, but you can edit its properties in the Materials Lab. By editing the material you can change the light's intensity, color, and transparency.
When you create a Volume Visible Light source, the light emanating from the light source is visible in the scene. This light has volume and interacts with the objects inside it.
The real difference between the two types of lights becomes apparent when you apply a gel to the light. In Surface Visible Lights, the gel texture is wrapped around the light cone like a skin. Making it semi-transparent makes it look more real, but it doesn't make it interact fully with objects inside the cone.
On the other hand, Volume Visible Lights create a real illuminated volume. The texture gel exists everywhere inside the cone, and the objects within the cone are directly affected by the texture. The light also interacts with the surrounding light sources.
In this example, the same objects were first illuminated by a surface visible light (top) and then a volume visible light (bottom).
It's a good idea to choose to apply the Infinite Light option to both types of visible lights, as this option extends the light's range and gives the light a more realistic look.
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