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Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > General Parameters rollout
The General Parameters rollout is displayed for all types of lights. These controls turn a light on and off, and exclude or include objects in the scene.
On the Modify panel, the General Parameters rollout also lets you control the light’s target object and change the light from one type to another.
The General Parameters rollout also lets you turn shadow-casting on or off for the light, and choose which type of shadow the light uses.
The following table describes the advantages and disadvantages of each shadow type:
To have a light cast shadows:
In the General Parameters rollout > Shadows group, make sure On is checked.
The light will now cast shadows when you render the scene.
Note: With Overshoot turned on, spotlights cast light in all directions but cast shadows only within the falloff cone; directional lights cast light throughout the scene, but cast shadows only within the falloff area.
Note: With Overshoot turned on, standard spotlights cast light in all directions but cast shadows only within the falloff cone; standard directional lights cast light throughout the scene, but cast shadows only within the falloff area.
Left: A spotlight's projection cone truncates shadows.
Right: An omni light casts complete shadows.
To have a light use the global settings for shadows:
On the General Parameters rollout, turn on Use Global Settings.
When Use Global Settings is on, the other shadow controls are set to the values used by all other shadow-casting lights in the scene that have Use Global Settings set.
Changing the affected parameters for one light with Use Global Settings set, changes them for all lights with Use Global Settings set.
To set a light's shadow parameters individually:
On the General Parameters rollout, turn off Use Global Settings.
The settings revert to the individual settings for the light.
By default, Shadow Map is the active shadow type. In the Shadow Map Params rollout, the default settings are:Map Bias=1 Size=512 Sample Range=4.0 Absolute Map Bias=Off
Scene with shadow-mapped shadows
Shadows rendered using default parameter settings
Note: When you render a scene, you can turn rendering of shadows on or off.
To cast area shadows:
On the General Parameters rollout, choose Area Shadows from the drop-down list.
Use controls on the Area Shadows rollout to adjust the shadow properties.
To cast advanced ray-traced shadows:
Advanced ray-traced shadows are similar to ray-traced shadows, however they provide control over antialiasing, letting you fine-tune how shadows are generated.
On the General Parameters rollout, choose Advanced Ray-traced Shadows from the drop-down list.
Use controls on the Advanced Ray-traced Params rollout to adjust the shadow properties.
To cast shadow-mapped shadows:
On the General Parameters rollout, choose Shadow Maps from the drop-down list.
Go to the Shadow Map Params rollout.
To cast ray-traced shadows:
Ray-traced shadows are generated by tracing the path of rays sampled from a light source. Ray-traced shadows are more accurate than shadow-mapped shadows.
On the General Parameters rollout, choose Ray-Traced Shadows from the drop-down list.
Use controls on the Ray Traced Shadow Params rollout to adjust the shadow offset, if necessary.
To keep an object from casting shadows:
Select the object.
Right-click the object to display the quad menu and choose Properties from the lower-right (Transform) quadrant.
The Object Properties dialog is displayed.
Turn off Cast Shadows, and then click OK.
Now when you render the scene, the object casts no shadows.
To make an object not receive shadows:
Select the object.
Right-click the object to display the quad menu and choose Properties from the lower-right (Transform) quadrant.
The Object Properties dialog is displayed.
Turn off Receive Shadows, and then click OK.
Now when you render the scene, the object receives no shadows.
Note: You can also prevent objects from casting shadows by excluding them from a light.
On—(Both Create panel and Modify panel) Turns the light on and off. When On is on, shading and rendering use the light to illuminate the scene. When On is off, the light is not used in shading or rendering. Default=on.
In viewports, the interactive renderer shows the effect of turning lights on or off.
Light Type List—Changes the type of the light. If you have selected a standard light type, the light can be changed to an omni, spot, or directional light. If you have selected a photometric light type, you can change the light to a point, linear, or area light.
This parameter is available only in the Modify panel.
Targeted—When on, the light is targeted. The distance between the light and its target is displayed to the right of the check box. For a free light, you can set this value. For target lights, you can change it by turning off the check box, or by moving the light or the light's target object.
On—Determines whether the current light casts shadows or not. Default=on.
Shadow Method drop-down list—Determines whether the renderer uses shadow maps, ray-traced shadows, advanced ray-traced shadows, or area shadows to generate shadows for this light.
Each shadow type has a rollout with its associated controls.
Use Global Settings—Turn on to use global settings for shadows cast by this light. Turn off to enable individual control of the shadows. If you choose not to use the global settings, you must choose which method the renderer will use to generate shadows for this particular light.
When Use Global Settings is on, the shadow parameters switch over to show you what the global settings are. This data is shared by every other light of this class. When Use Global Settings is off, the shadow parameters are specific to that particular light.
Excludes selected objects from the effects of the light. Click this button to display the Exclude/Include dialog.
Excluded objects still appear lit in shaded viewports. Exclusion takes effect only when you render the scene.
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