The right lighting can make or break your render.  To give you a helping hand, here’s a quick overview of the different types of artificial lights in Shaderlight and the best way to use them.

Point Lights…

Point Lights give the most equal and ‘all round’ lighting. The yellow dot in the centre of the light indicates that the light is emitted in all directions.

Point Lights work well in lamps and light fittings where you would normally have a light bulb. You can use a series of Point Lights to create tube and strip lighting. The colour and light intensity can be changed in the Light Editor when you select your light.

Spot Lights…

Spot Lights give a directional light in the area you point them. The cone angle can be controlled to widen/lessen the angle of light.

Shaderlight Spot Lights are generally used to simulate real Spot Lights. As well as changing the cone angle you can change the colour and intensity in the Light Editor.

IES Lights…

IES Web Profile Lights are supplied by the light manufacturer; they provide a realistic profile of the way the light will be emitted from the physical light. We have teamed up with Visa Lighting and have made some of their 3D light models with IES files for you to download from the 3D Warehouse.

You can also change the Dimmer value and Colour of the IES Lights in the Light Editor.

A great tool to view IES files is the IES Viewer which is free to download. You can find out more here

Area Lights…

Area Lights are rectangular panels which emit smooth light from the whole panel and produce soft shadows. The larger the light, the softer the shadow. They are a good way to add subtle lighting to your Interior and brighten up those areas which need a little more light.

We hope you’ve found this overview useful – check out our YouTube channel for more information on how to light up your renders.