ladiesmen opened this issue on Jun 25, 2009 ยท 21 posts
Katanas posted Sat, 27 June 2009 at 12:27 PM
Distant lights cannot be moved in or out of a scene, they can be rotated around a scene and will always point back to the centre.
You can rotate or position the distant lights in any of the three dimensions around the scene. If you wish to see the view of the distant lights, you can select them from the viewer as you would a camera view, move or position your lights source, then return to the perspective or default camera view. Makes for easier positioning of the lights.
For street lights I like to use the spotlights as they are directional and have a limited fall-off which makes the light source fade over distance. Distant lights do not do this, they will remain the same brightness.
To position the spotlight onto a streetlamp, move the light to the lamp, then size it down so it will be roughly the same size as the lamp, this will make positioning and rotation easier. Align the spotlight so it is where you want it, then by selecting the spotlight view, you will be able to see if it is facing correctly as to how you want it.
Attaching the spotlight is easy, from the scene option bar you drag the spotlight onto the lamp object, this will make them work as one. If you move or rotate the lamp object, the light will follow.
One important rule to remember.... distant lights render much faster than spotlights. So where possible, try and use distant lights even with shadows. And if you must, use the spotlights to a minimum. I have been able to produce some nice renders with just one spotlight and up to eight distant lights.
If I can I will do with as few lights as possible, just to create the right effect. Sometimes one or two lights sources is more than enough. It all come down to using the glossiness and material menus carefully, as these will make your objects/skins/props look more appealing and with little lights. I will upload another screen-shot (a little later) with some tips on using the material menu bar and show some effects produced from them.
I hope this was helpful in explaining some tips to the use of distant lights.