Lights

Place a light in the room and it lights the model: a bare bulb, a spot with its cone, or a panel on the ceiling. Set its colour, brightness and range, soften the edge of a spot, throw shadows, then render the room as a photo.

Light a room

Every property, and what it does

Select a light and these are its rows. A band shows when it applies, so a spot has its cone and an area light its panel.

The three lights

Each is its own tool, and each has a command.

Field	What it does	Values
Point light	Light in every direction from a point, like a bare bulb (LIGHT, LT).	Colour, brightness, range, shadows
Spot light	A cone of light, with its cone angle and edge softness (SPOTLIGHT, SP).	Adds the Cone band
Area light	A panel of light, with its width and height (AREALIGHT, AL).	Adds the Panel band

Light

What it gives off, and how far.

Field	What it does	Values
Colour	The colour of the light it casts.	Any colour; warm white by default
Brightness	How strong the light is. Zero gives off nothing.	0 to 30
Range	How far the light reaches before it fades out.	0 to 30 m; 0 is unlimited
Layer	The layer it is on. Turning the layer off puts the light out.	Services, or any project layer

Cone

A spot light's beam.

Field	What it does	Values
Cone angle	How wide the beam opens.	5 to 80°
Edge softness	How softly the edge of the beam fades, from a hard ring to a gentle falloff.	0 to 1; default 0.4
Source size	How wide the bulb is. Zero gives razor sharp shadow edges; wider softens them as a real fitting does. Studio render only.	0 to 0.5 m

Panel

An area light's size.

Field	What it does	Values
Width, Height	The size of the glowing panel. A bigger panel gives softer light.	0.1 to 6 m

Position and rotation

Where the light is, and which way a spot or a panel points.

Field	What it does	Values
X, Height, Z	Where the light is in the model. Drag its marker in 3D to move it.	Metres
Rotation X, Y, Z	Turns a spot or an area light to point it. A point light shines every way, so it has none.	-180 to 180°

In the scene

Whether it throws shadows, and whether it is on.

Field	What it does	Values
Cast shadows	Throws shadows in Draft and High; Studio always does. Each shadowed point light costs six extra renders a frame, so the panel says what the floor already spends.	On or off
Hidden	Keeps the light in the project but stops it giving off light. Its marker stays, so you can bring it back.	On or off
Why it is dark	The panel says when a light gives nothing: light effects off, hidden, zero brightness, or past the 16 lights a floor can show.	Read from the scene

How the Light tools work

Open Lighting
In the editor, open Lighting and choose Point, Spot or Area light, or type LIGHT, SPOTLIGHT or AREALIGHT. The view switches to 3D.
Place the light
Click where it goes. It lights the model at once, and its marker can be dragged to move it.
Set it
Select it to set its colour, brightness and range, a spot's cone and edge, or a panel's size, and whether it throws shadows.
Render the room
Set the render quality in Settings, Lighting, frame the view, and press Render photo to save it as an image.

Lighting questions, answered.

Which lights can I place?

Point lights that shine every way like a bulb, spot lights with a cone, and area lights that glow from a panel. Lamps from the furniture catalogue give light of their own too.

Do lights cast shadows?

Point and spot lights cast them in Draft and High when Cast shadows is on, and every light casts them in Studio, the path traced quality.

How many lights can a floor have?

As many as you like, and the first 16 on a floor light the scene. The panel of any past that says so.

How do I get a photoreal render?

Set Render quality to Studio in Settings, Lighting, frame the view, wait for it to sharpen, then press Render photo.

Read on

Electrical: Light points, switches and the circuits that feed them.
Furniture Catalogue: Lamps that give light of their own.
Lighting and rendering docs: Lights, the sun, render quality and photo renders.