Ambient light and sunlight

The Set Lighting Options command specifies the ambient light brightness and default color for the current layer, or, when Unified View is selected, the view. By default, the ambient light parameters are set to On, with a Color of white, and a Brightness of 35%. This command also sets the white balance for any light sources with a color temperature, and specifies environment background lighting parameters when a panoramic background resource has been added to the drawing.

Spotlight users can set the lighting options for all layers with the Set Spotlight Rendering Options command; see Setting Spotlight rendering options.

The ambient light of a selected viewport can be edited by clicking Lighting Options from the Object Info palette (see Creating sheet layer viewports).

The Lighting Options dialog box opens. Set the ambient light for the layer. The white balance setting can be adjusted for light sources in the layer with a color temperature specified.

If the lighting options are controlled by a Renderworks style that is currently in effect, the Edit Renderworks Style dialog box opens instead; see Renderworks styles.

Parameter	Description
Indirect Lighting	Indirect lighting models the transfer of light energy among drawing objects, as the light bounces around and affects the surroundings. The more bounces specified, the more realistic the rendering, but also the more time required to render. Select the level of indirect lighting to use for rendering: ● None: Direct lighting only, for quick rendering ● Immediate Preview, Slow Resolve, 2 Bounces: If Fullscreen Preview is selected for Custom Renderworks Options or Renderworks Styles, provides an immediate full-screen preview at a very low resolution that is slow to resolve to final resolution; this is useful when working interactively on a design layer, but is not appropriate for producing final renderings ● Exterior, 3 Bounces: Three bounces of lighting is often enough to enhance exterior views ● Normal, 4 Bounces: Four bounces of indirect lighting is appropriate for exterior scenes and well-lit interiors ● Interior, 16 Bounces: Using sixteen bounces of indirect lighting is suited for darkened or partially-lit interior scenes, or very detailed and complete indirect lighting Individual textures can have their own indirect lighting setting overrides to enhance a scene while reducing the rendering time required. When rendering with Fast Renderworks, indirect lighting is rendered at a “Low” quality; Final Quality Renderworks uses a “High” quality setting for indirect lighting, and Custom Renderworks allows the quality setting to be selected.
Ambient Info	Any changes to the ambient lighting options prompt immediate re-rendering (Open GL render mode only)
On/Off	Activates or deactivates the ambient light settings for the layer
Color	Specifies a default color associated with the ambient light; click the color box to select the color
Brightness	Specifies the ambient light brightness; drag the slider bar or enter a percentage
Ambient Occlusion	Darkens corners, crevices, overhangs, and areas where objects meet, with soft shadows, enhancing edges and creating a more realistic feeling of depth
Strength	Specifies the darkness of the shadows in corners and areas where objects meet
Size	Sets the distance that the shadows extend; a larger size increases the effect
Emitter Options
Emitter Brightness (%)	Adjusts the brightness of all light objects with Use Emitter selected. A recommended alternative method of adjusting all lights is to keep this setting at 100%, and adjust the image exposure using the Renderworks Camera tool options instead.
White Color Temperature	Select a color temperature that will be balanced to appear white. Lower temperatures, which might otherwise have an orange cast, or higher temperatures, which might otherwise appear with a blue tint, are adjusted to appear white. Select Custom to specify a temperature to be white balanced.
Custom (K)	If a Custom Color Temperature is specified, enter the temperature in Kelvin
Environment Lighting	When a panoramic image background has been selected for the layer or viewport, specifies how to control its lighting contribution to the rendering (see Creating panoramic image backgrounds)
From Current Background	Uses the image environment background set for the layer as both a background and a light source
From Selected Background	Lights the model with the colors from the panoramic image background selected here. Select the Renderworks Background.
None	Uses the image environment background set for the layer or viewport as a background only. The background does not contribute to lighting.

Ambient light and sunlight

Setting lighting options