Go to: Related nodes. Attributes.

This class contains the "shape" information for area lights.

This node is MP safe

Node name Parents Classification MFn type Compatible function sets
areaLight nonExtendedLightShapeNode light kAreaLight kBase
kNamedObject
kDependencyNode
kDagNode
kShape
kLight
kNonAmbientLight
kNonExtendedLight
kAreaLight

Related nodes

camera, light, dropoffLocator, ambientLight, nonAmbientLightShapeNode, nonExtendedLightShapeNode, directionalLight, spotLight, pointLight

Attributes (60)

The following quick index only shows top-level attributes (too many attributes to show them all): lightGlow, mentalRayControls (49), normalCamera (3), objectType, pointWorld (3)

Long name (short name) Type Default Flags
lightGlow (lg) Message n/a outputinputconnectable
Connect this to the light glow.
pointWorld (pw) float3 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 inputconnectablestorable
The point to light in world space (for shadow maps).
pointWorldX (tx) float 0.0 inputconnectablestorable
The x-component of the world position.
pointWorldY (ty) float 0.0 inputconnectablestorable
The y-component of the world position.
pointWorldZ (tz) float 0.0 inputconnectablestorable
The z-component of the world position.
normalCamera (n) float3 outputinputconnectable
Normal Camera represents the surface normals in the camera's space. These are used to calculate lighting.
normalCameraX (nx) float 1.0 outputinputconnectable
normal camera x value
normalCameraY (ny) float 1.0 outputinputconnectable
normal camera Y value
normalCameraZ (nz) float 1.0 outputinputconnectable
normal camera Z value
objectType (ot) char TrenderableObjectType::kSurface inputconnectablestorable
The type of object being lit (volume or surface).
mentalRayControls (mrc) compound n/a outputinputconnectablestorable
This is a root of following mental ray attributes.
miExportMrLight (milt) bool false outputinputconnectablestorable
Controls usage of default mayabase light shader, which is used by default. If enabled, the mayabase light shader will not be applied at all but any connected custom mental ray node will.
miLightShader (mils) generic typed data NULL outputinputconnectablestorable
Port to connect custom mental ray node of type light shader.
miPhotonEmitter (mipe) generic typed data NULL outputinputconnectablestorable
Port to connect custom mental ray node of type photon emitter shader.
emitPhotons (phot) bool false outputinputconnectablestorable
Enable photon emission for the light.
energy (eng) float3 outputinputconnectablestorable
Determines photon energy for the light. energy is a product of Photon color and Photon intensity Photon Color is available in UI only, and is not a real attribute.
energyR (engr) float 8000 outputinputconnectablestorable
The red component of the photon energy
energyG (engg) float 8000 outputinputconnectablestorable
The green component of the photon energy
energyB (engb) float 8000 outputinputconnectablestorable
The blue component of the photon energy
photonIntensity (phi) float 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
Photon intensity factor for the photon energy color to determine photon energy for the light. Should be changed through the UI only.
exponent (exp) float 2 outputinputconnectablestorable
Photon energy falloff. Values other than 2 produce non-physically correct indirect illumination.
causticPhotons (cph) integer 10000 outputinputconnectablestorable
Caustic photons to emit (actually store) from the light.
causticPhotonsEmit (cphe) integer 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Caustic photon emission
globIllPhotons (gph) integer 10000 outputinputconnectablestorable
Global illumination photons to emit (actually store) from the light.
globIllPhotonsEmit (gphe) integer 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Global illumination photon emission
shadowMap (usm) bool false outputinputconnectablestorable
Turn on mental ray shadowmap creation for the light.
smapResolution (smr) integer 256 outputinputconnectablestorable
Resolution (both width and height) of the shadowmap for mental ray.
smapSamples (smsa) short 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
Number of shadowmap samples to be taken if smapSoftness is greater zero. mental ray only.
smapSoftness (smso) float 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
The mental ray shadowmap softness for the light. If greater zero, oversampling will be used to produce blurry shadows.
smapBias (smb) float 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Controls mental ray shadow map bias. It is a factor on the internal bias value. If smapBias is 0, the Woo algorithm (mid dist shadowmap) is enabled, and the bias is not used.
smapCamera (smc) Message n/a outputinputconnectablehidden
For internal use only.
smapFilename (smf) string NULL outputinputconnectablestorable
If not empty, enable shadowmap file creation with that name for mental ray.
smapLightName (smln) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Include the light name in the shadow map name.
smapSceneName (smsn) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Include the scene name in the shadow map name.
smapFrameExt (smfe) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Include the frame extention in the shadow map name.
smapDetail (smd) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Use mental ray detail shadow map for this light. shadowMap must be enabled. This algorithm is a combination of standard shadowmaps and ray traced shadows. Unlike standard shadowmaps, the detail shadowmap algorithm invokes shadow shaders at intersection points with shadow-casting geometry In general, detail shadowmaps need less resolution than standard shadowmaps, since they may take more samples per pixel. Still, detail shadowmaps tend to be more expensive to compute than standard shadowmaps because of the shadow shader calls. They may even be more expensive than raytraced shadows. However, their cost may be offset by repeated reuse over several frames. They may also be more efficient with time and memory resources than raytraced shadows for motion blurred shadows. The file format used to store detail shadowmaps is incompatible with the file format used to store regular shadowmaps. The entire file format is tile-based and only those tiles computed or used during a rendering will be stored in the file. New tiles may be dynamically added during rendering of new frames. Detail shadowmap files tend to be larger than regular shadowmap files since more information per pixel is stored.
smapDetailSamples (sds) short 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Specify the number of samples per pixel taken when computing a mental ray detail shadowmap pixel. A value of n means that nxn samples are taken per pixel, each involving a shadow intersection including a shadow shader call at some varying subpixel coordinate inside the shadowmap pixel. If smapDetailSamples is set to 0, mental ray default value is used.
smapDetailAccuracy (sdac) float 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
This parameter determines how far two depth values of a sample have to be separated in order to be considered two distinct values. Selecting this value too small will result in larger memory and compute resource requirements for detail shadowmaps. Selecting it too large will lead to visible artifacts. mental ray tries to use a reasonable default value for the accuracy. If smapDetailAccuracy is set to 0, mental ray default value is used.
smapDetailAlpha (sdal) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
If smapDetailAlpha is set, then only the intensity values of the color transmission coeffiencents are used.
smapWindow (smw) compound n/a outputinputconnectablestorable
This is a root of following mental ray attributes.
smapWindowXMin (smxl) short 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Min x-value of the window
smapWindowYMin (smyl) short 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Min y-value of the window
smapWindowXMax (smxh) short 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Max x-value of the window
smapWindowYMax (smyh) short 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Max y-value of the window
smapMerge (smm) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Shadow map merge
smapTrace (smt) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Shadow map trace
useShadowMapCamera (usmc) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Mimic non depth map auto focus in mental ray with shadow map camera
smapCameraAperture (smca) float 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
The shadow map camera aperture
smapCameraResolution (smcr) float 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
The shadow map camera resolution
smapCameraAspect (smcs) float 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
The shadow map camera aspect
smapCameraName (smcn) string NULL outputinputconnectablestorable
The shadow map camera name
smapCameraFocal (smcf) string NULL outputinputconnectablestorable
The shadow map camera focal length in inch
areaLight (algt) bool false outputinputconnectablestorable
Enable mental ray area light attributes for the light.
areaType (atyp) enum 0 "Rectangle" outputinputconnectablestorable
Type to determine the shape of the area light.
areaShapeIntensity (alsi) float 1.0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Area light shape intensity
areaHiSamples (ahs) short 8 outputinputconnectablestorable
Area light high samples
areaHiSampleLimit (alev) short 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
Area light high sample limit
areaLoSamples (als) short 1 outputinputconnectablestorable
Area light low samples
areaVisible (avis) bool 0 outputinputconnectablestorable
Area light low sample limit
areaObject (aobj) Message n/a outputinputconnectablehidden
Area light object