Positioning lights

Lights can be placed in the scene automatically, interactively, or with the standard transform controls. Automatic and interactive placement are done through the Light Properties dialog and require that the light be associated with some objects in the scene.

Auto placement will set the position, orientation and drop-off distance of the light to appropriate values based on the current camera distance to the associated objects and the placement method you choose.

In Front of Lit Objects: places the light in front of the associated objects (relative to the current camera view) and slightly above and to the right. This is the same auto placement that is done when a light is first created.
Behind Lit Objects: places the light behind the associated objects and slightly above and to the left. This is the inverse of In Front, and is useful for back-lighting and “rim” lights.
Above Lit Objects: places the light above the associated objects, pointing at the center of the bounding box of the associated objects.
Behind Current Camera View: places the light behind the camera, but pointed at the associated objects. This is useful for intuitive positioning using the camera controls and for “headlamp” effects.

NoteAuto Placement of the type “In front of lit objects” is used during the creation of a light whenever geometry is selected. This insures that the lighting effect will immediately be visible in the scene and that the light will be positioned relative to the objects it is associated to.

Click the Start button to interactively position the light around your objects. The light will maintain its distance to the current point of interest, as if sliding on the surface of a sphere centered on that point. Moving the point of interest will change the radius of that sphere.

To move the light up around the point of interest, click anywhere in the view and drag up.
To move the light down, drag down.
To move the light clockwise around the point of interest, drag left.
To move the light counter-clockwise, drag right.
To place a highlight at any position on a surface, hold down the Ctrl key and click at that position. This places the point of interest where you click, and moves the light so that the current camera “sees” a highlight from the light at that point.
To move the highlight around the surface to find the best position, hold down the Ctrl key and drag over the surface.
To place the point of interest at any location on a surface, hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys and click that location. This aims the light toward that location, but does not move the light.
When you have moved the light to the desired location, click the same button in the Light Properties dialog, now labelled Stop.

Transform controls

Lights can be positioned and oriented like any object in the scene using interactive and numeric transforms. Unlike the automatic or interactive placement methods above, transforms can be applied to more than one light at a time. Lights can also be Grouped and transformed as a group.

To interactively transform the selected light, press the H key to show the transform handles (or select Edit -> Show Transform Handles). Click and drag on the handles to move or rotate the light.

To numerically transform the selected light in one axis, click on the transform handle for that axis and type in the relative value you wish to add to the transform.
To numerically transform the selected light in all axes, press the Shift and H keys (or select Edit > Transform) to open the Transform dialog. Enter relative values for either translation or rotation.
To numerically transform the selected light with absolute values, select Edit > Transform Properties..., and modify the values for translation, rotation, or scale.

NoteScale has no effect on the properties of the light. Only the 3D “grip” becomes larger or smaller.