Interactively place a spot, area or directional light

User Guide > Rendering and Render Setup > Lighting > Basics of Lighting > Apply and adjust basic direct lighting >

When you create a new spot, area, or directional light, you can turn on the Interactive Placement option so that you are automatically looking through the light upon its creation. Then, you can tumble the light to point it as you would like using the Alt key (Microsoft^® Windows^® & Linux^®) / Option key (Apple^® Mac OS^® X) plus mouse keys.

To turn on the Interactive Placement option

Select Create > Lights > Directional Light> (or Spot Light or Area Light, depending on the type of light you wish to create).
The Create Directional Light Options window appears.
Check the Interactive Placement option.
Click the Create button to create the directional light.

TipTo exit out of Interactive Placement mode, switch back to Perspective view by selecting Panels > Perspective > Persp or by clicking one of the Layout buttons in the Toolbox.