Spot
Spot nodes create a point in 3D space that emits a cone-shaped light in a given direction. A real world example of a spot light is a desk lamp.
See also Light, Point, Direct, Environment, and Relight.
Inputs and Controls
Connection Type |
Connection Name |
Function |
Input |
unnamed |
An Axis, a Camera, or another Light node. |
Control (UI) |
Knob (Scripting) |
Default Value |
Function |
Spot Tab |
|||
color |
color |
1 |
Sets the color of the light. |
intensity |
intensity |
1 |
Sets the brightness of the light. |
cone angle |
cone_angle |
40 |
Sets the spot light cone angle adjusting the spread of the light. Valid angles are from 0 to 180 degrees. |
cone penumbra angle |
cone_penumbra_angle |
0 |
Controls spot light softness along the edge of the area of illumination. A negative value fades inward from the circle's edge and vice versa. The cone falloff should be set to zero or a low amount in order to see the softness. |
cone falloff |
cone_falloff |
0 |
Sets how much the spot light diminishes from the center of the circular region out to the edge. The higher the value, the more focused the light. The falloff is independent of the falloff type |
falloff type |
falloff_type |
No falloff |
Sets the amount of light the object gets from the light source, based on the distance between the light source and the object. • No falloff - light does not diminish with distance. • Linear - diminish the light at a fixed rate as it travels from the object. • Quadratic and Cubic - diminish the light at an exponential rate. |
display |
display |
wireframe |
Adjust the display characteristics of the 3D object. These settings don’t affect the render output of the scene; these are for display purposes only in the 3D Viewer. • off - hides the 3D geometry object. • wireframe - displays only the outlines of the object’s geometry. • solid - displays all geometry with a solid color. • solid+lines - displays the geometry as solid color with the object’s geometry outlines. • textured - displays only the surface texture. • textured+lines - displays the wireframe plus the surface texture. |
selectable |
selectable |
enabled |
When enabled, you can make selections as normal in the Viewer. When disabled, points cannot be selected or changed. |
|
file_menu |
N/A |
Select to import or export a channel file: • Import chan file - import a channel file and transform the object according to the transformation data in the channel file. Channel files contain a set of Cartesian coordinates for every frame of animation in a given shot. You can create and export them using Nuke or 3D tracking software, such as 3D-Equalizer, Maya, or Boujou. • Export chan file - export the translation parameters that you’ve applied to the object as a channel file. This is a useful method of sharing setups between artists. |
|
snap_menu |
N/A |
• Match selection position - the object is snapped to a new position depending on the points selected. • Match selection position, orientation - the object is snapped to a new position and orientation depending on the points selected. • Match selection position, orientation, size - the object is snapped to a new position, orientation, and size depending on the points selected. |
transform order |
xform_order |
SRT |
Sets the operation order for scale (S), rotation (R), and translation (T). The possible operation combinations are SRT, STR, RST, RTS, TSR, TRS. |
rotation order |
rot_order |
ZXY |
Sets the order of rotation. The possible axial combinations are ZXY, XYZ, XZY, YXZ, YZX, ZXY, ZYX. |
translate |
translate |
0, 0, 0 |
Lets you translate the object along the x, y, and z axes. You can also adjust translate values by clicking and dragging the object in the 3D Viewer. |
rotate |
rotate |
0, 0, 0 |
Lets you rotate the object around the x, y, and z axes. You can adjust rotate values by holding down Ctrl/Cmd and dragging in the 3D Viewer. |
scale |
scaling |
1, 1, 1 |
Lets you scale the object on the x, y, and z axes. |
uniform scale |
uniform_scale |
1 |
Lets you scale the object simultaneously on the x, y, and z axes. |
skew |
skew |
0, 0, 0 |
Lets you skew the object on the x, y, and z axes. |
pivot |
pivot |
0, 0, 0 |
When you make changes to a 3D object’s position, scaling, skewing, and rotation, these occur from the location of the object’s origin point or pivot. The pivot x, y, and z controls allow you to offset the pivot point and move it anywhere you like - you can even move it outside of the object. Subsequent transformations applied will then occur relative to the new pivot point location. You can also hold down Ctrl/Cmd+Alt and drag the pivot point to a new location in the 3D Viewer. |
Local Matrix |
|||
specify matrix |
useMatrix |
N/A |
Enable this control to specify matrix values for the object you’re transforming as an alternative to setting transform, scale, skew and pivot values above. |
matrix |
matrix |
N/A |
The matrix displays values from the object’s transform, rotate, scale, skew, and pivot controls. Check specify matrix and copy or drag-and-drop matrix values from another object to apply those values, for example, if you wanted to align objects in a scene. |
World Matrix |
|||
matrix |
matrix |
N/A |
Displays the world or absolute xyz transform of the node in world coordinates. Note: Unlike the Local matrix, you can’t adjust the World matrix manually. |
Shadows Tab |
|||
cast shadows |
cast_shadows |
disabled |
When enabled, the light casts shadow as defined by the Shadow controls. |
shadow mode |
shadow_mode |
solid |
Presents three shadow casting modes that affect shadows cast by objects, based on the objects’ opacity: • solid - objects that cast shadows are considered to be completely solid. This option can be used with both ScanlineRender and PrmanRender. • clipped alpha - objects that cast shadows are considered to be transparent if the object’s alpha is below the light’s clipping threshold control in the Shadows tab. This option is only relevant if you are using ScanlineRender to render your shadows. • full alpha - shadows are calculated based on how light is reduced when it passes through non-opaque occluders. This option is only relevant if you are using ScanlineRender to render your shadows. |
filter |
filter |
cubic |
Determines the type of filter that the shadow mode uses when it’s set to clipped alpha or full alpha. |
scene epsilon |
scene_epsilon |
0.001 |
An offset that moves the sampling point away from the geometry surface, towards the light that is casting the shadow. Increasing this value can reduce self-shadowing artifacts. This only applies if your shadows are generated using depth mapping and shadow mode is set to full alpha. |
samples |
samples |
1 |
Sets the number of samples for the light when generating soft shadows. If soft shadows in your scene appear dotty or noisy, try increasing this value. The higher the value, the smoother the soft the shadows become. This only applies when shadow mode is set to solid or clipped alpha. |
sample width |
sample_width |
1 |
Sets the size of the light for soft shadows. This value determines the width of the soft area around the egde of a shadow. The higher the value, the larger the soft area. This control is only relevant if your shadows are generated using raytracing. |
bias |
depthmap_bias |
0.01 |
Sets the bias for the raytracing or shadow map. Increase this value if self shadowing artifacts appear in the image. This moves the surface sample point away from surface. Note, however, that if you increase the value too much, some shadows may start moving away from the base of the objects that cast them. This only applies when shadow mode is set to solid or clipped alpha. |
slope bias |
depthmap_slope_ |
0.001 |
Bias for the shadow map. This is like bias, but the offset is proportional to the slope of the depth map. This allows you to give a different offset to each value in the depth map, depending on the surface’s slope relative to the light. If increasing bias reduced the existing self-shadowing artifacts but introduced more artifacts in other areas of the image, you may want to bring bias down a little and increase slope bias instead. This only applies if your shadows are generated using depth mapping and shadow mode is set to solid or clipped alpha. |
clipping threshold |
clipping_threshold |
0.5 |
Objects that are set to cast shadows are considered solid if their alpha is below the value set here. This only applies if your shadows are generated using depth mapping and shadow mode is set to clipped alpha. |
jitter scale |
shadow_jitter_scale |
3 |
Sets the amount of jitter used when doing percentage-closer filtering (PCF) for soft shadows. A larger jitter scale value results in softer, more perceptually accurate shadows. PCF works by sampling the depth map at many different positions around the same spot. The final shadow value for that spot is an average of how many of the samples were occluded or visible from point of view of the light. This control is only relevant if your shadows are generated using depth mapping and shadow mode is set to solid or clipped alpha. |
depthmap resolution |
depthmap_width |
1024 |
Sets the resolution of the depth map. Larger values will result in a less crunchy edge, but will require more time to process. Note that you can also fix crunchy edges by increasing the number of samples instead of increasing the depth map resolution. This control is only relevant if your shadows are generated using depth mapping and shadow mode is set to solid or clipped alpha. |
output mask |
shadow_mask |
disabled |
Enables the associated channel to the right. Disabling this checkbox is the same as setting the channel to none. |
none |
Sets the channel you want to output the shadow map into. This can be enabled even if the cast shadows box is disabled. |