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The Directional Light node
Directional Light Node Introduction
A directional light is a light with a clear direction but without a clear source or distance, similar to sunlight. This light shows an onscreen control, but the position of the control has no meaning. The rotation of the control is used to determine from where in the scene the light appears to be coming.
Similar to a Camera 3D, you connect lights into a Merge 3D and view them in the scene by viewing the Merge 3D node. Selecting a light node and loading it into the viewer does not show anything.
Inputs
The Directional Light node includes a single optional orange input for a 3D scene or 3D geometry.
— SceneInput: The orange input is an optional input that accepts a 3D scene. If a scene is provided, the Transform controls in this node apply to the entire scene provided.
Basic Node Setup
The Directional Light node is designed to be part of a larger 3D scene. You connect the light directly into a Merge 3D. Separating lights into different Merge 3D nodes allows you to control which lights affect which objects.
Directional Light node structure
Inspector
Directional Light controls
Controls Tab
The Controls tab is used to set the color and brightness of the directional light. The direction of the light source is controlled by the rotation controls in the Transform tab.
When the Enabled checkbox is turned on, the directional light affects the scene. When the checkbox is turned off, the light is turned off. This checkbox performs the same function as the red switch to the left of the node’s name in the Inspector.
Use this standard Color control to set the color of the light.
Use this slider to set the Intensity of the directional light. A value of 0.2 indicates 20% percent light.
Common Controls
The options presented in the Transform and Settings tabs are commonly found in other lighting nodes. For more detail on the controls found in these tabs, see “The Common Controls” section at the end of this chapter.