Light Shader Node
The Light Shader node lets you adjust the highlight parameters, such as the colour, to create the desired ambiance. You can animate most parameters over time to create a mood change, sunset or any other type of light transition. The beveling height and smoothing is set in the Normal Map node.
Light Shader Properties
| Parameter | Description |
| Name | Lets you rename the node. |
| Light | |
| Light Type |
Directional: A light that is parallel in the scene. Each “beam” of light follows the direction defined by the light source and target, and point in the same direction. This type of light is used when the light source is far away or very big, like the sun. Point: A light that illuminates everything around it. Its “beam” of light will go in all directions like a fire. Spot: A light that forms a conical shape like a flashlight. |
| Cone Angle |
The value that defines the light’s cone angle. This option is only accessible with the Light Type set to Spot. |
| Diffusion |
Lets you play with the diffusion of the light on the surface of the drawing. In other words, it is the edge softness. This option is only accessible with the Light Type set to Spot. |
| Light Source Elevation |
Defines the height of the spotlight. This option is only accessible when the Light Type set to Spot or Point. |
| Shading Type |
Smooth: The light and tone fx will have smooth edges. Sharp: The light and tone fx will have sharp edges. |
| Bias |
Define the polarization of the light. When the Shade type is set to Smooth, it defines the width of the light’s smooth zone. When the Shade type is set to Sharp, the Bias defines the antialiasing on the edge of the hightlight or tone zone. But,if the Shade type is set to Sharp, the Bias option need a small value such as 0.1 or 0.2. The exponent will be able to compensate the limitation of this small value. |
| Abruptness |
This is a multiplier value of the Bias option. It will define how quick the polarization of the light will change from a value to another. |
| Adjust Light Intensity |
Lets you adjust the light intensity. |
| Intensity |
Lets you set the strength of the light. |
| Multiplier |
Multiplies the value of the Intensity option. |
| Surface Reflectivity |
This option is useful for exaggerating the light on the edge of the 3D geometry. The closer an edge is to the light source, the more intense the light will be. |
| Colour | |
| Red/Green/Blue/Alpha |
The colour and transparency of the Colour Card. You can also attach these parameters to function columns to change their values over time. Click the colour swatch to open the Colour Picker window and select a colour. |
| Colour Swatch |
Opens the Colour Picker window in which you can specify the colour. |
| Use Image Colour |
Lets you use the colour of the drawing in a lighter or darker colour for the highlight and tone fx. |
| Image Colour Intensity |
Lets you blend the colour of the light with the image colour. |
| Flatten Fx |
This is useful when there are several highlight and tone fx, one over the other, but are supposed to be merged together. Sometimes, shadows and lights look better when they do not overlap. |