About Lighting

You can use lighting to add realistic effects and texture to 3D composites. The combustion lighting controls are versatile and completely keyframeable.

Note: There are no lighting controls for 2D composites.

The effect that light has on a layer depends on the surface characteristics of the layer as much as it depends on the type, color, and intensity of the light. When light strikes a layer, it is reflected and it casts shadows in the scene.

For example, the behavior of light depends on the opacity, luminosity, and specular level of the layer it strikes—just as real-world light striking a shiny metal surface has a different effect from that striking a rough wooden surface.

You can keyframe all the properties of a light, as well as the surface characteristics of layers, to create dramatic lighting effects. For example, you can animate highlights across the surface of an object by animating the position of the light and the specular level of the object. You can also control how a nearby light spreads across the surface of an object by adjusting the diffuse level of the object.

Note: For more information on changing the surface properties of layers, see Surface Properties.