Adjusting the Ambient Light

When you create a 3D composite, the ambient light color is set to white (RGB = 100%, 100%, 100%) by default. Change the color of ambient light to give an overall "tint" to the composite.

Intensity affects the overall illumination of the composite. A high intensity causes the objects to appear washed out. An intensity of 0% means that no ambient light is added to the composite, and unless other light sources are added, the composite is black.

You can change the ambient light settings using the Light controls or the Timeline.

To change the ambient light in the Light controls:

1. Select the composite and then select a light. For information, see Selecting Lights.
2. In the Composite Controls panel, click Light.

The Light controls appear.

3. To set the ambient light color, do one of the following:
• Click the Ambient Color box, select a color from the Pick Color dialog that appears, and then click OK.
• Click the Ambient color picker and click in a viewport to choose a color.



4. Adjust the Ambient Intensity field.

If the composite is the current operator in the viewport, the ambient lighting changes appear.

Note: Ambient light is global to the composite. In other words, if there are several source lights in the composite, the ambient light settings are the same in all the Light controls.

To change the ambient light in the Timeline:

1. Select the composite in the Workspace panel.
2. In the Timeline, expand the Global Settings category to view the Ambient Light Intensity and Ambient Light Color channels (Red, Green, and Blue).



Note: If you cannot see the Global Settings, click the Up Arrow   in the Timeline until they are visible. For more information on using the Timeline, see Navigating in the Timeline Hierarchy.

You can also access these channels in the Workspace panel by choosing Show Operators and Properties from the Workspace panel menu.

3. Adjust the Ambient Light Intensity channel to change its value.
4. Set the Red, Green, and Blue channels in the Ambient Light Color category.

If the composite is the current operator in the viewport, the ambient lighting changes appear.