Ambient Light and Sunlight

Setting Lighting Options

The Set Layer Lighting Options command specifies the ambient light brightness and default color for the current layer. By default, the ambient light parameters are set to On, with a Color of white, and a Brightness of 35%. When RenderWorks is installed, this command also sets the white balance for any light sources with a color temperature, and specifies environment background lighting parameters when a RenderWorks HDRI background resource has been added to the drawing (see Creating HDRI Backgrounds).

The ambient light of a selected viewport can be edited by clicking Lighting Options from the Object Info palette (see Viewport Parameters).

To set ambient light:

1.	Switch to the layer where the desired ambient light settings are to be set.

2.	Select View > Lighting > Set Layer Lighting Options.

The Layer Lighting Options dialog box opens. Set the ambient light for the layer. The white balance setting can be adjusted for light sources in the layer with a color temperature specified (RenderWorks required). For a chart of common color temperature ranges, see Correlated Color Temperature.

 

Parameter	Description
Ambient Info
On/Off	Activates or deactivates the ambient light settings for the layer
Brightness	Specifies the ambient light brightness; enter a percentage or drag the slider bar
Color	Specifies a default color associated with the ambient light; click the color box to select the color
Emitter White Balance (RenderWorks required)
Color Temperature	Select a color temperature that will be balanced to appear white. Lower temperatures, which might otherwise have an orange cast, or higher temperatures, which might otherwise appear with a blue tint, are adjusted to appear white. Select Custom to specify a temperature to be white balanced.
Custom (K)	If a Custom Color Temperature is specified, enter the temperature in Kelvin
Environment Lighting (HDRI) (RenderWorks required)	When an HDRI layer background has been selected for the layer or viewport, specifies how to control its lighting contribution to the rendering (see Creating HDRI Backgrounds)
From Current Background	Uses the image environment background set for the layer as both a background and a light source
From Selected Background	Lights the model with the colors from the HDRI background selected here
None	Uses the image environment background set for the layer or viewport as a background only. The background does not contribute to lighting.

3.

Click OK.

Adding Sunlight

Sunlight in VectorWorks is created by projecting parallel rays from a directional light.

To set the sun position:

1.	Select View > Lighting > Set Sun Position.

The Set Sun Position dialog box opens. Enter the sun position information.

 

Parameter	Description
Site	Specifies the site’s latitude and longitude
Time Zone Meridian	Specifies the site’s time zone; one hour of difference is equal to 15º of longitude
Page North	Normally, the drawing is oriented to page north (true north, not magnetic north), and no compensation is required; if the drawing was not created with this orientation, specify an angular offset in degrees from page north
Date	Specifies the time of year
Time	Specifies the time of day
Daylight Savings	Select if Daylight Saving time is in effect
Results	Based on the settings made, displays the Azimuth (South at zero degrees, without Page North rotation), Azimuth N. Relative (North at zero degrees, without Page North rotation), Elevation (degrees above the horizon), and True Solar Time (takes into account daylight savings time, site longitude and time zone, and the earth’s orbit and tilt)

2.	Click OK and verify the results. If a directional light was selected before choosing the Set Sun Position command, the command modifies the angles of light to the new azimuth and elevation. If no light was selected, the tool inserts a new directional light at the specified sun position.

A shadow analysis can be performed for a site by inserting several light sources with identical parameters except for time of day. RenderWorks must be installed to conduct a shadow analysis.