FAQ

Area Lights can be used to simulate a large area of lighting, like a window. There is no tool to use. You draw a shape you want and use a command to convert the shape to an area light.

Line Lights can be used to replicate tube lighting and neon lighting. In the past they used to take a long time to render, but now they are as quick as any other light. Use a line light whenever you need a continous strip of light. There is no tool…

Custom lights allow you to import the light intensity from a lighting designer or manufacturer. The idea behind the custom light is that you can create a very accurate light by using the technical data from the manufacturer.

Spot lights are directional lights that point at a particular location and they have a controllable beam and spread. Spot lights are best placed in plan and then checked in elevation.

A point light is like a bare light bulb. The light goes out in all directions. I often use this light to replicate the effect of light sources in fittings.

The Heliodon tool is similar to the Set Sun Position command. Vectorworks places a specific Heliodon object whose parameters can be adjusted in the Object Info palette. This makes it much more flexible than the Set Sun Position command, allowing you to change the time of the day or the…

The directional light is like a sun – it is an outside light. The directional light is the type of light that is placed when you use the Set Sun Position from the View menu (only in Fundamentals). This light source has a direction and casts shadows but its position…

Lighting options control the effects of the light in the scene and have a strong impact on how the light sources will light your project. It is easy to overlook these, but they have a very strong impact on the rendered view. The Lighting Options have subtle controls and need…