How to change circle in spotlight

moniquesnag

Hello,

How do I change the size of the circle that is a part of the spotlight? It is casting a shadow that is too dark for my liking on the chair.

Richard Haseltine

The inner circle shows the area that will receive full light, the outer the limit of the light (set by Spread Angle). However, that will affect the falloff of the light but not where shadows fall - for Iray you could use the Shape settings in the Parameters pane to make the emitter a disc or other shape, instead of a point, and that would soften shadows (to an extent controlled by the size).

crosswind

That is just the dark side rather than a real show. It comes from Preview Lights (which is pseudo...) in Viewport. Press Ctrl + L to turn it off (menu : Windows - Preview Lights) ...in Texture Shaded draw style.

Create a Primitive Plane with 2 ~ 3 meters, move it under the chair, then you'll see the shadow... Set Light Geometry to Disc on the Spot Light, tweak Luminous Flux value as well as the light position / angle. If you don't like the harsh shadow, increase the value of Height (Diameter) on the Spot Light to soften the shadow edge.

Then press Ctrl + 0 to NVIDIA Iray preview... if you still don't like the "dark side" on the chair, add a Rear Spot Light to lit the side of the chair.