Light Type

Specifies which type of light you want to use. Distant Source simulates sunlight and casts shadows in one direction, where all the light rays strike the object from virtually the same angle. Point Source is similar to a light bulb and casts shadows in all directions. First Comp Light uses the composition’s first light layer, which can use a variety of settings.

Light Intensity

Specifies the power of the light. The higher the value, the brighter the layer. Other lighting settings affect the overall light intensity as well.

Light Color

Specifies the color of light.

Light Position

Specifies the position of the light in x,y space. To position the light interactively, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the light’s effect point.

Light Depth

Specifies the position of the light in z space. Negative numbers move the light behind the layer.

Ambient Light

Distributes light over the layer. Increasing this value adds an even illumination to all objects and prevents shadows from being totally black. Setting Ambient Light to pure white and setting all other light controls to 0 makes the object fully lit and eliminates any 3D shading from the scene.

The Material controls specify reflection values.

Diffuse Reflection

Gives objects form-defining shading. Shading depends on the angle at which the light strikes the surface and is independent of the viewer’s position.

Specular Reflection

Takes into account the position of the viewer. It models the reflection of the light source back to the viewer. It can create the illusion of shininess. For realistic effects, you can animate this control by using higher and higher values to mask the transition from filtered to nonfiltered versions of the layer.

Highlight Sharpness

Controls shininess. Very shiny surfaces produce small, tight reflections, while duller surfaces spread the highlight out into a larger region. Specular highlights are the color of the incoming light. Because light is typically white or off-white, broad highlights can desaturate an image by adding white to the surface color.

In general, use the following process to adjust lighting: Set Light Position and Diffuse Reflection to control the overall light level and shading in a scene. Then adjust Specular Reflection and Highlight Sharpness to control the strength and spread of highlights. Finally, adjust Ambient Light to fill in the shadows.