Object lighting parameters – Apple Motion 5.1.1 User Manual
Page 943
 
Chapter 21
3D compositing
943
In the next example, the image on the left contains a light with Intensity set to 100%, while 
the image on the right has a light Intensity of 500%. In the image on the right, the outer rings 
are slightly brighter, but the innermost ring is overexposed. If the Falloff Start of the light in the 
image on the right is increased to 1000, the rings are overexposed.
Intensity set to 100; Falloff Start set to 0
Intensity set to 500; Falloff Start set to 0
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Falloff: A slider that controls the rate of falloff for a point or spot light based on the Falloff Start 
setting. At low values, light falls off over a long distance from the light source; therefore, the 
light travels farther in the image. At high values, the falloff occurs more rapidly.
•
Cone Angle: A dial that becomes available only when Light Type is set to Spot. The Cone Angle 
is measured from the center of the light outward. The angle may be set to a value between 
0 and 90 degrees. The distance of the light from its target affects the result of this parameter. 
If the light is close, a wider spot cone angle may be needed to light more of the object. If the 
light is further away, a lower Cone Angle may be needed to isolate objects.
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Soft Edge: A dial that becomes available only when Light Type is set to Spot. Like Cone Angle, 
this parameter can be set to a value between 0 and 90 degrees. Its starting point begins at 
the outer edge of the Cone Angle. If set to 0, spot lights have a hard edge. Low values produce 
a slight softening effect to the boundary of the lit area. Higher values produce a wide, more 
natural fade. Adding softness expands the area of your light, so you might need to adjust the 
angle to achieve a specific effect.
Note: Point lights and spot lights also contain a set of parameters to control how they cast 
shadows. For more information on these parameters, see 
on page 944.
The Light HUD contains the Light Type, Color, Intensity, Falloff Start, and Falloff parameters, which 
are also available in the Inspector. The Light HUD also contains 3D transform controls. For more 
information, see 
on page 913.
Object lighting parameters
All lightable objects have properties that control how they react to lights in a scene. You can 
adjust these properties for an object via the Lighting section of the Properties Inspector.
Parameters in the Inspector
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Shading: A pop-up menu that enables you to set how an object responds to lights in the 
scene. If set to On, the object can be lit. If set to Off, the object ignores scene lights. If set to 
Inherited (the default), the object uses the Shading value of its parent.
Note: It is possible to set the Shading parameter of a child of a group (however deep it is 
nested) to On. That setting overrides any group settings previously applied to the child object.
•
Highlights: A checkbox that controls whether lit objects show highlights. This parameter 
has no effect if Shading is set to Off. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal an additional 
Shininess parameter.
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