Light COMP

Summary

The Light Components are objects which cast light into a 3D scene. With the light parameters you can control the color, brightness, and atmosphere of geometry lit by the light. A scene can also be viewed through a light's perspective, similar to a Camera COMP.

Tip: To avoid a light from consuming compute time when it's off, make the Dimmer parameter less than .001.

See Geometry Viewer to learn about how you can inspect from a light.

lightCOMP_Class

Parameters - Xform Page

The Xform parameter page controls the object component's transform in world space.

Transform Order xord - ⊞ - This allows you to specify the order in which the changes to your Component will take place. Changing the Transform Order will change where things go much the same way as going a block and turning east gets you to a different place than turning east and then going a block. In matrix math terms, if we use the 'multiply vector on the right' (column vector) convention, a transform order of Scale, Rotate, Translate would be written as T * R * S * Position.

Scale Rotate Translate srt -

Scale Translate Rotate str -

Rotate Scale Translate rst -

Rotate Translate Scale rts -

Translate Scale Rotate tsr -

Translate Rotate Scale trs -

Rotate Order rord - ⊞ - This allows you to set the transform order for the Component's rotations. As with transform order (above), changing the order in which the Component's rotations take place will alter the Component's final position. A Rotation order of Rx Ry Rz would create the final rotation matrix as follows R = Rz * Ry * Rx

Rx Ry Rz xyz - R = Rz * Ry * Rx

Rx Rz Ry xzy - R = Ry * Rz * Rx

Ry Rx Rz yxz - R = Rz * Rx * Ry

Ry Rz Rx yzx - R = Rx * Rz * Ry

Rz Rx Ry zxy - R = Ry * Rx * Rz

Rz Ry Rx zyx - R = Rx * Ry * Rz

Translate t - ⊞ - This allows you to specify the amount of movement along any of the three axes; the amount, in degrees, of rotation around any of the three axes; and a non-uniform scaling along the three axes. As an alternative to entering the values directly into these fields, you can modify the values by manipulating the Component in the Viewport with the Select & Transform state.

X tx -

Y ty -

Z tz -

Rotate r - ⊞ - Theis specifies the amount of movement along any of the three axes; the amount, in degrees, of rotation around any of the three axes; and a non-uniform scaling along the three axes. As an alternative to entering the values directly into these fields, you can modify the values by manipulating the Component in the Viewport with the Select & Transform state.

X rx -

Y ry -

Z rz -

Scale s - ⊞ - This specifies the amount of movement along any of the three axes; the amount, in degrees, of rotation around any of the three axes; and a non-uniform scaling along the three axes. As an alternative to entering the values directly into these fields, you can modify the values by manipulating the Component in the Viewport with the Select & Transform state.

X sx -

Y sy -

Z sz -

Pivot p - ⊞ - The Pivot point edit fields allow you to define the point about which a Component scales and rotates. Altering the pivot point of a Component produces different results depending on the transformation performed on the Component.

For example, during a scaling operation, if the pivot point of an Component is located at -1, -1, 0 and you wanted to scale the Component by 0.5 (reduce its size by 50%), the Component would scale toward the pivot point and appear to slide down and to the left.

In the example above, rotations performed on an Component with different pivot points produce very different results.

X px -

Y py -

Z pz -

Uniform Scale scale - This field allows you to change the size of an Component uniformly along the three axes.

Note: Scaling a camera's channels is not generally recommended. However, should you decide to do so, the rendered output will match the Viewport as closely as possible when scales are involved.

Parent Transform Source parentxformsrc - ⊞ - Select what position is used as the transform source for this obejct. Can be one of "Parent (Hierarchy)", "Specify Parent Object", or "World Origin".

From Parent Object (Hierarchy) hierarchy -

Specify Parent Object specify -

World Origin worldorigin -

Parent Object parentobject - Allows the location of the object to be constrained to any other object whose path is specified in this parameter.

Look At lookat - Allows you to orient this Component by naming another 3D Component you would like it to Look At, or point to. Once you have designated this Component to look at, it will continue to face that Component, even if you move it. This is useful if, for instance, you want a camera to follow another Component's movements. The Look At parameter points the Component in question at the other Component's origin.

Tip: To designate a center of interest for the camera that doesn't appear in your scene, create a Null Component and disable its display flag. Then Parent the Camera to the newly created Null Component, and tell the camera to look at this Component using the Look At parameter. You can direct the attention of the camera by moving the Null Component with the Select state. If you want to see both the camera and the Null Component, enable the Null Component's display flag, and use the Select state in an additional Viewport by clicking one of the icons in the top-right corner of the TouchDesigner window.

Forward Direction forwarddir - ⊞ - Sets which axis and direction is considered the forward direction.

+X posx -

-X negx -

+Y posy -

-Y negy -

+Z posz -

-Z negz -

Look At Up Vector lookup - ⊞ - When specifying a Look At, it is possible to specify an up vector for the lookat. Without using an up vector, it is possible to get poor animation when the lookat Component, for example, passes through the Y axis of the target Component.

Don't Use Up Vector - Use this option if the look at Component does not pass through the Y axis of the target Component.
Use Up Vector - This precisely defines the rotates on the Component doing the looking. The Up Vector specified should not be parallel to the look at direction. See Up Vector below.
Use Quaternions - Quaternions are a mathematical representation of a 3D rotation. This method finds the most efficient means of moving from one point to another on a sphere.

Don't use up vector off -

Use up vector on -

Use quaternions quat -

Use Roll roll -

Path SOP pathsop - Names the SOP that functions as the path you want this Component to move along. For instance, you can name a SOP that provides a path for the camera to follow.

Roll roll - Using the angle control you can specify a Component's rotation as it animates along the path.

Position pos - This parameter lets you specify the Position of the Component along the path. The values you can enter for this parameter range from 0 to 1, where 0 equals the starting point and 1 equals the end point of the path. The value slider allows for values as high as 10 for multiple "passes" along the path.

Orient along Path pathorient - If this option is selected, the Component will be oriented along the path. The positive Z axis of the Component will be pointing down the path.

Orient Up Vector up - ⊞ - When orienting a Component, the Up Vector is used to determine where the positive Y axis points.

X upx -

Y upy -

Z upz -

Auto-Bank Factor bank - The Auto-Bank Factor rolls the Component based on the curvature of the path at its current position. To turn off auto-banking, set the bank scale to 0.

Parameters - Pre-Xform Page

The Pre-Xform parameter page applies a transform to the object component the same way connecting another Object as a parent of this node does. The transform is applied to the left of the Xform page's parameters. In terms of matrix math, if we use the 'multiply on the right' (column vector) convention, the equation would be preXForm * xform * Position.

Apply Pre-Transform pxform - Enables the transformation on this page.

Transform Order pxord - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

Scale Rotate Translate srt -

Scale Translate Rotate str -

Rotate Scale Translate rst -

Rotate Translate Scale rts -

Translate Scale Rotate tsr -

Translate Rotate Scale trs -

Rotate Order prord - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

Rx Ry Rz xyz -

Rx Rz Ry xzy -

Ry Rx Rz yxz -

Ry Rz Rx yzx -

Rz Rx Ry zxy -

Rz Ry Rx zyx -

Translate pt - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

X ptx -

Y pty -

Z ptz -

Rotate pr - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

X prx -

Y pry -

Z prz -

Scale ps - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

X psx -

Y psy -

Z psz -

Pivot pp - ⊞ - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

X ppx -

Y ppy -

Z ppz -

Uniform Scale pscale - Refer to the documentation on Xform page for more information.

Reset Transform preset - This button will reset this page's transform so it has no translate/rotate/scale.

Commit to Main Transform pcommit - This button will copy the transform from this page to the main Xform page, and reset this page's transform.

Xform Matrix/CHOP/DAT xformmatrixop - This parameter can be used to transform using a 4x4 matrix directly. For information on ways to specify a matrix directly, refer to the Matrix Parameters page. This transform will be applied after the regular Pre-Transform transformation. That is, it'll be applied in the oder XformMatrix * PreXForm * Position.

Parameters - Light Page

Light Color c - ⊞ - You can modify the color of a light here by adjusting the red, green, and blue parameters. Alternatively, clicking on the color swatch will open a dialog with HSV and/or RGB sliders allowing interactive color picking with a preview of the selected color.

Red cr -

Green cg -

Blue cb -

Dimmer dimmer - This parameter changes the intensity of the light without affecting its hue. Lights with Dimmer intensity below 0.001 are ignored. This optimization allows lights that are set to 0.0 to not be calculated in a Render TOP.

Light Type lighttype - ⊞ - Specifies the type of light.

Point Light point - Radiates light equally in all directions.

Cone Light cone - A directional spotlight that uses cone angle, delta, and falloff to control the size and intensity of the light.

Distant Light distant - All light radiates from one direction vector. This can be used to simulate lights at a far-off distance, for example, the sun. The light's position is ignored, only its direction is used.

Cone Angle coneangle - This specifies the angle within which the light remains at full intensity. Decreasing the cone angle to between ten and forty degrees focuses the beam to spotlight proportions.

Cone Delta conedelta - This value, in degrees, represents the angle outside the cone angle through which the light intensity drops from its maximum to zero. Beyond this area, no more light is cast.

Cone Rolloff coneroll - This parameter (a value between one and ten) defines how gently or suddenly the amount of light decreases between full intensity and zero intensity within the Cone Delta area.

Distance-Attenuated attenuated - Turn on this checkbox to enable distance-based attenuation of the light.

Attenuation Start attenuationstart - The distance from the light source where the light attenuation begins.

Attenuation End attenuationend - The distance from the light source where the light attenuation ends (i.e., no light radiates beyond this point).

Attenuation Rolloff attenuationexp - Controls how the light fades off between the Attenuation Start and End points.

Projector Map Type projmaptype - ⊞ -

Spot spot -

Point (Equirectangular) point -

Projector Map projmap - ⊞ - The path to a TOP used for the light's projector map.

Extend U projmapextendu - ⊞ - Sets the extend conditions for the Projector Map texture.

Hold hold -

Zero zero -

Repeat repeat -

Mirror mirror -

Extend V projmapextendv - ⊞ - Sets the extend conditions for the Projector Map texture.

Hold hold -

Zero zero -

Repeat repeat -

Mirror mirror -

Extend W projmapextendw - ⊞ - Sets the extend conditions for the Projector Map texture.

Hold hold -

Zero zero -

Repeat repeat -

Mirror mirror -

Filter projmapfilter - ⊞ -

Nearest nearest -

Linear linear -

Mipmap Linear mipmaplinear -

Anisotropic Filter projmapanisotropy - ⊞ -

Off off -

2x 2x -

4x 4x -

8x 8x -

16x 16x -

Projector Map Mode projmapmode - ⊞ - Specify how the projection map is applied

Simple Horizontal FOV simplehorzfov - Uses field of view based on the Projector Angle parameter below.

Use View Settings useview - Uses the settings on the View page of parameters.

Projector Angle projangle - Specifies the cone angle spread of the projector map, similar to how the Cone Angle parameter works for Cone Lights.

Polygon Front Faces frontfacelit - ⊞ - Controls how the polygon's normal is used to light the front face of the polygon. For more information refer to the Two-Sided Lighting article.

Front Lit frontlit -

Back Lit backlit -

Polygon Back Faces backfacelit - ⊞ - Controls how the polygon's normal is used to light the back face of the polygon. For more information refer to the Two-Sided Lighting article.

Front Lit frontlit -

Back Lit backlit -

Parameters - Shadows Page

Enabling shadows will cause this node to render the scene in a depth-only pass to create a shadow map. This map will then be used by Render TOPs when rendering to create shadows for objects lit by this light. The shadow map that is created can be obtained using a Depth TOP, for cases where custom rendering is being done.

Shadow Type shadowtype - ⊞ - Sets the type of shadows cast by the light.

Off off - Shadow casting off.

Hard, 2D Mapped hard2d - Hard shadows.

Soft, 2D Mapped soft2d - Soft shadows.

Custom custom - Allows the use of a Custom Shadow Map.

Shadow Casters shadowcasters - The Geometry COMPs that will cast shadows from this light.

Light Size lightsize - ⊞ - Controls the size of the source light when using Soft or Custom shadows.

lightsize1 -

lightsize2 -

Max Shadow Softness maxshadowsoftness - Fine tuning for the shadow's software when using Soft or Custom shadows.

Filter Samples filtersamples - Controls how many samples to look up into the shadow map for each pixel when doing soft shadows.

Search Steps searchsteps - Controls how many steps to take to search for occlusion when doing soft shadows.

Polygon Offset Factor polygonoffsetfactor - Adds an offset to the Z value that depends on how sloped the surface is to the viewer when rendering the shadow map. Helps avoid z-fighting artifacts.

Polygon Offset Units polygonoffsetunits - Adds a constant offset to the Z value when rendering the shadow map. Helps avoid z-fighting artifacts.

Shadow Resolution shadowresolution - ⊞ - The resolution of the shadow's texture map used for the calculation.

shadowresolution1 -

shadowresolution2 -

Custom Shadow Map shadowmap - The path to a TOP used for the light's shadow map. See also Rendering Shadows.

Parameters - View Page

Projection projection - ⊞ - A pop-up menu lets you choose the projection type.

Perspective perspective - Uses a perspective projection.

Orthographic ortho - Uses an orthographic projection.

Custom Projection Matrix custommatrix - A projection matrix specified by a CHOP, DAT or a tdu.Matrix().

Aspect Correct Projection aspectcorrect - Keeps the aspect ratio of the view correct when using the light as a camera to look through.

Ortho Width orthowidth - Only active if Orthographic is chosen from the Projection pop-up menu. This specifies the width of the orthographic projection.

Use Cone Angle/Delta for FOV useconeforfov - If the light is set to Cone Light type, enabling this option sets the FOV using the Cone Angle and Cone Delta parameters on the Light parameter page.

Viewing Angle Method viewanglemethod - ⊞ - This menu determines which method is used to define the camera's angle of view.

Horizontal FOV horzfov - Uses the FOV Angle parameter below to set the camera's angle of view horizontally.

Vertical FOV vertfov - Uses the FOV Angle parameter below to set the camera's angle of view vertically.

Focal Length and Aperture focalaperture - Uses the Focal Length and Aperture parameters below to define the camera's angle of view.

FOV Angle fov - The field of view (FOV) angle is the angular extend of the scene imaged by the camera.

Focal Length focal - The parameter sets the focal length of the lens, zooming in and out. Perspective is flattened or exaggerated depending on focal length. Some interesting distortion effects can be acheived with this parameter.

Aperture aperture - This value relates to the area through which light can pass for the camera.

Near near - This control allows you to designate the near clipping planes. Geometry closer to the lens than these distances will not be visible.

Far far - This control allows you to designate the far clipping planes. Geometry further away from the lens than these distances will not be visible.

Proj Matrix/CHOP/DAT projmatrixop - When Custom Projection Matrix is selected, this parameters should be filled in with either a CHOP or a DAT with a custom 4x4 projection matrix. If a CHOP is used the first sample of the first 16 channels of the CHOP are used to create a 4x4 matrix. The channels can be thought as being read row-by-row or column-by-column. If a DAT is given a 4x4 table should be used. The matrix convention used is column major, which means vectors/points are multiplied on the right of the matrix.

Custom Projection GLSL DAT customproj - Takes a DAT containing a GLSL shader to specify custom projection functions. You must provide two functions in this shader. Both functions must be provided and return correct results for your rendering to work in all cases. As a starting point, here are the definitions for these functions that are used when custom ones are not provided.

  vec4 TDSOPToProj(vec4 p)				
  {				
      vec4 projP = uTDMat.worldCamProj * p;				
      return projP;				
  }			
  vec4 TDCamToProj(vec4 p)				
  {				
      vec4 projP = uTDMat.proj * p;				
      return projP;				
  }

The other convenience variations of these functions such as vec3 TDCamToProj(vec3 p) will automatically call the correct one of either of the two above functions. You can use uniforms/samplers in this shader code by declaring them here and providing them in the GLSL page of the Render TOP.

Background Color bgcolor - ⊞ - Set the background color of the view when using the light as a camera.

Red bgcolorr -

Green bgcolorg -

Blue bgcolorb -

Alpha bgcolora -

Parameters - Render Page

The Display parameter page controls the component's material and rendering settings.

Material material - Selects a MAT to apply to the geometry inside.

Render render - Whether the Component's geometry is visible in the Render TOP. This parameter works in conjunction (logical AND) with the Component's Render Flag.

Draw Priority drawpriority - Determines the order in which the Components are drawn. Smaller values get drawn after larger values. The value is compared with other Components in the same parent Component, or if the Component is the top level one listed in the Render TOP's 'Geometry' parameter, then against other top-level Components listed there. This value is most often used to help with Transparency.

Pick Priority pickpriority - When using a Render Pick CHOP or a Render Pick DAT, there is an option to have a 'Search Area'. If multiple objects are found within the search area, the pick priority can be used to select one object over another. A higher value will get picked over a lower value. This does not affect draw order, or objects that are drawn over each other on the same pixel. Only one will be visible for a pick per pixel.

Wireframe Color wcolor - ⊞ - Use the R, G, and B fields to set the Component's color when displayed in wireframe shading mode.

Red wcolorr -

Green wcolorg -

Blue wcolorb -

Light Mask lightmask - By default all lights used in the Render TOP will affect geometry renderer. This parameter can be used to specify a sub-set of lights to be used for this particular geometry. The lights must be listed in the Render TOP as well as this parameter to be used.

Parameters - Extensions Page

The Extensions parameter page sets the component's python extensions. Please see extensions for more information.

Extension ext - Sequence of info for creating extensions on this component

Object ext0object - A number of class instances that can be attached to the component.

Name ext0name - Optional name to search by, instead of the instance class name.

Promote ext0promote - Controls whether or not the extensions are visible directly at the component level, or must be accessed through the .ext member. Example: n.Somefunction vs n.ext.Somefunction

Re-Init Extensions reinitextensions - Recompile all extension objects. Normally extension objects are compiled only when they are referenced and their definitions have changed.

Parameters - Common Page

The Common parameter page sets the component's node viewer and clone relationships.

Parent Shortcut parentshortcut - Specifies a name you can use anywhere inside the component as the path to that component. See Parent Shortcut.

Global OP Shortcut opshortcut - Specifies a name you can use anywhere at all as the path to that component. See Global OP Shortcut.

Internal OP iop - Sequence header for internal operators.

Shortcut iop0shortcut - Specifies a name you can use anywhere inside the component as a path to "Internal OP" below. See Internal Operators.

OP iop0op - The path to the Internal OP inside this component. See Internal Operators.

Node View nodeview - ⊞ - Determines what is displayed in the node viewer, also known as the Node Viewer. Some options will not be available depending on the Component type (Object Component, Panel Component, Misc.)

Default Viewer default - Displays the default viewer for the component type, a 3D Viewer for Object COMPS and a Control Panel Viewer for Panel COMPs.

Operator Viewer opviewer - Displays the node viewer from any operator specified in the Operator Viewer parameter below.

Operator Viewer opviewer - Select which operator's node viewer to use when the Node View parameter above is set to Operator Viewer.

Enable Cloning enablecloning - Control if the OP should be actively cloneing. Turning this off causes this node to stop cloning it's 'Clone Master'.

Enable Cloning Pulse enablecloningpulse - Instantaneously clone the contents.

Clone Master clone - Path to a component used as the Master Clone.

Load on Demand loadondemand - Loads the component into memory only when required. Good to use for components that are not always used in the project.

Enable External .tox enableexternaltox - When on (default), the external .tox file will be loaded when the .toe starts and the contents of the COMP will match that of the external .tox. This can be turned off to avoid loading from the referenced external .tox on startup if desired (the contents of the COMP are instead loaded from the .toe file). Useful if you wish to have a COMP reference an external .tox but not always load from it unless you specifically push the Re-Init Network parameter button.

Enable External .tox Pulse enableexternaltoxpulse - This button will re-load from the external .tox file (if present).

External .tox Path externaltox - Path to a .tox file on disk which will source the component's contents upon start of a .toe. This allows for components to contain networks that can be updated independently. If the .tox file can not be found, whatever the .toe file was saved with will be loaded.

Reload Custom Parameters reloadcustom - When this checkbox is enabled, the values of the component's Custom Parameters are reloaded when the .tox is reloaded. This only affects top-level parameters on the component, all parameters on nodes inside the component are always reloaded with the .tox.

Reload Built-In Parameters reloadbuiltin - When this checkbox is enabled, the values of the component's built-in parameters are reloaded when the .tox is reloaded. This only affects top-level parameters on the component, all parameters on nodes inside the component are always reloaded with the .tox.

Save Backup of External savebackup - When this checkbox is enabled, a backup copy of the component specified by the External .tox parameter is saved in the .toe file. This backup copy will be used if the External .tox can not be found. This may happen if the .tox was renamed, deleted, or the .toe file is running on another computer that is missing component media.

Sub-Component to Load subcompname - When loading from an External .tox file, this option allows you to reach into the .tox and pull out a COMP and make that the top-level COMP, ignoring everything else in the file (except for the contents of that COMP). For example if a .tox file named project1.tox contains project1/geo1, putting geo1 as the Sub-Component to Load, will result in geo1 being loaded in place of the current COMP. If this parameter is blank, it just loads the .tox file normally using the top level COMP in the file.

Relative File Path Behavior relpath - ⊞ - Set whether the child file paths within this COMP are relative to the .toe itself or the .tox, or inherit from parent.

Use Parent's Behavior inherit - Inherit setting from parent.

Relative to Project File (.toe) project - The path, when specified as a relative path, will be relative to the .toe file.

Relative to External COMP File (.tox) externaltox - The path, when specified as a relative path, will be relative to the .tox file. When no external COMP file is specified, or when Enable External .tox is not toggled on, this doesn't have any impact.

Info CHOP Channels

Extra Information for the Light COMP can be accessed via an Info CHOP.

Common COMP Info Channels

num_children - Number of children in this component.

Common Operator Info Channels

total_cooks - Number of times the operator has cooked since the process started.

cook_time - Duration of the last cook in milliseconds.

cook_frame - Frame number when this operator was last cooked relative to the component timeline.

cook_abs_frame - Frame number when this operator was last cooked relative to the absolute time.

cook_start_time - Time in milliseconds at which the operator started cooking in the frame it was cooked.

cook_end_time - Time in milliseconds at which the operator finished cooking in the frame it was cooked.

cooked_this_frame - 1 if operator was cooked this frame.

warnings - Number of warnings in this operator if any.

errors - Number of errors in this operator if any.

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