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| A new spotlight is created by operating the "Add Light Object" <Spotlight> button in the light dialog.
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| The parameters for a spotlight
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| A spotlight has the same type of light dispersal as with a normal light bulb, except that in this case an angle of spread can be stated in which the light is visible. This creates a cone of light originating near a spotlamp. On the left of the dialog box are now shown three angle instruments. The first two again give the inclination and direction of the spot cone, as with parallel lights. The third instrument contains two arrows emerging from the spot, which show the divergence angle of the light - the cone angle. Between 1 and 180 degrees can be input for the emerging cone.
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| Light Intensity - Maximum Range - A reduction in light intensity with distance is calculated. See also: Lamp - Light Intensity-Maximum Range
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| Examples in the illustration, from left to right:
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| · | 0- Normal light-cone without diffusion of the intensity.
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| · | 0.3- Over the last 30% the edge area shows a reduction in intensity for slow blending and soft spot edges.
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| 1- The light intensity falls off from the center of the beam to the cone edge.
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| Light Radius - If you enter a radius for a spotlight source it is possible to render this light object as a visible spherical light source (see also: Visible Light and Lens Flares).
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| But the light radius is also required to determine the maximum deflection for shadow-sensors when scanning a light sphere for the generation of a soft-shadow effect.
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| Number of Shadow-Sensors - Determines the number of shadow-sensors used to generate a soft-shadow effect. See also: Parallel Light - Number of Shadow-Sensors
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| No Shadows - The light source don't cast shadows. See also: Parallel Light - No Shadows.
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| Volumetric Spotlight Cone - Switch on this option to render a visible light-cone with realistic shadow casting from objects penetrating the cone. This light cone can only be rendered in raytracing-mode and the global <Volumetric Spotlight> button has to be switched on in the render options dialog, too. There you find some more parameters that define the global diffuse reflection and render resolution for this time consuming volumetric calculations. See also: Render Options - Volumetric Spotlight.
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| Spotlight Alignment
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| Besides the two alignment angles here in the light dialog you are also able to change the spot output direction in the Rotate Object work menu. There, the spot object is treated as an entirely normal object, which can be turned at will so that the direction of the spot cone is changed with the rotation. You can rotate the spot cone output direction here in the light dialog or in the object work menu - it is entirely up to you.
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| Other relevant settings for the spotlight in the light dialog:
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| · | Light-Mapping - How to use bitmaps to project colored light patterns
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| · | Lens Flares - Visible light and light reflections in the camera lens
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| · | Photon Mapping - The photon emission parameters
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