Inheritance #

Light3D #

Node3D, Node, core, not_builtin_classes

Provides a base class for different kinds of light nodes.

Light3D is the abstract base class for light nodes. As it can't be instantiated, it shouldn't be used directly. Other types of light nodes inherit from it. Light3D contains the common variables and parameters used for lighting.

Members #

var distance_fade_begin: float = 40.0#

The distance from the camera at which the light begins to fade away (in 3D units).

Note: Only effective for OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D.

var distance_fade_enabled: bool = false#

If true, the light will smoothly fade away when far from the active Camera3D starting at distance_fade_begin. This acts as a form of level of detail (LOD). The light will fade out over distance_fade_begin + distance_fade_length, after which it will be culled and not sent to the shader at all. Use this to reduce the number of active lights in a scene and thus improve performance.

Note: Only effective for OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D.

var distance_fade_length: float = 10.0#

Distance over which the light and its shadow fades. The light's energy and shadow's opacity is progressively reduced over this distance and is completely invisible at the end.

Note: Only effective for OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D.

var distance_fade_shadow: float = 50.0#

The distance from the camera at which the light's shadow cuts off (in 3D units). Set this to a value lower than distance_fade_begin + distance_fade_length to further improve performance, as shadow rendering is often more expensive than light rendering itself.

Note: Only effective for OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D, and only when shadow_enabled is true.

var editor_only: bool = false#

If true, the light only appears in the editor and will not be visible at runtime. If true, the light will never be baked in LightmapGI regardless of its light_bake_mode.

var light_angular_distance: float = 0.0#

The light's angular size in degrees. Increasing this will make shadows softer at greater distances (also called percentage-closer soft shadows, or PCSS). Only available for DirectionalLight3Ds. For reference, the Sun from the Earth is approximately 0.5. Increasing this value above 0.0 for lights with shadows enabled will have a noticeable performance cost due to PCSS.

Note: light_angular_distance is not affected by Node3D.scale (the light's scale or its parent's scale).

Note: PCSS for directional lights is only supported in the Forward+ rendering method, not Mobile or Compatibility.

var light_bake_mode = BAKE_DYNAMIC#

The light's bake mode. This will affect the global illumination techniques that have an effect on the light's rendering. See BakeMode.

Note: Meshes' global illumination mode will also affect the global illumination rendering. See GeometryInstance3D.gi_mode.

var light_color: Color = Color(1, 1, 1, 1)#

The light's color. An overbright color can be used to achieve a result equivalent to increasing the light's light_energy.

var light_cull_mask: int = 4294967295#

The light will affect objects in the selected layers.

var light_energy: float = 1.0#

The light's strength multiplier (this is not a physical unit). For OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D, changing this value will only change the light color's intensity, not the light's radius.

var light_indirect_energy: float = 1.0#

Secondary multiplier used with indirect light (light bounces). Used with VoxelGI and SDFGI (see Environment.sdfgi_enabled).

Note: This property is ignored if light_energy is equal to 0.0, as the light won't be present at all in the GI shader.

var light_intensity_lumens: float#

Used by positional lights (OmniLight3D and SpotLight3D) when ProjectSettings.rendering/lights_and_shadows/use_physical_light_units is true. Sets the intensity of the light source measured in Lumens. Lumens are a measure of luminous flux, which is the total amount of visible light emitted by a light source per unit of time.

For SpotLight3Ds, we assume that the area outside the visible cone is surrounded by a perfect light absorbing material. Accordingly, the apparent brightness of the cone area does not change as the cone increases and decreases in size.

A typical household lightbulb can range from around 600 lumens to 1,200 lumens, a candle is about 13 lumens, while a streetlight can be approximately 60,000 lumens.

var light_intensity_lux: float#

Used by DirectionalLight3Ds when ProjectSettings.rendering/lights_and_shadows/use_physical_light_units is true. Sets the intensity of the light source measured in Lux. Lux is a measure of luminous flux per unit area, it is equal to one lumen per square meter. Lux is the measure of how much light hits a surface at a given time.

On a clear sunny day a surface in direct sunlight may be approximately 100,000 lux, a typical room in a home may be approximately 50 lux, while the moonlit ground may be approximately 0.1 lux.

var light_negative: bool = false#

If true, the light's effect is reversed, darkening areas and casting bright shadows.

var light_projector: Texture2D#

Texture2D projected by light. shadow_enabled must be on for the projector to work. Light projectors make the light appear as if it is shining through a colored but transparent object, almost like light shining through stained-glass.

Note: Unlike BaseMaterial3D whose filter mode can be adjusted on a per-material basis, the filter mode for light projector textures is set globally with ProjectSettings.rendering/textures/light_projectors/filter.

Note: Light projector textures are only supported in the Forward+ and Mobile rendering methods, not Compatibility.

var light_size: float = 0.0#

The size of the light in Godot units. Only available for OmniLight3Ds and SpotLight3Ds. Increasing this value will make the light fade out slower and shadows appear blurrier (also called percentage-closer soft shadows, or PCSS). This can be used to simulate area lights to an extent. Increasing this value above 0.0 for lights with shadows enabled will have a noticeable performance cost due to PCSS.

Note: light_size is not affected by Node3D.scale (the light's scale or its parent's scale).

Note: PCSS for positional lights is only supported in the Forward+ and Mobile rendering methods, not Compatibility.

var light_specular: float = 1.0#

The intensity of the specular blob in objects affected by the light. At 0, the light becomes a pure diffuse light. When not baking emission, this can be used to avoid unrealistic reflections when placing lights above an emissive surface.

var light_temperature: float#

Sets the color temperature of the light source, measured in Kelvin. This is used to calculate a correlated color temperature which tints the light_color.

The sun on a cloudy day is approximately 6500 Kelvin, on a clear day it is between 5500 to 6000 Kelvin, and on a clear day at sunrise or sunset it ranges to around 1850 Kelvin.

var light_volumetric_fog_energy: float = 1.0#

Secondary multiplier multiplied with light_energy then used with the Environment's volumetric fog (if enabled). If set to 0.0, computing volumetric fog will be skipped for this light, which can improve performance for large amounts of lights when volumetric fog is enabled.

Note: To prevent short-lived dynamic light effects from poorly interacting with volumetric fog, lights used in those effects should have light_volumetric_fog_energy set to 0.0 unless Environment.volumetric_fog_temporal_reprojection_enabled is disabled (or unless the reprojection amount is significantly lowered).

var shadow_bias: float = 0.1#

Used to adjust shadow appearance. Too small a value results in self-shadowing ("shadow acne"), while too large a value causes shadows to separate from casters ("peter-panning"). Adjust as needed.

var shadow_blur: float = 1.0#

Blurs the edges of the shadow. Can be used to hide pixel artifacts in low-resolution shadow maps. A high value can impact performance, make shadows appear grainy and can cause other unwanted artifacts. Try to keep as near default as possible.

var shadow_caster_mask: int = 4294967295#

The light will only cast shadows using objects in the selected layers.

var shadow_enabled: bool = false#

If true, the light will cast real-time shadows. This has a significant performance cost. Only enable shadow rendering when it makes a noticeable difference in the scene's appearance, and consider using distance_fade_enabled to hide the light when far away from the Camera3D.

var shadow_normal_bias: float = 2.0#

Offsets the lookup into the shadow map by the object's normal. This can be used to reduce self-shadowing artifacts without using shadow_bias. In practice, this value should be tweaked along with shadow_bias to reduce artifacts as much as possible.

var shadow_opacity: float = 1.0#

The opacity to use when rendering the light's shadow map. Values lower than 1.0 make the light appear through shadows. This can be used to fake global illumination at a low performance cost.

var shadow_reverse_cull_face: bool = false#

If true, reverses the backface culling of the mesh. This can be useful when you have a flat mesh that has a light behind it. If you need to cast a shadow on both sides of the mesh, set the mesh to use double-sided shadows with GeometryInstance3D.SHADOW_CASTING_SETTING_DOUBLE_SIDED.

var shadow_transmittance_bias: float = 0.05#

Methods #

Annotations #

Constants #

const PARAM_ENERGY = 0 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_energy.

const PARAM_INDIRECT_ENERGY = 1 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_indirect_energy.

const PARAM_VOLUMETRIC_FOG_ENERGY = 2 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_volumetric_fog_energy.

const PARAM_SPECULAR = 3 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_specular.

const PARAM_RANGE = 4 enum Param#

Constant for accessing OmniLight3D.omni_range or SpotLight3D.spot_range.

const PARAM_SIZE = 5 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_size.

const PARAM_ATTENUATION = 6 enum Param#

Constant for accessing OmniLight3D.omni_attenuation or SpotLight3D.spot_attenuation.

const PARAM_SPOT_ANGLE = 7 enum Param#

Constant for accessing SpotLight3D.spot_angle.

const PARAM_SPOT_ATTENUATION = 8 enum Param#

Constant for accessing SpotLight3D.spot_angle_attenuation.

const PARAM_SHADOW_MAX_DISTANCE = 9 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_max_distance.

const PARAM_SHADOW_SPLIT_1_OFFSET = 10 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_split_1.

const PARAM_SHADOW_SPLIT_2_OFFSET = 11 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_split_2.

const PARAM_SHADOW_SPLIT_3_OFFSET = 12 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_split_3.

const PARAM_SHADOW_FADE_START = 13 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_fade_start.

const PARAM_SHADOW_NORMAL_BIAS = 14 enum Param#

Constant for accessing shadow_normal_bias.

const PARAM_SHADOW_BIAS = 15 enum Param#

Constant for accessing shadow_bias.

const PARAM_SHADOW_PANCAKE_SIZE = 16 enum Param#

Constant for accessing DirectionalLight3D.directional_shadow_pancake_size.

const PARAM_SHADOW_OPACITY = 17 enum Param#

Constant for accessing shadow_opacity.

const PARAM_SHADOW_BLUR = 18 enum Param#

Constant for accessing shadow_blur.

const PARAM_TRANSMITTANCE_BIAS = 19 enum Param#

Constant for accessing shadow_transmittance_bias.

const PARAM_INTENSITY = 20 enum Param#

Constant for accessing light_intensity_lumens and light_intensity_lux. Only used when ProjectSettings.rendering/lights_and_shadows/use_physical_light_units is true.

const PARAM_MAX = 21 enum Param#

Represents the size of the Param enum.

const BAKE_DISABLED = 0 enum BakeMode#

Light is ignored when baking. This is the fastest mode, but the light will be taken into account when baking global illumination. This mode should generally be used for dynamic lights that change quickly, as the effect of global illumination is less noticeable on those lights.

Note: Hiding a light does not affect baking LightmapGI. Hiding a light will still affect baking VoxelGI and SDFGI (see Environment.sdfgi_enabled).

const BAKE_STATIC = 1 enum BakeMode#

Light is taken into account in static baking (VoxelGI, LightmapGI, SDFGI (Environment.sdfgi_enabled)). The light can be moved around or modified, but its global illumination will not update in real-time. This is suitable for subtle changes (such as flickering torches), but generally not large changes such as toggling a light on and off.

Note: The light is not baked in LightmapGI if editor_only is true.

const BAKE_DYNAMIC = 2 enum BakeMode#

Light is taken into account in dynamic baking (VoxelGI and SDFGI (Environment.sdfgi_enabled) only). The light can be moved around or modified with global illumination updating in real-time. The light's global illumination appearance will be slightly different compared to BAKE_STATIC. This has a greater performance cost compared to BAKE_STATIC. When using SDFGI, the update speed of dynamic lights is affected by ProjectSettings.rendering/global_illumination/sdfgi/frames_to_update_lights.

Constructors #

Enums #

Param#

BakeMode#

Operators #

Signals #

Theme Items #

Tutorials #