AutoCAD 2008's biggest changes weren't even emphasized during the new software's rollout: lights for rendering.
One group of commands had me really puzzled when I first read about them: "free" lights, as in FreeSpot and FreeWeb. The documentation says, "Creates a free spotlight, which is similar to a spotlight but without a specified target". What's the point of a spot light that doesn't point at anything? Its whole purpose is to point at some spot!
Playing around with them I found that the documentation isn't quite accurate: the target point of FreeSpot lights is implied, rather than not specified.
FreeSpot lights do point at targets: they point straight down. This feature makes them useful for placing them in ceilings and streetlights, because you don't have to specify the target location.
Once the free light is in place with its target pointed at -Z, you can adjust the target point like this: in the light's properties, change Targeted to Yes; the target grips appear, allowing you to relocate it.
FWIW, the term Free Spotlight and Target Spotlight are familiar for users of Autodesk VIZ and 3ds max, since about forever.
In those applications, you orient a free light using transformation tools, rather than by translating a target point. Both approaches have there use.
Posted by: Stefan Boeykens | Jun 26, 2007 at 12:09 AM
Quisiera saber todo lo relacionado con AutoCAD y las demasa disciplinas de Autodesk.
Posted by: Edwin MartÃnez | Jul 10, 2007 at 11:46 AM