Pointing Lights at Objects
Lights can also be set to point specifically at an object in the scene using the Object, Point At command. This causes the Point At dialog box, shown in Figure 7-8 to appear where you can select the point at object. Once a point at object is selected, the light continues to point at the selected object even as the light is moved throughout the scene. To remove the Point At link between an object and a light, select the Object, Point At command again and choose the None button.

Parenting Lights
Another way to control lights is to parent the lights to a scene object. This is accomplished by clicking on the Set Parent button in the Properties palette or by selecting the Object, Change Parent menu command. Once a light is parented to a scene object, it moves with the object as the object’s position changes in the scene. The parented relationship is also shown in the Hierarchy Editor. To unparent a light, simply select the Universe object as its new parent.

 Only Spot and Point lights can be parented.

  

Create and Position a Spotlight
1.         Open Poser with the default mannequin visible.

 

2.         Select each of the light circles in the Light Controls and click the Delete Light button to remove the default lights. Click OK in the Delete confirmation dialog box that appears.

3.         Click the Create Light button  in the Light Controls.

A new light circle is added to the Light Controls and a spotlight indicator appears in the Document Window.

4.         Drag the light circle in the Light Controls to roughly position the new spotlight above the scene figure.

5.         Drag the Move XZ control in the Camera Controls to zoom out the scene until the spotlight indicator is visible in the Document Window.

6.         Select Window, Parameter Dials to open the Parameters palette, if it isn’t already open, and set the Angle End value to 30.

7.         Select the main spotlight object from the Actor List at the top of the Document Window.

8.         Select the Object, Point At menu command.

9.         In the Point At dialog box that appears, select the Head object and click the OK button.

10.         Select and move the spotlight about the scene.

The spotlight points at the head object regardless of where it is moved within the scene, as shown in Figure 7-9.

11.         Select File, Save As and save the file as Head spot light.pz3.

Kelly L. Murdock has more than 15 years experience in the computer graphics arena, especially in the area of 3D graphics. Included in the experience is a variety of tasks from high-end CAD product design and architectural pre-visualization to virtual reality and games. Kelly is best known for his international best-selling books on graphics including the 3ds max Bible, Illustrator Bible and Naked Maya. He also is the author of Poser 6 Revealed and Poser 7 Revealed as well as Edgeloop Character Modeling for 3D Professionals. Kelly currently works as a freelance designer for Logical Paradox Design, a company that he founded with his brother.