Light Omni

In this chapter we'll cover the simplest light source in V-Ray - omni light. The omni light represents a point light source. It has parameters for the rate of decay and casting soft shadows (shadowRadius below).

Last updated 31 March 2026

Specific parameters

Along with the common light parameters, the omni light has some that are specific for it:

areaSpeculars - If true, the hilights will match the shape of the light; if false, hilights will always be calculated as from a point light
shadowRadius - The size of the light; 0.0 is a point light, larger values produces soft (area) shadows
shadowRadius_tex - A float texture that if present will override the shadows radius parameter
shadowSubdivs - Controls the number of samples used to compute lighting
decay - Exponent for the distance decay function. The default is the inverse square law. 0 disables decay.

Example

The following example illustrates the use of the LightOmni with area shadows.

Python

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""># Compatibility with Python 2.7.from __future__ import print_function# The directory containing the vray shared object should be present in the PYTHONPATH environment variable.# Try to import the vray module from VRAY_SDK/python, if it is not in PYTHONPATHimport sys, osVRAY_SDK = os.environ.get('VRAY_SDK')if VRAY_SDK: sys.path.append(os.path.join(VRAY_SDK, 'python'))import vraySCENE_PATH = os.path.join(os.environ.get('VRAY_SDK'), 'scenes')# Change process working directory to SCENE_PATH in order to be able to load relative scene resources.os.chdir(SCENE_PATH)# The renderer is automatically closed after the `with` block.with vray.VRayRenderer() as renderer: # Register a simple log callback. Always useful for debugging. def dumpMsg(renderer, message, level, instant): if level == vray.LOGLEVEL_ERROR: print("[ERROR]", message) elif level == vray.LOGLEVEL_WARNING: print("[Warning]", message) elif level == vray.LOGLEVEL_INFO: print("[info]", message) # Uncomment for testing, but you might want to ignore these in real code #else: print("[debug]", message) renderer.setOnLogMessage(dumpMsg) # Load scene from a file. renderer.load(os.path.join(SCENE_PATH, 'lighting.vrscene')) # Remove original light source from the scene. del renderer.plugins["VRayLightDomeShape1"] # LightOmni is a light source plugin that can be used to create physically accurate # omnidirectional lights that cast rays in all directions from a single source. light = renderer.classes.LightOmni() # Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.transform = vray.Transform( vray.Matrix( vray.Vector(1.0, 0, 0), vray.Vector(0, 1.0, 0), vray.Vector(0, 0, 1.0)), vray.Vector(0, 100.7851212422053, 48.17329059810792)) # Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.intensity = 44000 # Specify the size of the light for shadows. The light is not directly visible to the camera. # This parameter controls the softness of the shadows. A value of 0.0 produces a point light. Larger values result in soft (area) shadows. light.shadowRadius = 1.2 # Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.shadowBias = 0.02 # Specify a threshold for the light intensity, below which the light will # not be computed. This can be useful in scenes with many lights, where you # want to limit the effect of the lights to some distance around them. # Larger values cut away more from the light; lower values make the light # range larger. If you specify 0.0, the light will be calculated for all surfaces. light.cutoffThreshold = 0.005 # Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.bumped_below_surface_check = True # Start rendering. renderer.startSync() # Wait for rendering to end. renderer.waitForRenderEnd()</code>

C++

<code data-v-c2b1f83f="">#define VRAY_RUNTIME_LOAD_PRIMARY#include "vraysdk.hpp"#include "vrayplugins.hpp"#include "utils.h"using namespace VRay;using namespace VRay::Plugins;using namespace std;const char *BASE_PATH = getenv("VRAY_SDK");string SCENE_PATH = (BASE_PATH ? string(BASE_PATH) : string(".")) + PATH_DELIMITER + "scenes";int main() { // Change process working directory to SCENE_PATH in order to be able to load relative scene resources. changeCurrentDir(SCENE_PATH.c_str()); // Load V-Ray SDK library. VRayInit init(NULL, true); // Create an instance of VRayRenderer with default options. // The renderer is automatically closed at the end of the current scope. VRayRenderer renderer; // It's recommended to always have a console log renderer.setOnLogMessage(logMessage); // Load scene from a file. renderer.load("lighting.vrscene"); // Remove original light source from the scene. renderer.deletePlugin("VRayLightDomeShape1"); // LightOmni is a light source plugin that can be used to create physically accurate // omnidirectional lights that cast rays in all directions from a single source. LightOmni light = renderer.newPlugin<LightOmni>(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.set_transform(Transform( Matrix( Vector(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), Vector(0.0, 1.0, 0.0), Vector(0.0, 0.0, 1.0)), Vector(0.0, 100.7851212422053, 48.17329059810792))); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.set_intensity(44000); // Specify the size of the light for shadows. The light is not directly visible to the camera. // This parameter controls the softness of the shadows. A value of 0.0 produces a point light. Larger values result in soft (area) shadows. light.set_shadowRadius(1.2f); // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.set_shadowBias(0.02f); // Specify a threshold for the light intensity, below which the light will // not be computed. This can be useful in scenes with many lights, where you // want to limit the effect of the lights to some distance around them. // Larger values cut away more from the light; lower values make the light // range larger. If you specify 0.0, the light will be calculated for all surfaces. light.set_cutoffThreshold(0.005f); // Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.set_bumped_below_surface_check(true); // Start rendering. renderer.startSync(); // Wait for rendering to end. renderer.waitForRenderEnd(); return 0;}</code>

C#.NET

<code data-v-c2b1f83f="">using System;using System.IO;using VRay;using VRay.Plugins;namespace _02_omni{ class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string SCENE_PATH = Path.Combine(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("VRAY_SDK"), "scenes"); // Change process working directory to SCENE_PATH in order to be able to // load relative scene resources. Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(SCENE_PATH); // Create an instance of VRayRenderer with default options. The renderer is automatically closed after the `using` block. using (VRayRenderer renderer = new VRayRenderer()) { // Add a listener for any type of log message. renderer.LogMessage += new EventHandler<MessageEventArgs>((source, e) => { // You can remove the if for testing, but you might want to ignore Debug in real code if (e.LogLevel != LogLevelType.Debug) { Console.WriteLine(String.Format("[{0}] {1}", e.LogLevel.ToString(), e.Message)); } }); // Load scene from a file. renderer.Load("lighting.vrscene"); // Remove original light source from the scene. renderer.DeletePlugin("VRayLightDomeShape1"); // LightOmni is a light source plugin that can be used to create physically accurate // omnidirectional lights that cast rays in all directions from a single source. LightOmni light = renderer.NewPlugin<LightOmni>(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.Transform = new Transform( new Matrix( new Vector(1.0, 0, 0), new Vector(0, 1.0, 0), new Vector(0, 0, 1.0)), new Vector(0, 100.7851212422053, 48.17329059810792)); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.Intensity = 44000; // Specify the size of the light for shadows. The light is not directly visible to the camera. // This parameter controls the softness of the shadows. A value of 0.0 produces a point light. Larger values result in soft (area) shadows. light.ShadowRadius = 1.2F; // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.ShadowBias = 0.02F; // Specify a threshold for the light intensity, below which the light will // not be computed. This can be useful in scenes with many lights, where you // want to limit the effect of the lights to some distance around them. // Larger values cut away more from the light; lower values make the light // range larger. If you specify 0.0, the light will be calculated for all surfaces. light.CutoffThreshold = 0.005F; // Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.BumpedBelowSurfaceCheck = true; // Start rendering. renderer.StartSync(); // Wait for rendering to end. renderer.WaitForRenderEnd(); } } }}</code>

Node.js

<code data-v-c2b1f83f="">var path = require('path');var vray = require(path.join(process.env.VRAY_SDK, 'node', 'vray'));var SCENE_PATH = path.join(process.env.VRAY_SDK, 'scenes');// Change process working directory to SCENE_PATH in order to be able to load relative scene resources.process.chdir(SCENE_PATH);// Create an instance of VRayRenderer with default options.var renderer = vray.VRayRenderer();// It's recommended to always have a console log callbackrenderer.on("logMessage", function(message, level, instant) { if (level == vray.LOGLEVEL_ERROR) console.log("[ERROR] ", message); else if (level == vray.LOGLEVEL_WARNING) console.log("[Warning] ", message); else if (level == vray.LOGLEVEL_INFO) console.log("[info] ", message); // Uncomment for testing, but you might want to ignore these in real code //else console.log("[debug] ", message);});// Load scene from a file asynchronously.renderer.load("lighting.vrscene", function(err) { if (err) throw err; // Remove original light source from the scene. delete renderer.plugins["VRayLightDomeShape1"]; // LightOmni is a light source plugin that can be used to create physically accurate // omnidirectional lights that cast rays in all directions from a single source. var light = renderer.classes.LightOmni(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.transform = vray.Transform( vray.Matrix( vray.Vector(1.0, 0, 0), vray.Vector(0, 1.0, 0), vray.Vector(0, 0, 1.0)), vray.Vector(0, 100.7851212422053, 48.17329059810792)); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.intensity = 44000; // Specify the size of the light for shadows. The light is not directly visible to the camera. // This parameter controls the softness of the shadows. A value of 0.0 produces a point light. Larger values result in soft (area) shadows. light.shadowRadius = 1.2; // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.shadowBias = 0.02; // Specify a threshold for the light intensity, below which the light will // not be computed. This can be useful in scenes with many lights, where you // want to limit the effect of the lights to some distance around them. // Larger values cut away more from the light; lower values make the light // range larger. If you specify 0.0, the light will be calculated for all surfaces. light.cutoffThreshold = 0.005; // Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.bumped_below_surface_check = true; // Start rendering. renderer.start(function(err) { if (err) throw err; // Wait for rendering to end. renderer.waitForRenderEnd(function() { renderer.close(); }); });});</code>

Result

The scene used for this render is called "Lighting_Omni.vrscene" and can be found in the scene bundle (comments on the different parameters available inside).

Specific parameters

Example

Python

C++

C#.NET

Node.js

Result

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