Spot Light

The next type of light we'll cover is the spot light. It represents conical spot light, such as the light coming from a flashlight.

Last updated 31 March 2026

The next type of light we'll cover is the spot light. It represents conical spot light, such as the light coming from a flashlight.

Parameters

In addition to the common parameters from Light Rectangle and Light Omni, the LightSpot plugin is affected by the following specific parameters:

coneAngle - The entire spot cone, in radians
penumbraAngle - The penumbra region, in radians; positive is outside the spot cone; negative is inside
dropOff - The dropOff attribute
falloffType - The type of transition in the penumbra region; 0 - linear; 1 - smooth cubic
barnDoor - true to produce a barn door effect.
barnDoorLeft - angle between the light direction and the left barn door
barnDoorRight - angle between the light direction and the right barn door
barnDoorTop - angle between the light direction and the top barn door
barnDoorBottom - angle between the light direction and the bottom barn door
useDecayRegions - True to use decay regions.
startDistance1 - Start of first decay region
endDistance1 - End of first decay region
startDistance2 - Start of second decay region
endDistance2 - End of second decay region
startDistance3 - Start of third decay region
endDistance3 - End of third decay region

Example

Here we'll show how to add a LightSpot to a scene.

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"] # LightSpot is a light source plugin that can be used to simulate lights created by a spotlight. light = renderer.classes.LightSpot() # Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.transform = vray.Transform( vray.Matrix( vray.Vector(2.220446e-016, 5.551115e-017, 1), vray.Vector(0.8358706, 0.5489266, -2.160721e-016), vray.Vector(-0.5489266, 0.8358706, 7.548605e-017)), vray.Vector(0, 197.3685320682933, 76.22419500664734)) # Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.intensity = 800 # Specify the color of the light in RGB float values and alpha(1.0f) light.color = vray.AColor(1, 0.85, 0.5) # Specify the cone angle of the spot in radians. light.coneAngle = 0.69 # Specify the penumbra angle of the spot in radians. Positive is outside the spot cone, negative is inside. light.penumbraAngle = 0.07 # Specify the light decay type. # Possible values are: # 0 (No Decay) # 1 (Linear) # 2 (Quadratic) - default # 3 (Cubic) light.decay = 1 # Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.shadowBias = 0.02 # Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.bumped_below_surface_check = True # 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 # 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"); // LightSpot is a light source plugin that can be used to simulate lights created by a spotlight. LightSpot light = renderer.newPlugin<LightSpot>(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.set_transform(Transform( Matrix( Vector(2.220446e-016, 5.551115e-017, 1.0), Vector(0.8358706, 0.5489266, -2.160721e-016), Vector(-0.5489266, 0.8358706, 7.548605e-017)), Vector(0.0, 197.3685320682933, 76.22419500664734))); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.set_intensity(800); // Specify the color of the light in RGB float values and alpha(1.0f) light.set_color(AColor(1, 0.85, 0.5)); // Specify the cone angle of the spot in radians. light.set_coneAngle(0.69f); // Specify the penumbra angle of the spot in radians. Positive is outside the spot cone, negative is inside. light.set_penumbraAngle(0.07f); // Specify the light decay type. Possible values are: // 0 (No Decay) // 1 (Linear) // 2 (Quadratic) - default // 3 (Cubic) light.set_decay(1); // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.set_shadowBias(0.02f); // 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); // 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); // 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 _10_spot{ 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"); // LightSpot is a light source plugin that can be used to simulate lights created by a spotlight. LightSpot light = renderer.NewPlugin<LightSpot>(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.Transform = new Transform( new Matrix( new Vector(2.220446e-016, 5.551115e-017, 1), new Vector(0.8358706, 0.5489266, -2.160721e-016), new Vector(-0.5489266, 0.8358706, 7.548605e-017)), new Vector(0, 197.3685320682933, 76.22419500664734)); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.Intensity = 800; // Specify the color of the light in RGB float values and alpha = 1. light.Color = new AColor(1, 0.85, 0.5); // Specify the cone angle of the spot in radians. light.ConeAngle = 0.69F; // Specify the penumbra angle of the spot in radians. Positive is outside the spot cone, negative is inside. light.PenumbraAngle = 0.07F; // Specify the light decay type. Possible values are: // 0 (No Decay) // 1 (Linear) // 2 (Quadratic) - default // 3 (Cubic) light.Decay = 1; // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.ShadowBias = 0.02F; // Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.BumpedBelowSurfaceCheck = true; // Specify the number of parameter samples for motion blur. light.Nsamples = 1; // 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; // 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"]; // LightSpot is a light source plugin that can be used to simulate lights created by a spotlight. var light = renderer.classes.LightSpot(); // Specify the light position, rotation and scale. light.transform = vray.Transform( vray.Matrix( vray.Vector(2.220446e-016, 5.551115e-017, 1), vray.Vector(0.8358706, 0.5489266, -2.160721e-016), vray.Vector(-0.5489266, 0.8358706, 7.548605e-017)), vray.Vector(0, 197.3685320682933, 76.22419500664734)); // Specify the light intensity based on the 'units' parameter. light.intensity = 800; // Specify the color of the light in RGB float values and alpha(1.0f) light.color = vray.AColor(1, 0.85, 0.5); // Specify the cone angle of the spot in radians. light.coneAngle = 0.69; // Specify the penumbra angle of the spot in radians. Positive is outside the spot cone, negative is inside. light.penumbraAngle = 0.07; // Specify the light decay type. Possible values are: // 0 (No Decay) // 1 (Linear) // 2 (Quadratic) - default // 3 (Cubic) light.decay = 1; // Specify shadow offset from the surface. Helps to prevent polygonal shadow artifacts on low-poly surfaces. light.shadowBias = 0.02; // Specify that the bumped normal should be used to check if the light direction is below the surface. light.bumped_below_surface_check = true; // 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; // 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_Spot.vrscene" and can be found in the scene bundle (comments on the different parameters available inside).

Parameters

Example

Python

C++

C#.NET

Node.js

Result

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