Environment Settings

In the Environment Settings section, you may determine if you want to use the iClone lights, iClone 2D background or the default Indigo light as the lighting source for rendering the current scene.

Setting the Indigo Environment Light

1. Prepare a project in iClone.
   

   Note:

   Please note that there is only a plane, a prop and one spotlight in this project.

2. Open the Render Settings plug-in panel.

   Note:

   Please refer to the sections below for more information about opening the Render Settings panel. Main Menu Top Toolbar

3. In the Indigo Environment section, choose one of the radio buttons to determine the lighting source for rendering the current scene in Indigo.
   • None (iClone Light Only): Choose this option to utilize the lights you have created in iClone.

     Note:

     If you choose this option, then you must have at least one light in your scene passed to Indigo for rendering. Otherwise, you may encounter a warning message when Indigo renders this scene. Please refer to the Lighting for Indigo Rendering section for more information.

   • Background Color: Choose this option to utilize the background color you have set in iClone.

     Note:

     Please note that only the 2D Background Color will be transfered to Indigo as environmental lighting source, the 2D Background Image will not.

   • Indigo Sun and Sky: Ignore every light and the background settings in iClone but use the sun and sky provided by Indigo as the light source.
     If you choose this radio button, then you need to set the position of the sun in Indigo.
     • Direction: Use this slider to determine the position of the sun.
     • Angle: Use this slider to determine the height of the sun.

     Note:

     Please refer to the Aligning Indigo Sun to iClone Directional Lights section for more information about aligning the Indigo Sun to iClone directional lights.

4. Click the Render Scene button on the toolbar to check out the rendering results.
   
   • None (iClone Light Only)

     The rendering result with iClone lights only

   • Background Color

     The 2D background color in iClone	The rendering result using the color to light up the scene

   • Indigo Sun and Sky: Ignore every light and the background setting in iClone but use the sun and sky provided by Indigo as the lighting source.

     The rendering result with Indigo sun and sky only

     If you choose this radio button, then you need to set the position of the sun in Indigo.
     • Direction: Use this slider to determine the position of the sun. Although the Azimuth in Indigo is 90 degrees different from the one in iClone, the value will be auto converted from iClone to Indigo; you do not need to calculate but simply set the degree direction you desire.
       

       The position of the sun set in iClone in accordance with the iClone world axis coordination.	Azimuth degrees in Indigo = iClone degree + 90 (auto-calculated)

     • Angle: Use this slider to determine the height of the sun.
       
       The higher the value, the higher the sun is.
       

   Note:

   Adjust the environment settings if you are not satisfied with the result and pass the current scene to render back and forth between iClone and Indigo until the result is optimized.

iClone Lights, Background Color, Indigo Sun and Sky

In the previous section, you are able to use the Background Color or Indigo Sun and Sky as the light sources. However, by default, the iClone lights are always joined to the scene with these two types of lighting methods.

Background Color with iClone Lights	Indigo Sun and Sky with iClone Lights

This can cause over exposure issues, especially when you have added different lights to your iClone project and these lights are interacting with the Indigo Environment Map or Indigo Sun and Sky.