Adding a Camera View

Creating the Sun with a Lens Flare

Adding a Glow to the Sun Using Lens Effects

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Special Effects > Creating the Sun with a Lens Flare > 

Adding Lights

There are no lights in the scene. In this step, you’ll add two Omni lights: one to light Mars, and the other to be the Sun.

Light your scene:

1. From the Create menu, choose Lights > Standard Lights > Omni.
2. In the Top viewport, click to create an Omni light to the right and below Mars. Name it marslight.
3. Create a second omni light to the right and above Mars. Name it Sun.

   

4. Select Sun and at the top of the Modify panel, click the color swatch. The Color Selector appears. Change the color to a yellow-orange and click OK.
   NoteBoth lights are adding illumination to the scene. With the camera in front of Mars, the lighting of the sun doesn’t really add to the illumination on the dark side of the planet. If this becomes a problem later, you can exclude this light from illuminating any objects in the scene.
5. Move marslight left or right to create a lighting effect you like for the dark side of Mars.

   Now use contrast to add some drama to your light.

6. In the Modify panel, go to the Advanced Effects rollout > Affect Surfaces group, and increase the Contrast setting for marslight to 77.

   You won’t see the changes until you render the scene.

7. Activate the Camera viewport, then on the toolbar, click the Quick Render button.

   

   You still don’t see the light that will be your Sun in the rendered image. It won’t appear until you add effects in the next topic.

   TipTry different contrast values and render each one. The higher the value, the sharper the edge of the light.