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Add Lighting Effects

You can use up to five lights to introduce creative effects. You can control such lighting properties as lighting type, direction, intensity, color, lighting center, and lighting spread. There is also a Bump Layer control for using textures or patterns from other footage to produce special effects such as a 3D‑like surface effect.
Note: All Lighting Effects properties except Bump Layer can be animated using keyframes.

You can directly manipulate the Lighting Effects properties in the Program Monitor. Click the Transform icon  next to Lighting Effects in the Effect Controls panel to display the adjustment handles and Center circle.

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Lighting Effects: Original image (left), Spotlight applied to image (center), and Omnilight applied to image (right)

  1. In the Effects panel, expand the Video Effects bin, expand the Adjust bin, and then drag the Lighting Effects onto a clip in a Timeline panel.
    If a clip is already selected in a Timeline panel, you can drag the Lighting Effects directly to the Video Effects section of the Effect Controls panel.
  2. In the Effect Controls panel, click the triangle to expand the Lighting Effects.
  3. Click the triangle to expand Light 1.
  4. Choose a light type from the pop‑up menu to specify the light source:
    None
    Turns off a light.

    Directional
    Shines light from far away so that the light angle doesn’t change—like the sun.

    Omni
    Shines light in all directions from directly above the image—like a light bulb over a piece of paper.

    Spotlight
    Casts an elliptical beam of light.

  5. To specify a color for the light, do one of the following:

    • Click the color swatch, select a color using the Adobe Color Picker, and then click OK.

    • Click the Eyedropper icon and then click anywhere on the computer desktop to select a color.

  6. (Optional) Click the Transform icon to display the light’s handles and Center circle in the Program Monitor. You can directly manipulate the position, scale, and rotation of a light by dragging its handles and Center circle .
    Note: If you have more than one light, Center circles for each light appear in the Program Monitor. Clicking a Center circle displays the handles for a specific light.
  7. In the Effect Controls panel, use the following controls to set the properties for the individual source light:
    Center
    Moves the light using X and Y coordinate values for the center of the light. You can also position a light by dragging its Center circle in the Program Monitor.

    Major Radius
    Adjusts the length of an Omni light or Spotlight. You can also drag one of the handles in the Program Monitor.

    Projected Radius
    Adjusts the proximity of a Directional light’s source to the Center circle . A value of 0 positions the light at the Center circle and floods the image with light. A value of 100 moves the light source far from the Center circle, decreasing the light falling on the image. In the Program Monitor, you can also drag the light source point to adjust its distance from the Center circle.

    Minor Radius
    Adjusts the width of a Spotlight. Once the light becomes a circle, increasing the Minor Radius also increases the Major Radius. You can also drag one of the handles in the Program Monitor to adjust this property.

    Angle
    Changes the direction of a Directional light or Spotlight. Adjust this control by specifying a value in degrees. You can also move the pointer outside a handle in the Program Monitor until it turns into a double‑headed curved arrow , and then drag to rotate the light.

    Intensity
    Controls whether a light is bright or less intense.

    Focus
    Adjusts the size of the Spotlight’s brightest area.
    Important: The Light Type determines which Lighting Effects properties are available. Make sure to click the Transform icon to display a light’s handles and Center circle in the Program Monitor.

  8. Use the following controls to set the Lighting Effects properties:
    Ambient Light Color
    Changes the color of the ambient light.

    Ambience Intensity
    Diffuses the light as if it were combined with other light in a room, such as sunlight or fluorescent light. Choose a value of 100 to use only the light source, or a value of –100 to remove the light source. To change the color of the ambient light, click the color box and use the color picker that appears.

    Surface Gloss
    Determines how much the surface reflects light (as on the surface of a piece of photographic paper) from –100 (low reflectance) to 100 (high reflectance).

    Surface Material
    Determines which is more reflective: the light or the object on which the light is cast. A value of –100 reflects the light’s color, and a value of 100 reflects the object’s color.

    Exposure
    Increases (positive values) or decreases (negative values) the light’s brightness. A value of 0 is the default brightness of the light.

  9. (Optional) Repeat steps 3 ‑ 7 to add more lights (Light 2 ‑ Light 5).
  10. (Optional) If you added a clip to use as a bump layer (Lighting Effects texture), choose the track containing the bump layer clip from the Bump Layer pop‑up menu. Use the controls to adjust the properties for the bump layer.