In the sixth part of the series, we explore the light control feature, learning how to turn lights on and off in 3D models and how this functionality can add a dynamic atmosphere to your designs.

Materials

Duplicate

I am duplicating the yellow Emissive material used for the microwave’s light.

Material Properties

When duplicating Emissive materials, the Value and Mode settings in the Emission section are reset. I set the color to white in the Color option, which will represent the light being off.

Apply Material

When we hover the mouse cursor over the White Emissive material, we can see the Apply button. After clicking this button, I selected the Lamp A component in the Project Panel, assigning the material to this component.

Lights

Create Disk Light

I right clicked on the 3D section in the Project Panel and created a Disk Light via the lights menu.

Disk Light Propersites

I set the light to a yellow hue and set the disk’s radius to 55 mm to align it with the lamp in my microwave model. To prevent glare while positioning, I temporarily reduced the intensity to 0 Lumens.However, we will increase this value to 100 Lumens later in the project.

Positioning

To position the Disk Light component to align with the Lamp A component in the microwave, I selected Camera 2 to view the model from the front. To better see the Disk and Lamp A components, I temporarily hid the Main Body A and Cover A components. After completing the necessary positioning adjustments, I increased the light’s Lumen value to 100.

Scenario: Light On/Off

In the first entry of our series, we learned how to open and close the microwave model’s cover. Now, we’ll control the lamp color and the light source state based on whether the cover is open or closed. When the cover is open, the lamp color should change to yellow (Yellow Emissive), and the light source should turn On. When the cover is closed, the lamp color should change to white (White Emissive), and the light source should turn Off.

Light On

Each time the Cover A component is opened, apply the Yellow Emissive material to the Lamp A component AND turn the Disk Light’s switch to the On position.

Light Off

Each time the Cover A component is closed, apply the White Emissive material to the Lamp A component AND turn the Disk Light’s switch to the Off position.