---
title: "Max Point Light Details"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/ARENA/125144119/Max%20Point%20Light%20Details"
format: markdown
---
This page offers information about the Point Light Details rollout in Chaos Vantage. Overview Point light settings are divided into four tabs: Basic, Advanced, Attenuation, and Shadow settings.  – Basic settings tab.  – Attenuation settings tab.  – Shadow settings tab.  – Advanced settings tab. An * next to a parameter name indicates that the parameter value has been modified. UI Path || Top toolbar || >  Create new Light object || Right side panel || >  Objects  tab >  Create   new   Light object  >  Point Basic settings Enabled  – Turns on and off the point light. Color  – Changes the color of the point light. Intensity  – Specifies the intensity of the point light's brightness. Decay type  – Sets the type of decay (reduces a light's intensity over distance) to use for the light. None  – No decay is applied, and the light maintains full strength to infinity unless  Far attenuation  is enabled. Inverse  – Applies an inverse decay where the luminance value is calculated by the formula  luminance=R  0  /R .  R 0   is the  Near attenuation   end  value of the light if enabled, and  R  is the radial distance of the illuminated surface from  R 0 . Inverse square  –Applies an inverse-square decay where luminance value is calculated by the formula  luminance = (R  0  /R) 2 .  R 0  is the  Near attenuation   end  value of the light if enabled, and  R  is the radial distance of the illuminated surface from  R 0 . Decay start  – Specifies the distance at which the light begins to decay. Value is ignored if  Near attenuation  is enabled. Projector tex  – Specifies the texture to be used for color projection. Load projector tex  – Opens a browse window to load the texture to be used for projection. Image gamma  – Specifies the color space for the loaded  Projector tex . sRGB  – Sets the loaded projector texture to be interpreted in sRGB color space. Linear  – Sets the loaded projector texture to be interpreted in Linear color space. Attenuation settings Near attenuation  – Toggles near decay on and off. Near attenuation start  – Determines where the fade-in starts. Anything before this point is rendered dark. Near attenuation end  – Determines where the fade-in ends. After this threshold, the light is at its full value. Far attenuation  – Toggles far decay on and off. Far attenuation start  – Determines where the fade off starts. Far attenuation end  – Determines where the light reaches a value of 0, i.e., completely fades off. Shadow settings Shadow shape  – Specifies the shape for the light from which shadow rays are cast. Box  – Sets a box shape for the light. Sphere  – Sets a sphere shape for the light. U size  – Specifies the length of the box shape when  Shadow shape  is  Box  or the diameter of the sphere when  Shadow shape  is  Sphere . V size  – Specifies the width of the box shape when the  Shadow shape  is  Box . W size  – Specifies the height of the box shape when the  Shadow shape  is  Box . Advanced settings Shadows  – When enabled (the default), the light casts shadows. Turn this option off to disable shadow casting for the light. The value moves the shadow toward or away from the shadow-casting object(s). Higher values move the shadow toward the object(s), while lower values move it away from the object (s). If this value is too extreme, shadows can "leak" through places they shouldn't or "detach" from an object. Other effects from extreme values include Moire patterns, out-of-place dark areas on surfaces, and shadows not appearing at all in the rendering. Affect diffuse  – Determines whether the light affects the diffuse portion of the materials. The value controls the light's contribution to the diffuse portion of the materials. Affect specular  – Determines whether the light affects the specular portion of the materials. The value controls the light's contribution to specular reflections. Use global mult  – When enabled, uses the  Enable Lights  value (Render tab > Advanced mode > Lighting rollout) as a multiplier to the  Intensity  value. When disabled, the light is independent of the global multiplier. Soft shadows  – When enabled, the light shape is considered for illumination, and the light generates soft shadows. When disabled, the light is going to generate sharp shadows. Area speculars  – When enabled, the shape of the light is visible in the specular reflections. When disabled, the particular light is rendered as a point light in the specular reflections.