Sunlight Environment Parameters

The Scenes tab in the Palette includes the following parameters that appear when you click New Sunlight Environment.

The sunlight environment parameters are on the General, Sunlight, and Advanced subtabs.

General    
  Name Lets you rename the environment image.
  Background Type Environment or Color.
  Background Color Specifies the background color of the 3D Viewport outside the environment sphere.
  Refract Background For objects with solid-transparent appearances, refracts the background color or backplate instead of the environment. See Rendering Solid-Transparent Appearances for more details.
  Brightness Adjusts the overall brightness of the environment image.
  Rotation Rotates the environment image on the environment sphere.
  Select North Direction Specifies that the sunlight comes from the north with respect to the model.

Specify the north direction using the compass manipulator or click the model. Select a planar face or edge. In the Viewport, the compass manipulator rotates based on the selected north direction.
  Location (Read-only.) Displays the latitude and longitude of the simulated geo-location. This Windows-related feature requires Windows location privacy settings. Click Start > Settings > Privacy > Location.
  Date and Time (Read-only.) Displays the month and time of day of the simulated geo-location.
  Location, Time and Date Lets you change the location, date, and time of the simulated geo-location.
  Sun Incline (Read-only.) Displays the altitude of the simulated sun in the environment sphere.
  Decimal Degrees (DD) Lets you paste coordinates from the web in decimal degrees, for example: 41.40338, 2.174035.
  Calendar Specifies the month, date, and year to simulate.
  Time Specifies the time of day simulated on a 24-hour clock. In combination with Calendar, Latitude, and Longitude, Time determines the Sun Incline.
  Current Location Specifies the Latitude and Longitude based on the Windows OS current location. This Windows-related feature requires Windows location privacy settings. Click Start > Settings > Privacy > Location.
  Current Date and Time Specifies the time to now based on the Windows OS.
  Latitude Specifies the latitude of the location to simulate.
  Longitude Specifies the longitude of the location to simulate.
  Time Zone Specifies the time zone.
  Information Displays the time, date, and location you enter.
Sunlight    
  Haze Specifies the amount of haze in the simulated air.
  Red-Blue Shift Specifies the degree of red or blue shifting in the white balance of the simulated light, relative to neutral sunlight (5500 Kelvin).
  Saturation Specifies the saturation of the color shift (if any) of simulated light.
  Horizon Blur Specifies the degree to which the horizon blurs out to simulate the visibility limits.
  Sun Brightness Specifies the intensity of the simulated sunlight.
  Sun Diameter Specifies the size of the solar disk in the sky.
  Sun Glow Specifies the size and diffusion of the glow around the sun's disk.
  Floor Color Specifies the floor plane color.
  Night Color Specifies the night (ambient) color. Ambient light is an artificial illumination level that represents infinite diffuse reflections from all surfaces within a 3D scene, ensuring that even surfaces without direct illumination are visible.
Advanced    
  Tone Mapping Brightness. Specifies the luminance. Higher values increase brightness; lower values decrease it. Changes are made in real time.
  Transform
  • Flatten Floor. When selected, the environment is a half sphere. When cleared, the environment is a full sphere.
  • Size (meters). Determines the radius of the environment sphere.
  • Rotation. Rotates the environment image on the environment sphere.
  Ground Shadow Catcher
  • Enable. Shows/hides the projection of shadows on the floor in performance and raytrace modes.
  • Shadow Intensity. Lightens or darkens the environment floor shadow.
  • Reflection. Adjusts the visibility of the floor reflection where 0 is off and 1 is full reflection.
  • Roughness. Adjusts the roughness of the floor reflection where 0 is crisp and 1 is rough.
  • Advanced Caustics (Global Setting) . Enables advanced algorithms used to replicate the effects of focused and reflected light through solid translucent objects or reflective objects.
  Preview Options
  • Show Grid. (Available only when Raytracing is off.) Shows/hides a grid in the XZ-plane.
  • Cull below Floor. (Available only when Preview mode is active.) Hides any portion of the model that goes below the floor.