Light Types
Directional, point, spot and area lights
Also known as: Directional light · Point light · Spot light · Area light · Rect light · Light types 3D
Definition
The main light types in 3D are directional, point, spot and area. A directional light is like the sun, with parallel rays and no distance falloff. A point light shines in all directions from a position and fades with distance. A spot light is a cone with an angle and softness. An area light, called a rect light in Unreal Engine, emits from a surface, so it gives soft shadows and realistic reflections, but costs more or only works baked in some pipelines.
In production
Use a directional light for sun and moon, point and spot lights for lamps and torches, and area lights for windows, screens and soft studio lights. Keep the number of dynamic lights with shadows low, because each one costs performance. Light units, colors and falloff differ between engines, so check the engine's documentation. For stylized work, rim lights and fills are often point or spot lights placed by hand.
Tools that use Light Types
See also
Three-Point Lighting
Key, fill and rim light setup
Inverse-Square Falloff
How light fades with distance
Baked vs Realtime Lighting
Precomputed or calculated every frame
Cascaded Shadow Maps
Shadows with more detail near the camera
Physical Light Units
Lux, lumens, candela and nits
Global Illumination
Light bouncing between surfaces