DirectionalLight

Inherits: Light < VisualInstance < Spatial < Node < Object

Directional light from a distance, as from the Sun.

Description

A directional light is a type of Light node that models an infinite number of parallel rays covering the entire scene. It is used for lights with strong intensity that are located far away from the scene to model sunlight or moonlight. The worldspace location of the DirectionalLight transform (origin) is ignored. Only the basis is used to determine light direction.

Enumerations

enum ShadowMode:

  • SHADOW_ORTHOGONAL = 0 — Renders the entire scene’s shadow map from an orthogonal point of view. May result in blockier shadows on close objects.
  • SHADOW_PARALLEL_2_SPLITS = 1 — Splits the view frustum in 2 areas, each with its own shadow map.
  • SHADOW_PARALLEL_4_SPLITS = 2 — Splits the view frustum in 4 areas, each with its own shadow map.

enum ShadowDepthRange:

  • SHADOW_DEPTH_RANGE_STABLE = 0 — Keeps the shadow stable when the camera moves, at the cost of lower effective shadow resolution.
  • SHADOW_DEPTH_RANGE_OPTIMIZED = 1 — Tries to achieve maximum shadow resolution. May result in saw effect on shadow edges.

Property Descriptions

  • float directional_shadow_bias_split_scale
Default 0.25
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

Amount of extra bias for shadow splits that are far away. If self-shadowing occurs only on the splits far away, increasing this value can fix them.

  • bool directional_shadow_blend_splits
Default false
Setter set_blend_splits(value)
Getter is_blend_splits_enabled()

If true, shadow detail is sacrificed in exchange for smoother transitions between splits.

Default 0
Setter set_shadow_depth_range(value)
Getter get_shadow_depth_range()

Optimizes shadow rendering for detail versus movement. See ShadowDepthRange.

  • float directional_shadow_max_distance
Default 100.0
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

The maximum distance for shadow splits.

Default 2
Setter set_shadow_mode(value)
Getter get_shadow_mode()

The light’s shadow rendering algorithm. See ShadowMode.

  • float directional_shadow_normal_bias
Default 0.8
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

Can be used to fix special cases of self shadowing when objects are perpendicular to the light.

  • float directional_shadow_split_1
Default 0.1
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

The distance from camera to shadow split 1. Relative to directional_shadow_max_distance. Only used when directional_shadow_mode is SHADOW_PARALLEL_2_SPLITS or SHADOW_PARALLEL_4_SPLITS.

  • float directional_shadow_split_2
Default 0.2
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

The distance from shadow split 1 to split 2. Relative to directional_shadow_max_distance. Only used when directional_shadow_mode is SHADOW_PARALLEL_2_SPLITS or SHADOW_PARALLEL_4_SPLITS.

  • float directional_shadow_split_3
Default 0.5
Setter set_param(value)
Getter get_param()

The distance from shadow split 2 to split 3. Relative to directional_shadow_max_distance. Only used when directional_shadow_mode is SHADOW_PARALLEL_4_SPLITS.