Documentation topics

LookDev — Light Settings

Inspect LookDev-created and compatible scene lights, including supported mesh lights. Available controls depend on light type and renderer integration; changes affect the current Maya scene.

Scene-editing boundary

Adopting a light changes its LookDev management status; Quick Control and Advanced edits change scene attributes directly. Deletion is restricted to Created (Tool) mode and requires confirmation. Row-menu rename and grouping actions vary by selection and scan mode.

Scene-light management

Find and select lights

Refresh: Re-reads scene lights after changes made elsewhere in Maya.
Scan: Scene (All Lights): compatible scene lights, including supported mesh lights.
Created (Tool): LookDev-managed lights only; required for deletion from this panel.
Light table: Review each light's name, type, source, enabled state, intensity, units, and color. Select one or more rows before applying shared controls.
Select In Scene: Select the highlighted light in Maya. For a mesh light, this selects its source geometry when available.
Adopt Selected: Tag compatible existing scene lights as tool-managed. Select rows in the table or lights in Maya first; adoption is an explicit change to management scope.
Table context menu: Selection, rename, and grouping actions vary by selected row and scan mode. Pick Group Color offers preset and custom colors.

Quick Control for the selection

Enabled: Turn the selected light on or off. Disabling it stops its light contribution; it is different from Hide In Render.
Color Mode: Color: edit supported RGB values.
Temperature: edit Kelvin values where the light node supports them.
Kelvin: Set the color temperature numerically when Temperature mode is available. Lower values are warmer; higher values are cooler.
Intensity: Change the strength of the selected lights. Review the Units setting as well, because numeric intensity is interpreted in the light's supported units.
Units: Choose the light's supported intensity unit. Available values depend on the renderer and light node.
Hide In Render: Hide the emitter from the render camera while retaining its light contribution on supported nodes.

Advanced V-Ray controls

Shape Type: Change the V-Ray light shape when the selected node supports shape switching.
U Size: Set the supported area's width. This is separate from the source geometry's width.
V Size: Set the supported area's height. This is separate from the source geometry's height.
Directional: Adjust beam directionality from 0 to 1 on a supported light.
Directional Strength: Adjust the directional strength multiplier separately from the directionality amount.
Directional Preview: Always: show the viewport gizmo.
Selected: show it only for the selected light.
Disabled: hide it. These modes affect the viewport display, not rendered illumination.
Directional Preview Length: Change the viewport gizmo's length; this is a preview control, not the light's physical size.
Double Sided: Allow a supported area light to emit from both sides rather than one face.
Occlude Other Lights: Control whether the selected light blocks contribution from other lights, when the node supports it.
Affect Diffuse: Choose whether the selected light contributes to diffuse illumination on supported materials.
Affect Specular: Choose whether the selected light contributes to specular highlights.
Affect Reflections: Choose whether the selected light appears in supported reflections.

Delete managed lights

Delete Selected: Delete selected tool-created lights after confirmation. Switch Scan to Created (Tool) first; deletion from this panel is blocked in Scene (All Lights) mode.
Delete All Created: Remove all auto-created lights after confirmation. This is broader than Delete Selected and also requires Created (Tool) scan mode.