What's New in Director 8.5 > Working with Lights and Cameras > Working with lights and cameras overview |  |

Working with lights and cameras overview

Lights illuminate the 3D world and the models in it. Without lights, the world exists, and actions can take place, but users see nothing. You can add lights to your 3D world in your 3D modeling application or with the Director Property Inspector. For information on the Property Inspector, see 3D basics overview. You can also add and remove lights, change their color or position, and manipulate their parent-child relationships using Lingo commands and properties. Those commands and properties are detailed here. You can find the same lighting commands and properties, with more detailed syntax and coding examples, in the 3D Lingo Dictionary.

Cameras act as windows into a 3D world. Each camera that exists in a 3D cast member offers a different view into it, and each sprite that uses a 3D cast member uses one of these cameras. A camera's position can be moved with the Property Inspector or the Shockwave 3D window. You can also use Director's 3D behaviors or Lingo to manipulate camera positions. For information on the Property Inspector and the Shockwave 3D window, see 3D basics overview. For information about behaviors, see Using 3D behaviors overview. More complex manipulations require the use of Lingo commands and properties. These are detailed here and in the 3D Lingo Dictionary. Accessing the properties and commands of a light or camera requires that the light or camera be on the Stage or explicitly loaded with the `preLoad()` or `loadFile()` command.

Lights and cameras have the same `transform` methods and parent-child properties as models and groups. Lights and cameras can be added, deleted, cloned, moved, and rotated in the same ways as models and groups. You can access their names, parents, children, and other properties in the same way you would with models and groups. However, there are some important differences, which arise from the specific roles that lights and cameras play in the 3D world.