Lights & materials
Lights
Create one from Insert → Light, or the + Light button in the viewport header. Both open a real creation dialog.
| Property | Keyframeable |
|---|---|
| Colour | Yes |
| Intensity | Yes |
| Radius | Yes |
| Cone angle | Yes |
| Shadows | Toggle |
Keyframing intensity is the cheapest dramatic move in the app: a light that rises from zero as a title lands does more than most transform animation.
The shading model
Lighting is computed per fragment, using Lambert diffuse plus Blinn-Phong specular. That is a real shading model, not a per-layer tint:
- Diffuse falls off with the angle between the surface and the light.
- Specular gives you a highlight whose position depends on where the camera is.
The practical consequence is that moving the camera changes the highlight, which is what makes extruded 3D text read as solid rather than as a flat image with a gradient on it.
Materials
Per-layer material properties feed the shading model. They decide how strongly a layer responds to diffuse and specular light — whether it reads as matte paper or as something with a sheen.
They are in the Style inspector tab, on any layer that is 3D.
A 3D layer with no light in the composition is rendered unlit. If your scene went flat the moment you turned on 3D, you need a light — not different material settings.
Shadows
Lights can cast shadows onto other 3D layers. Combined with the ground grid at Y = 0 and a floor plane, that is enough to seat objects in space convincingly.
What is not here
- No PBR material model, no metalness/roughness workflow.
- No image-based lighting or HDRI environments.
- No imported 3D models to light.
This is Classic 3D: flat planes and extrusions, lit well. See Known gaps.