31 Jan 2013 
Posted by Animation Tutorial
Attributes of Ambient Lights in Maya
Hello everyone.In this tutorial we will explain the basic attributes of Ambient lights in Maya that every beginner should know. After reading this tutorial you will have enough understanding about how to use and control Ambient light in the scene.
Creating Ambient Light in Maya
Go to Create > Lights > Ambient Light
Ambient light will be created in the middle of the scene.
Attributes of an Ambient light
Attribute window of Ambient light
To open the attribute window press Ctrl + A
1)Type
A drop down list which will specify the type of light. Set it to Ambient light.
2) Color
It will determine the color of light. Clicking on Color Swatch to select the color or choose Color Picker to choose the desired color.
3) Intensity
It will determine the brightness of light. The light with intensity zero will produce no light. Slider range is 0 to 10 with the default value set to 1.
4) Ambient shade
The proportion of directional light to Omni directional (ambient) light. The slider range is 0 (light comes from all directions) to 1 (light comes only from the position of the light). The default value is 0.45.
5) Illuminate default
Check that on and it will illuminate every object in the scene. If you turn off it will illuminate the object to which it is linked.
6) Shadows
By default it is turned off. If , turned on objects will cast shadows. Ambient light in Maya only supports Ray traced shadows.
7) Shadow Color
It determines the color of shadow produced by light. Default color is set to black. Use colored shadow for transparent materials.
8) Shadow Rays
It controls the graininess of the soft shadow.
9) Ray depth limit
It specifies the no of times a rays is reflected or refracted still causing light to cast shadows.
So , here we have covered all the basic attributes of Ambient lights in Maya.