Light Wrangler: Cursor-Targeted Lighting

by Leonid Altman in Addons


Overview

Meet Light Wrangler, a Blender add-on crafted to elevate your lighting workflow. With this tool, you can simply point to the areas you want to illuminate, and the add-on automatically positions the light source to light up that area. It's an artist-friendly approach to a task that often requires tedious manual adjustments.

Main Feature:

Interactive Light Placement 🎯

Point your cursor at the specific area or object you want to illuminate, and the add-on will calculate and position the light to best illuminate the chosen area. It's so convenient, it feels like this feature should be in Blender by default.

Additional Features:

Mouse Wheel Adjustments ⚙️

  • Light Power: Modify the intensity using your mouse wheel.
  • Light Size: Adapt the size for desired lighting effects. (Shift+Wheel)
  • Light Distance: Control the proximity between the light and the target. (Alt+Wheel)
  • Light Spread: Change the angle of light spread. (Ctrl+Wheel)

Adjust Previously Added Lights 🔄

Modify your existing lights using the same automated placement logic. No need to delete and re-add; just select and adjust.

Toggle Automated/Orbit Mode 🕹️

Press SPACE to switch between automated and manual modes. In manual mode, use the mouse to orbit the light around its pivot point for fine-tuned placement.

Disable or Isolate Active Light 🔇 


  • Hold 'H': Temporarily disable the active light for comparison.
  • Shift+H: Isolate the active light by disabling all others.

Convert to Constrained Light 🔗

  • Single Light: Spawns an empty at the light-object intersection and constraints the light to it.
  • Multiple Lights: Spawns an empty where the last light intersects with the object and constrains all selected lights to this point.
  • Light(s) + Object: Constrains the light(s) to the selected object.

Feathering Effect 🪶


Enable feathering for natural, diffused light, mimicking a scrim effect.

Quick Color Tone Selection 🎨

Press 'T' to cycle through preset color tones, facilitating easy mood setting for your scenes.

Benefits

  • Efficiency: Reduce the time spent in manual light positioning.
  • Precision: Achieve targeted lighting with ease.
  • Artistic Focus: Direct more attention to creative choices.


System Requirements

  • Blender 2.9x or higher
  • Windows, macOS, and Linux compatibility

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