To change the angle or direction of a light in Blender, you typically use the Rotate tool.
Rotating Your Light Source
Changing the angle of a light is primarily done by rotating the light object in the 3D viewport. Blender provides several ways to control this rotation, depending on whether you want to rotate it around its own center, around another point, or relative to your view.
Using the Basic Rotate Tool
The most common way to rotate an object, including a light, is by using the Rotate tool.
- Select the light object in the 3D viewport.
- Press the R key. This activates the Rotate tool.
- Move your mouse. The light will rotate based on your current view.
- Confirm the rotation by left-clicking or pressing Enter.
- To cancel, right-click or press Escape.
Constraining Rotation to an Axis
After pressing R, you can constrain the rotation to a specific axis by pressing the corresponding axis key (X, Y, or Z).
- Press R then X to rotate around the X-axis.
- Press R then Y to rotate around the Y-axis.
- Press R then Z to rotate around the Z-axis.
You can also press the axis key a second time (R > Z > Z) to rotate around the local axis of the object, rather than the global axis.
Rotating Around a Different Point (Pivot Point)
By default, objects rotate around their own origin point. However, you can change the pivot point to rotate the light around a different location, such as another object or the 3D cursor.
The provided reference highlights using the 3D cursor as the pivot point:
- Set the Pivot Point setting (usually found in the top bar of the 3D viewport) to 3D Cursor.
- Ensure your 3D cursor is positioned where you want the rotation center to be (you can click with the left mouse button by default to move it, or use Shift + S for more options).
- Select your light object.
- Press R then Z. As shown in the reference, this allows you to "rotate [your] light around the tank nice and easily" if the 3D cursor was positioned near the tank.
This method is useful for circling a light source around a specific object or area to simulate different lighting angles relative to that point.
Rotating Relative to Your View
When you press R without pressing an axis key immediately, the light rotates relative to your current view. As the reference notes, you can just "press R and rotate it perpendicular to the camera," which means rotating it based on the angle from which you are looking at the scene. This is often intuitive for quickly pointing a light.
By mastering the R key and understanding how pivot points and axis constraints work, you can precisely control the direction and angle of your lights in Blender to achieve the desired lighting effects for your scene.
