camlight

Create or move light object in camera coordinates

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    Syntax

    camlight
    camlight(position)
    camlight(az,el)
    camlight(___,style)
    camlight(lt,___)
    camlight(ax,___)
    cl = camlight(___)

    Description

    camlight creates a light to the right and up from the camera position.

    example

    camlight(position) creates a light at the specified position. For example, camlight("left") creates a light to the left and up from the camera position.

    example

    camlight(az,el) creates a light at the specified azimuth az and elevation el with respect to the camera position. The camera target is the center of rotation.

    example

    camlight(___,style) creates the light with the specified light style.

    example

    camlight(lt,___) uses the specified light instead of creating a new light. Specify lt as the first argument followed by any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

    example

    camlight(ax,___) creates the light in the axes specified by ax instead of in the current axes (gca). Specify the axes as the first argument in any of the previous syntaxes.

    example

    cl = camlight(___) returns a Light object. Use cl to move the light or modify properties of the light after creating it. For a list of properties, see Light Properties.

    example

    Examples

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    Open Live Script

    Create a sphere and shine a light on it. Position the light to the right and up from the camera position.

    sphere
axis equal
camlight

    Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

    Add a second light to the left and up from the camera position.

    camlight("left")

    Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

    Open Live Script

    Create a sphere and shine a light on it. Position the light to the left and up from the camera position.

    sphere
axis equal
cl = camlight("left");

    Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

    Move the light directly in front of the camera position.

    camlight(cl,0,0);

    Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

    Delete the light.

    delete(cl)

    Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type surface.

    Open Live Script

    Since R2019b

    You can display a tiling of plots using the tiledlayout and nexttile functions. Use the tiledlayout function to create a 1-by-2 tiled chart layout. Use the nexttile function to create the Axes objects ax1 and ax2. Create a surface and corresponding light in each plot by specifying each Axes object as the first argument to surf and camlight.

    In the left axes, create a surface and position a light at infinity shining directly towards the surface. In the right axes, create a surface and position a light at infinity shining from the right and above the surface.

    tiledlayout(1,2)
 
% Left surface
ax1 = nexttile;
surf(ax1,peaks,EdgeColor="none")
lt1 = camlight(ax1,"headlight","infinite");
title("Infinite light shining at surface")
 
% Right surface
ax2 = nexttile;
surf(ax2,peaks,EdgeColor="none")
lt2 = camlight(ax2,"right","infinite");
title("Infinite light shining from the right of surface")

    Figure contains 2 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Infinite light shining at surface contains an object of type surface. Axes object 2 with title Infinite light shining from the right of surface contains an object of type surface.

    Input Arguments

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    Position of the light source, specified as one of these values:

    • "right" — Place light to the right and up from the camera position

    • "left" — Place light to the left and up from the camera position.

    • "headlight" — Place light at the camera position.

    The location of the light depends on the value of the style argument.

    Azimuth of the light position, specified as a scalar value in degrees.

    Elevation of the light position, specified as a scalar value in degrees.

    Type of light source, specified as one of these values:

    • "local" — The light is a point source that radiates in all directions from the location specified by the light position.

    • "infinite" — The light is placed at infinity and shines in parallel rays in the direction specified by the light position.

    Light to move, specified as a Light object.

    Target axes, specified as an Axes object. If you do not specify the axes, then camlight creates the Light object in the current axes.

    Tips

    • The camlight function sets the Position and Style properties of the Light object. The light does not track the camera. To keep the light in a constant position relative to the camera, call camlight whenever you move the camera.

    Version History

    Introduced before R2006a

    See Also

    Functions

    Properties

    Topics