lights power vs color

Houdini Integrated Plugin

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marcikola
Licensed Customer
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2024 10:01 pm

Hi!

I was wondering what is better when using the universal light. have a bright color/tint + low power value, or dark color + high value?
always confused since i think i remember the default color in cinema4d was white, but in houdini the default is pretty dark.
dom_otoy
OctaneRender Team
Posts: 90
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2025 9:33 pm

marcikola wrote: Wed Sep 17, 2025 2:35 pm Hi!

I was wondering what is better when using the universal light. have a bright color/tint + low power value, or dark color + high value?
always confused since i think i remember the default color in cinema4d was white, but in houdini the default is pretty dark.
Yeah, tbh I'm not really sure why the default color is darker. I'm thinking it's probably so the the default power can be at 100, without being overly bright.
That being said I don't think there is a wrong approach here. If it works for your scene i don't think it matters whether your power is high, or your color is bright.

I will ask about this though and see if I can get an explanation for the default color setting.

EDIT: Yeah it seems this default grey was set so that a light at 100 will output an equivalent of 100w.
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