Auto Lighting — Quick Lights (Documentation)

Version: v1.6.5
Blender: 4.0 – 4.5
Render Engines: Eevee & Cycles
License: GPL-2.0-or-later

What this add-on does

Quick Lights creates a surround lighting rig around the active object with one click.
You can change the Light Count and the Light Distance (radius) in real time. All lights automatically Track To the target.
Includes quick controls for World / Background (HDRI or solid color) and a Cleanup button.

Installation

1. Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install…

2. Select the ZIP: Auto_Lighting_Quick_Lights_v1.6.5_store.zip

3. Enable Auto Lighting — Quick Lights.

4. Open the panel in the 3D Viewport > Sidebar (press N) > Auto Lighting > Quick Lights.

If you installed from a single .py, the steps are the same — just choose the .py file in step 2.

Quick Start

1. Select the object you want to light (the active object becomes the target).

2. Click Create Quick Lights.

3. Adjust:

   • Light Count – number of lights in the ring.

   • Light Distance – radius from the target.

4. (Optional) Set World / Background (solid color or HDRI) for the scene.

5. Render in Eevee or Cycles.

Main Controls

• Create / Update Rig
  Generates or updates a ring of area/point lights (depending on your version) around the active object. Lights auto-align and Track To the target.

• Light Count
  How many lights are placed in the ring. Useful ranges: 6–16 for most product shots.

• Light Distance
  Distance from the target object to the lights (the ring radius). Increase for large models, decrease for small props.

• Top / Key (optional if present)
  Adds a top light or key accent. Helps with specular highlights.

• World / Background
  Quick access to World settings. You can keep a solid color background or switch to an HDRI to add ambient light.

• Cleanup
  Removes the Quick Lights rig from the scene (non-destructive to your model).

Names of some controls may differ slightly by minor version; the workflow stays the same: Create → Tweak Count/Distance → Set World → Render.

Tips

• Start with Light Distance ≈ 1–2× the bounding-box size of your model; then fine-tune.

• Lower Count for strong contrast; raise Count for soft, even product-style lighting.

• If you use HDRI, keep its strength modest so the ring lights still define the shape.

• In Eevee, enabling Bloom and Soft Shadows often looks great on glossy objects.

Compatibility & Notes

• Works with any selectable object (mesh, curve, text, etc.).

• The rig uses standard Blender lights and constraints; you can edit or animate them after creation.

• If the target changes, simply select the new object and click Create / Update Rig again.

Uninstall

Edit > Preferences > Add-ons → search Quick Lights → disable or Remove.

Changelog (short)

• v1.6.5: Initial Superhive release. One-click surround rig, live Count & Distance, Track To, World/Background controls, cleanup.

Support

If something doesn’t work as expected, please include your Blender version, OS, and a short description (or screenshot) when contacting us.