LeoMoon LightStudio

Important Notice

LeoMoon LightStudio (formerly known as Blender Light Studio) is 100% free and open-source. You can download and use it from here without any limitations.

Development Fund

If you think this plugin speeds up your workflow, consider funding the development of it by purchasing it here. This will help to fix bugs, improve user interface and add new features.

Introduction

LeoMoon LightStudio (formerly known as Blender Light Studio) is the easiest, fastest and most advanced lighting system for Blender 2.8x. LeoMoon LightStudio is packed with features and the new Light Node has so many options so you can customize each light exactly the way you want.

Video below shows the options that are available per light.

Features

Add/Remove lights around objects
Add multiple light profiles
Easily switch between light profiles with a single click
Each light has many options to customize
All options per light can be animated
Each light can have a different light texture
Fastest render update while lighting
15 Realistic HDR light textures included
Easy 2D manipulation of lights in the LightStudio Control Panel which translates to positioning of that light in 3D space
Toggle a light by double clicking on it in the LightPanel
Isolate a light by right clicking on it in the LightPanel
Lights can be added to different renders layers
Import/Export light profiles

Limitations

~~LeoMoon LightStudio uses mesh lights and currently, EEVEE does not support mesh lights in real-time. Rendering is only supported in Cycles.~~

LeoMoon LightStudio now supports EEVEE if "Basic light" is used.

Background HDR vs Manual Lighting

Why not use the other background HDR light plugins? That's because template based light plugins are predictable and limited. For product renders, you want lots of options and control, NOT templates! However you can create your own light profiles in LeoMoon LightStudio and import/export light profiles in different projects.

Changelog

2.15.1 2024-02-26

Fixes all issues with Blender 4.x
Adds backward compatibility for Blender 3.2 and later

2.15.0 2023-12-20

Added Blender 4 support
Added Ctrl+F hotkey to point to add a light
Made isolating light independent of visibility toggle
Addes support for handle rotation

2.14.0 2023-11-10

Added macOS Metal support

2.13.0 2023-03-09

Added Cycles|EEVEE switch button
Added EXR exporting of lights to be used in other 3D programs
Added camera light visibility
Added saving the on/off state of each light
Fixed copied profile not being saved
Fixed shadow catcher not working with advanced lights in Blender 3.x

2.12.0 2022-11-22

Fixed problem with light brush not sliding in Blender 3.3
Replaced deprecated bgl module with gpu
Added ability to use Ctrl+D to duplicate a light
This version will only support Blender 3.2.2 or later

2.11.1 2022-08-09

Fixed LightStudio Control Panel resizing in Blender 3.2.2

2.11.0 2022-03-21

Added compatibility with Blender 3.1
Fixed issue with copying scene with LLS

2.10.0 2021-12-28

Added compatibility with Blender 3.0
Fixed error that happens when using Light Brush feature on instanced objects
When copying a profile in multimode, keep the same visibility value of source profile
When copying a light, deselect the source light and select the newly copied light in both single profile and multi profile
Added a button to select the handle of the profile

2.9.1 2021-09-15

Adds Switch to Cycles button
Moves Profiles panel before Lights panel
Fixes Copy Light
Fixes Copy Profile

2.9.0 2021-08-11:

Added Reset Control Panel button under Misc section
Added Multi Profile Mode
Bug fixes and improvements

2.8.2 2021-07-17:

Fixed Basic light not working when switching mode
Minor visual changes
Minor bugfixes

2.8.1 2021-07-14:

Minor bugfixes

2.8.0 2021-07-13:

Fixed compatibility issue with Blender 2.93+
Changed the way animated lights are handled
Added Normal and Animation mode to make keyframe editing easier

2.7.0 2020-11-10:

Added two types of lights:
- Advanced: Supports HDR light textures and has many masking options
- Basic: Blender's area light with limited options to support EEVEE
Many bugfixes and improvements

2.6.2 2020-10-07:

Added custom hotkeys to addon preferences
Major improvements added to Light Brush with F hotkey (3D Edit)
Added G hotkey to move lights in the light panel and 3D view
R and S hotkeys can now rotate and scale lights in the 3D view also
Improved undo

2.6.1 2020-08-21:

Added "Up" and "Down" buttons to sort lights in the light list
Added button to copy a light in the light list
Selecting a light in the light list will bring that light to top in the LightPanel
Lights in copied profiles do not have shared materials any more
Constrained clickable area of the control panel by 3D viewport properties area

2.6.0 2020-07-31:

Replaced Add Light and Delete Light buttons with a light list
Lights can be renamed in the light list
Lights can be toggled in the light list
Lights can be isolated in the light list
Light selection is synchronized with the LightPanel

2.5.2 2020-07-10:

Fixed light going outside of LightPanel
Added resizing to LighPanel
Minor bugfixes

2.5.1 2020-05-08:

Fixed Copy Profile function
Fixed Copy Profile to Scene function
Fixed LightStudio world node from being created again if it exists
Added Open Textures Folder button

2.5.0 2020-03-23:

Fixed LightStudio error when opening Bledner 2.8x
Fixed LightStudio error when deleting studio
Fixed strange behavior when clicking LightStudio Control Panel multiple times
Fixed the ordering of LightStudio side panel
Improved the light node
Added all the light effect previews to the LightStudio Control Panel
Added light preview options for each light to the LightStudio Control Panel
Added LightStudio Keying Set to animate lights
Added Background Setup button to quickly setup the background optimized for lighting
Added missing/changed descriptions for a few buttons
Added a darker green border when lights are not selected
Moved rotate, move, and scale text from top to bottom where the info is usually displayed
Moved hotkeys help text to Hotkeys section in the side panel