Hi Guys.
When i’m adding Lights to my scene, i find it very difficult to position the lighting in the correct place.
When i add a Lamp, i want to tbe able to position the lamp and point it in a certain direction, which i can’t seem to do. Is there any way to know which direction the lamp is pointing.
Thanks
if !(>=0),
Hi, & welcome.
Well, the ‘Lamp’ type of light in omni-directional. It shines in every direction equally. What you want to use is a ‘Spot’ - they’re directional and v.easy to set up. You can see the ditrection it’s pointting in from the cone that is projected from it.
Selecting a camera, then pressing Ctrl-Num0 will view the scene ‘through the eyes’ of the light. This can be quite a convenient tool for orienting the light. - Dont forget to select your camera and Ctrl-Num0 when finished with this view.
Another method is to split your screen so you’ve at least 2 3d-views. You can hit shift-P to bring up a (very nearly) realtime render preview in one window. In the other, you adjust the position of the light. This will provide feedback on position of highlight and angle of cone + fuzziness of edges, though it will not give you any feedback on the light’s energy. You still need to do test renders for this purpose.
Hope this helps.
Simon.
i tryed if !(>=0) but wouldnt work 
Cheers for the help mate, just trying to get the hang of it.
I cant wait to get my G5, im using a G4 at the moment, a quicksilver, its good but needs more ram.
you can move your cursor to the point that you want the lamp then snap the lamp to the cursor.
Each lamp has a line showing where the light is going. You rotate each light by using r or rr for full rotation.
You can read about using them, and the options, specularity, energy, color,distance etc in the WIKI.
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php?title=Manual/PartV/Three_Point_Light&redirect=no
What lamp type are you using? Not all lamps have a direction as enhzflep stated.
You can change the type of a lamp you allready positioned by going to the material tab and opening the light panel (small lightbulb icon)
Next to the preview window you have the different lamp types.
IMHO In order to see the effects of the light it is advisable to do the lighting without textures and a default grey material. This will show you exactly how the light affects your model.
the normal lamp can be rotated so that the dashed line points to your model. If it is not pointing right at your model, it gives very weak or no directional light at all. You might try downloading the lighting rigs from the wiki lighting section, and start with that.
Use Spot lamp, and then rotate it to the direction you want.