Getting Started

Watch on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SzaU47qi1g)

1. Make sure you have downloaded the .zip file onto your computer.
2. Install and enable the Genesis Add-on by launching Blender and going to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install… > Picking the .zip > Install Add-on.
3. With an object selected, Press N in the 3D view to show the tool panel if it's hidden, click Tool, and expand the Genesis panel if it's hidden.
4. In object mode, select the subject you’d like to add lights to, and click the Generate Lights button. That’s it!

Full Walkthrough

Watch on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjRN1l3EVsQ)

Here's everything you need to know about Genesis.

• Generates GENESIS collection, with child GENESISLights and GENESISUtilities collections
• Generate Lights - Makes collection of lights around the selected object. This will delete any lights or other objects in the GENESISLights folder, so be careful.
• Light Types:
• Point - Emit light in every direction
• Sun - Emit light from an infinite distance
• Spot - Emit light in a cone shape
• Area - Emit light from a plane
• Plane - Emission shader from a mesh plane
• Color Modes:
• Range - Hue value between Min Hue and Max Hue
• Complementary - 2 Hues from opposite ends of the color wheel - 180 degrees apart
• Triad - 3 Hues on opposite sides of color wheel - 120 degrees apart
• Monochromatic - 1 Color, all the same hue
• Split Complementary - 3 Colors on opposite sides of color wheel - secondary and tertiary colors are +/- 160 degrees apart from the primary color
• Analogous - 5 Colors on same side of color wheel
• Layout Modes:
• Sphere (Creates lights equidistant from the selected object)
• Top Sphere (Same as Sphere, but creates lights above horizon (+Z))
• Grid (Creates lights above the selected object in a grid spiraling outward)
• Number - How many lights to create (Min 1, Max 200)
• Radius - How far away the lights are from the selected object in Sphere and Top Sphere Layout mode (Min 0.0001, Max 1000)
• Grid Spacing - How far apart the lights are from each other in Grid Layout mode (Min 0.0001, Max 1000)
• Grid Height - How far up (+Z) the lights are from the selected object in Grid Layout mode (Min 0.0001, Max 1000)
• Power Multiplier - Overall light energy multiplier (Min 0.01, Max 1000)

• Min / Max Hue - In Color Range mode, determines what hue values the lights will pick randomly from. 0 and 1 are both red, 0.3 is green, 0.6 is blue. Orange is 0.04, Yellow is 0.17, Teal is 0.5, Purple is 0.7, and Pink is 0.83.

• Base Color - By clicking the color swatch, you will set the primary color for modes Complementary, Triad, Monochromatic, Split Complementary, and Analogous (not Range)

• Hue Spread - How much randomness in hue to use in color modes Complementary, Triad, Monochromatic, Split Complementary, and Analogous (not Range)

• Min / Max Sat - Multiplier for saturation to use for lights. 1 is full saturation (pure hue colors like red), 0 is no saturation (white).

• Min / Max Size - Size or angle of lights.

• Min / Max Power - Range of randomness for power / wattage / energy for lights.

• Lights with Keyframes - Makes a set of lights per frame in the timeline. Set the range to a small range (1-30 frames) for testing, as it can be slow. It will keyframe the lights on for 1 frame. Useful for testing several lighting setups, or for artistic effects.
• Note: GENESISEmpty can be moved around to point the lights to a specific spot, or can be deleted to make lights point straight down.