# Specifying a lighting environment in AR Quick Look Add metadata to your USDZ file to specify its lighting characteristics. ## Discussion AR Quick Look in iOS 16 and later enhances lighting to deliver more brightness, contrast, and visual definition for your scene’s virtual content. You can set an asset’s lighting environment, or *image-based lighting* (IBL), by adding the metadata to the file’s `.usda` textual definition, or by generating the asset with Apple-provided tools. ### Set the lighting metadata To define the lighting environment in the asset’s `.usda` textual format using a tool like [USD Toolset](https://graphics.pixar.com/usd/docs/USD-Toolset.html), add the following metadata: ``` // asset.usda #usda 1.0 ( customLayerData = { dictionary Apple = { int preferredIblVersion = 2 } } ) ``` A value of `1` indicates the classic lighting environment, and a value of `2` indicates the new lighting environment.  If you omit the metadata or give it a value of `0`, the system checks the asset’s creation timestamp. A timestamp of July 1, 2022, or later results in the new lighting environment; otherwise, the scene features classic lighting for backward compatibility. The system checks the timestamp of the `.usd` asset within the `.usdz` archive, not the archive’s file creation date. ### Set the lighting environment with Apple-provided tools With [Reality Converter](https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=01132020a), you can choose a lighting preference for your 3D asset by previewing the available options one after the other. By default, Reality Converter previews an imported 3D asset with `preferrediblversion` = `2`. You can select the Use Classic Lighting option to set `preferrediblversion` to `1` in the file.  Alternatively, you can use `usdzconvert` in the Apple [USDZ Tools](https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/tools/) suite to output from another file format. Pass an integer value between `0` and `2` for the `--preferrediblversion` argument to add this metadata in the file, as the following example shows: ```swift usdzconvert fireHydrant.obj --useObjMtl --preferrediblversion 2 ``` ### Match AR Quick Look lighting in third-party apps and tools To design your content in a third-party digital content creation tool (DCC) under the same lighting conditions as AR Quick Look’s lighting environment, configure the tool to use one of the following `.exr` files. Alternatively, you can apply an `.exr` file in your third-party app, such as one that renders with RealityKit, to accommodate the new lighting environment in your app’s runtime experience. - The [studio_lighting_objectmode_v002.exr](https://developer.apple.com/sample-code/ar/studio_lighting_objectmode_v002.exr) file provides reflections that match AR Quick Look’s studio object mode. This IBL is appropriate for asset creation in a third-party DCC. Consult the DCC documentation about enabling custom image-based lighting in the tool. - The [studio_lighting_armode_v002.exr](https://developer.apple.com/sample-code/ar/studio_lighting_armode_v002.exr) file provides enhanced highlights according to AR Quick Look’s new lighting environment in AR mode. This IBL is appropriate for use in your AR app as a combination with an environment texture that composes captures of the user’s environment. Together, the combination enhances reflections on your app’s virtual content that feature the particular tints and hues of the real world.  > Tip: > For apps that render virtual content using RealityKit, set up a skybox with the AR mode IBL to use the new lighting environment. Although AR Quick Look observes the `preferrediblversion` metadata, RealityKit doesn’t. See for more information about defining image-based lighting in RealityKit. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)