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# MDLAreaLight

A light source that illuminates a 3D scene from an area with a specific shape.

```
class MDLAreaLight
```

## Overview

Unlike other light sources that illuminate a scene from a single point or direction, an area light has a specific shape. The shape of an area light is a two-dimensional figure in the xy-plane of the light’s local coordinate space, and its illumination is directed in the negative z-axis direction (spreading out from that direction according to the inherited [`innerConeAngle`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLPhysicallyPlausibleLight/innerConeAngle) and [`outerConeAngle`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLPhysicallyPlausibleLight/outerConeAngle) properties).

Both the [`MDLAreaLight`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLAreaLight) and [`MDLPhotometricLight`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLPhotometricLight) classes can describe lights with interesting shapes. An area light offers a simpler design that can be implemented with better rendering performance, and a photometric light offers design that better models real-world light fixtures at the cost of higher computational complexity.

## Topics

### Managing a Light’s Shape

[`areaRadius`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLAreaLight/areaRadius)

The radius, in units of local coordinate space, of the area from which light emanates.

[`aspect`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLAreaLight/aspect)

The aspect ratio of the light’s shape.

[`superEllipticPower`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLAreaLight/superEllipticPower)

A vector that controls the roundness of a superelliptical light in the x- and y-axis directions.

## Relationships

### Conforms To

[`MDLNamed`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLNamed)

[`Equatable`](/documentation/Swift/Equatable)

[`Hashable`](/documentation/Swift/Hashable)

[`CVarArg`](/documentation/Swift/CVarArg)

[`CustomStringConvertible`](/documentation/Swift/CustomStringConvertible)

[`NSObjectProtocol`](/documentation/ObjectiveC/NSObjectProtocol)

[`CustomDebugStringConvertible`](/documentation/Swift/CustomDebugStringConvertible)

### Inherits From

[`MDLPhysicallyPlausibleLight`](/documentation/ModelIO/MDLPhysicallyPlausibleLight)

---

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