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# lightingEnvironment

A cube map texture that depicts the environment surrounding the scene’s contents, used for advanced lighting effects.

```
var lightingEnvironment: SCNMaterialProperty { get }
```

## Discussion

When rendering materials with the [`physicallyBased`](/documentation/SceneKit/SCNMaterial/LightingModel-swift.struct/physicallyBased) lighting model, SceneKit illuminates surfaces differently according to the environment that surrounds them. For example, with physically based shading, even a diffuse surface takes on some color from the sky above it and the ground below it.

> Tip:
> For realistic results, reuse the same contents for both the lighting environment and the ``doc://com.apple.scenekit/documentation/SceneKit/SCNScene/background`` property.

For information about defining cube maps, see the discussion of the [`contents`](/documentation/SceneKit/SCNMaterialProperty/contents) property.

---

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