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Creative Controls

Lighting

Set how an AI image or video is lit. Combine the time of day, lighting style, direction, lighting ratio and color temperature from 72 tested options.

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The Lighting picker sets how a shot is lit. You combine up to five parts: the time of day, the lighting style, the direction of the light, the lighting ratio and the color temperature. Nodaro adds tested wording for that setup to the prompt of every node you connect it to. The picker never calls a model, so it costs no credits.

When to use it

  • Give a portrait a classic studio setup, such as Rembrandt, Butterfly, Clamshell or Split light.
  • Set the hour of an outdoor scene: Dawn, Golden Hour, Blue Hour, Moonlight or Neon Night.
  • Keep one light across every shot of a scene: connect one Lighting picker to several image or video nodes.
  • Relight the same scene: change the picker and run the image node again.

How to use it

Add the picker

Open the node picker and choose Creative Controls › Light & Look › Lighting.

Turn on the parts you need

Click the node. In the settings panel, each part of the light is a section with a switch: Time of Day, Style, Direction, Lighting Ratio and Color Temperature. Turn a section on and choose an option. A single-choice section starts on its first option. A new node starts with Time of Day set to Noon.

Connect it

Drag from the picker's output to the Look input of a Generate Image or Generate Video node. You can also connect it to a Text or Prompt node to use the wording in a longer text.

Run the image or video node

The lighting description is added to the end of the prompt when the connected node runs.

promptlooklookTextA chef plating a dishLightingGolden Hour, Softbox KeyColor / LookKodak PortraGenerate Image
A Lighting picker and a Color / Look picker wired into the Look input of Generate Image.
The Lighting settings panel with the Time of Day, Style and Direction sections turned on and one option chosen in each.The Lighting settings panel with the Time of Day, Style and Direction sections turned on and one option chosen in each.

Settings

SettingWhat it does
Time of DayWhen the scene happens, such as Dawn, Golden Hour, Blue Hour, Night or Neon Night. A new node starts at Noon.
StyleThe quality and setup of the light, such as Rembrandt, Chiaroscuro, High-Key, Softbox Key or Candlelight. Pick up to 2.
DirectionWhere the light comes from: Front, 3/4 Light, Side, Back / Rim, Silhouette Backlight, Top / Overhead, Under / Uplight or Window.
Lighting RatioThe balance between the key light and the fill light, from 1:1 to 1:16. A higher ratio gives deeper shadows.
Color TemperatureThe color of the light, from 2700K Candle to 9000K Shade.
Custom text (before)Your own words, added before the lighting description.
Custom text (after)Your own words, added after the lighting description, for example with practical lights in the background.
Prompt hintFull (default) adds a longer description of each part. Compact adds only the short terms. See Full or Compact.
Items per row (node card)How many picks the node card shows per row, from 1 to 3. The default is 2. It changes only the card, not the prompt.

The parts you turn on are joined into one description. A part that is off adds nothing, and a node with every part off adds nothing at all.

To see the exact words the picker will add, switch the node to the Prompt or Both display mode. The settings panel shows the same text under Will inject into prompt.

Four styles, one portrait

Each portrait below comes from the same workflow: one prompt, one character board connected to References, and GPT Image 2 in Generate Image. Only the Style of the Lighting picker changes, with the prompt hint on Full. Under each image is the exact text the picker added to the end of the prompt.

Prompt
Head-and-shoulders studio portrait of the woman in the reference board. Use her exact face, hair and skin; do not use the green dress. She wears a plain charcoal crew-neck sweater, neutral dark gray backdrop, looking into the lens, calm neutral expression. No text, no logos, no watermark.
A woman with long dark hair against a dark backdrop, lit from one side so the far cheek falls into soft shadow.
RembrandtRembrandt lighting, distinctive triangle of light on the shadow-side cheek, painterly chiaroscuro
The same woman lit from the front and above, both cheeks evenly bright against a gray backdrop.
Butterflybutterfly portrait lighting, key light placed directly above and slightly in front of the subject casting a small symmetrical butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose, classic Hollywood glamour with even illumination across both cheeks
The same woman with one half of her face lit and the other half falling into deep shadow.
Splitsplit lighting, light hitting only one half of the face with the other half in deep shadow
The same woman in strong contrast: bright highlights on her skin against a near-black backdrop and sweater.
Chiaroscurochiaroscuro lighting, dramatic strong contrast between deep shadows and bright highlights

The character board keeps the face the same in all four, so the light is the only thing that changes. Split gives the clearest change, while Rembrandt and Chiaroscuro come out close to each other. For deeper shadows with any style, also turn on Lighting Ratio and choose a higher ratio.

Every lighting option

Filter by part of the light, or search by name. The words under each name are the term the picker adds in Compact mode.

Time of Day · 15 options

  • Dawn
    Dawndawn lighting
  • Sunrise
    Sunrisesunrise lighting
  • Morning
    Morningmorning lighting
  • Noon
    Noonoverhead noon sun
  • Harsh Midday
    Harsh Middayharsh midday sun
  • Afternoon
    Afternoonafternoon lighting
  • Overcast
    Overcastovercast daylight
  • Golden Hour
    Golden Hour
  • Dusk
    Duskdusk lighting
  • Blue Hour
    Blue Hour
  • Twilight
    Twilighttwilight lighting
  • Night
    Nightnight lighting
  • Midnight
    Midnightmidnight lighting
  • Moonlight
    Moonlightcool blue moonlight
  • Neon Night
    Neon Nightneon night lighting

Style · 37 options

  • Three-Point
    Three-Pointthree-point lighting
  • Rembrandt
    Rembrandtrembrandt lighting
  • Chiaroscuro
    Chiaroscurochiaroscuro lighting
  • Silhouette
    Silhouettesilhouette lighting
  • High-Key
    High-Keyhigh-key lighting
  • Low-Key
    Low-Keylow-key lighting
  • Split
    Splitsplit lighting
  • Butterfly
    Butterflybutterfly lighting
  • Loop
    Looploop lighting
  • Broad
    Broadbroad lighting
  • Short
    Shortshort lighting
  • Hatchet
    Hatchethatchet lighting
  • Clamshell
    Clamshellclamshell lighting
  • Hard
    Hardhard light
  • Soft
    Softsoft diffused light
  • Practical
    Practicalpractical lighting
  • Ring Light
    Ring Light
  • Phone Screen Glow
    Phone Screen Glow
  • Selfie Natural
    Selfie Naturalnatural window-light selfie
  • Natural
    Naturalnatural available light
  • Volumetric
    Volumetricvolumetric lighting
  • Noir
    Noirfilm noir lighting
  • On-Camera Flash
    On-Camera Flash
  • Mirror-Bounce Flash
    Mirror-Bounce Flashmirror-selfie flash

Direction · 8 options

  • Frontfront lighting
  • 3/4 Lightthree-quarter key light
  • Sideside lighting
  • Back / Rimrim backlight
  • Silhouette Backlight
  • Top / Overheadoverhead top light
  • Under / Uplightuplighting from below
  • Windowwindow light

Lighting Ratio · 6 options

  • 1:11:1 lighting ratio
  • 1:21:2 lighting ratio
  • 1:31:3 lighting ratio
  • 1:41:4 lighting ratio
  • 1:81:8 lighting ratio
  • 1:161:16 lighting ratio

Color Temperature · 6 options

  • 2700K Candle2700k candlelight color temperature
  • 3200K Tungsten3200k tungsten color temperature
  • 4000K Mixed4000k neutral white color temperature
  • 5600K Daylight5600k daylight color temperature
  • 6500K Overcast6500k overcast color temperature
  • 9000K Shade9000k open-shade color temperature

On Nodaro Cloud, the Time of Day and Style tiles show the same base image under that light. A switch beside the picker's heading changes them to drawn illustrations. Self-hosted installs show the illustrations only.

Tips

  • Classic portrait setups. Rembrandt, Split, Loop, Butterfly and Clamshell are the classic studio portrait styles.
  • A classic hero look. Combine Golden Hour with the Kicker / Rim Accent style.
  • A noir feel. Combine the Low-Key and Practical styles, or choose Noir.
  • Light the air, too. Atmosphere adds Fog, Mist or God Rays. Fog with a Back / Rim direction turns the subject into a silhouette.
  • Finish the look. Add Color / Look for the grade and Mood for the emotion.

Frequently asked questions

Creative Controls

Creative Controls are picker nodes that add tested wording for light, camera, motion, effects, music and voice to your prompts, at no credit cost.

Color / Look

Pick one of 41 color grades, such as Teal & Orange, Kodak Portra or Bleach Bypass, and Nodaro adds that grade to the prompt of your image and video nodes.

Atmosphere

Add weather and particles to an AI image or video. Pick up to 2 of 40 conditions, such as Fog, Light Rain, Snow, Smoke or God Rays, from one picker.

Mood

Pick up to two of 51 moods, such as calm, tense or joyful, and Nodaro adds tested wording for the emotion to the prompt of the image or video nodes you connect.

Generate Image

Create an image from a text prompt with one of Nodaro's image models, keep characters consistent with references, and edit results in place with a mask.

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Exposure Settings

Set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO of an AI image or video from 20 options, for a soft background, frozen action, light trails or film grain.

Color / Look

Pick one of 41 color grades, such as Teal & Orange, Kodak Portra or Bleach Bypass, and Nodaro adds that grade to the prompt of your image and video nodes.

On this page

When to use it
How to use it
Add the picker
Turn on the parts you need
Connect it
Run the image or video node
Settings
Four styles, one portrait
Every lighting option
Tips