Sunlight

Sunlight settings in Planoplan allow you to realistically simulate the time of day and the effects of natural lighting on your interior. This is especially useful for creating realistic renders and presenting your project to clients or collaborators.

In the «Sunlight» section, you can either choose a preset for quick results or manually adjust all lighting parameters — including sun height, direction, geographic location, and more.

Presets

To quickly set up natural lighting in your project, select one of the available lighting presets. When you hover your cursor over a preset, a tooltip appears showing a description and the values for key parameters: sun brightness, environment brightness, and sun elevation angle.

Available presets:

• sunrise— no natural light; the scene is dark unless artificial lighting is added;
• twilight — the sun has already set, and only a faint glow remains in the sky;
• noon — the sun is high in the sky, shadows are short, and cold daylight dominates;
• summer morning — the sun is low, casting long shadows with warm morning light;
• dawn — the sun has just risen, filling the room with soft, warm light.

Manual Sunlight Settings

For full control over natural lighting — for example, to simulate a specific location and time of day — use the advanced manual settings.

Key parameters:

• environment brightness — intensity of the sky dome light (ambient light). Depends on sun position;
• sun intensity — intensity of direct sunlight;
• additional environment intensity — additional lighting used to brighten top-down views;
• sun direction — sets the angle of incoming sunlight. Also affects sky light direction;
• sun altitude — angle of the sun above the horizon. A low angle produces warm light (sunrise/sunset), while a high angle gives cold daylight (noon).

Coordinates assignment

This mode allows you to calculate realistic sunlight based on geographical coordinates, date, and time.

Coordinate parameters:

• north direction — sets the orientation of north on the map or floor plan. Used for correct sun simulation;
• time — accurate to the minute. If the sun is below the horizon at the selected time, the scene will appear dark;
• date — affects sun position depending on the season. The year does not influence the calculations;
• latitude — specified in degrees with decimal precision. Affects how high the sun rises during the day;
• longitude — specified in degrees with decimal precision. Used together with latitude and time.