In addition to the four different light sources discussed in the previous sections, AutoCAD can also add lighting to the model that resembles sunlight. Different aspects that determine sunlight can be controlled, such as the location on Earth and the specific date and time. To enable sun lighting, you simply click on the button called Sun Status found in the Sun & Location panel on the Visualize tab in the 3D Basics workspace:

If you are using the 3D Modeling workspace, you can find it in the Sun & Location panel, which is also on the Visualize tab. When the button has a blue frame, this indicates that sun lighting is activated.

To control the sunlight direction, you can control the date, time, and location. This is done by expanding the Sun & Location panel. You will find two sliders to control the date and the time. For the location, click on the Set the Location button. The button will expand, showing two different options. The first one is called From Map, where you can search for an address on the map similar to a GPS navigation software, or simply enter the longitude, latitude, and elevation of the desired location. The second option is called from a file, where you can use the location stored in a GIS file.

We have now learned how to create and adjust the settings of different types of light sources in AutoCAD. The next step is to choose how we want shadows to be displayed in our model.