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I want a light source to put out a sheet or fan of light. It would illuminate only along a line if it were shining on a flat surface. But I want to shine this on complex shapes.

One way I've tried is to put a point light or emitting object between two closely spaced parallel planes. It can cast a line of light if I crank up the sample count to several thousand, but it's noisy, not well collimated, and of course slow. This is for an animation.

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    $\begingroup$ Check out Rich Sedman's answer, here $\endgroup$ – Robin Betts Aug 3 '18 at 20:24
  • $\begingroup$ That pretty much answers my question. Should I mark my own question as redundant? $\endgroup$ – DarenW Aug 6 '18 at 17:38
  • $\begingroup$ It's phrased in a different way, so it might improve search results in future .. I think it's OK to leave it as it is ..you could answer your own question when you're done ... but I'm no expert on BSE policy $\endgroup$ – Robin Betts Aug 6 '18 at 19:20
  • $\begingroup$ Rich Sedman's answer did not pop up in the searches I did. Odd, given that "laser line" appears in the title, and I'm sure I had searched for "laser". Anyway, that's the perfect answer. $\endgroup$ – DarenW Aug 8 '18 at 2:21

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