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I want to create this effect

enter image description here

Simply adding an emission color or adding a light doesn't seem to create the same thing.

Is this just a plane with a lower opacity?

Or what is the best method to recreate this light beam that looks like there's a giant light coming from it?

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You could do it with volumetrics but as your image looks rather cartoony, what you can do is create a cylinder and give it a material with a mix between Emission and Transparent BSDF with a Separate XYZ as factor:

enter image description here

enter image description here

If you want to add transparency to the periphery, add a new Mix Shader, plug the Transparent BSDF and use an Input > Layer Weight node as factor:

enter image description here

enter image description here

If you use Eevee you can put a bit of Bloom effect, and to have transparency you'll need to choose the Alpha Blend option in the Material panel > Settings > Blend Mode.

For the object blocking the ray you could cheat with an object that you put above the obstacle, give it a mix between Emission and Transparency:

enter image description here

A more realistic way to do it is to use volumetrics (works for both Cycles and Eevee): Create a cube, give it a material with a Shader > Principled Volume that you plug into the Volume input of the Material Output. Lower down the Principled Volume Density value. Create a Spot light.

enter image description here

If you don't want the volumetric to affect other parts of your scene, and if you want straight rays, give your volumetric material to a cylinder (put underneath an Area light with Shape > Disk):

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ so it kinda works however, if there's another object around the light, it basically cuts through the object instead of being blocked off like a normal light. Is there a way to make the "light" cylinder from intersecting other objects and act as if it were a normal light instead? Like if I add a plane in the middle, the light would still pass through the plane instead of being blocked off $\endgroup$
    – makerbaker
    Commented Apr 15, 2022 at 17:35
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure you can do it with this method, you can do it with volumetrics though, are you planning to use Eevee or Cycles? $\endgroup$
    – moonboots
    Commented Apr 15, 2022 at 17:38
  • $\begingroup$ I can use cycles $\endgroup$
    – makerbaker
    Commented Apr 15, 2022 at 17:41
  • $\begingroup$ do the volumetrics work with a empty cube too? $\endgroup$
    – makerbaker
    Commented Apr 15, 2022 at 18:17
  • $\begingroup$ also, I'm confused where the green light is being applied to? for the spot light or the cube only? because when I did the volume to my cube it just made it transparent $\endgroup$
    – makerbaker
    Commented Apr 15, 2022 at 18:20

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