light source (sun) help

im new here so i hope im in the right area to ask this question.

im working on a space type scene and have a few ships, but using spot lights just doesnt work, how would i make a light that acts like a sun so that i end up with an image with lighting kind of like what you would see in star trek, star wars and others.

can any one help me?

is there a light that acts like a sun?

if there is, what is it called and how would i edit the options of the light, its intensity and what ever else because i know that i would need more than one to make a proper effect kind of like what you would see in star trek, star wars and others.

The sun (a strong, distant enough source that rays can be considered parallel) is simulated by infinite lights, which only have a direction, and no things such as angles and radial fall-offs.

That, and turn the ambient light to 0, and compensate with a very subtle fill (another infinite) if you don't want perfect blacks in shadow (which in large enough scenes you probably would get, as bleed across the hull would hardly be perceived).

This is the right area to post in, provided you are using Softimage. For more general rendering/lighting questions that aren't software specific you can look at the techniques forums, specifically the one about lighting and rendering, aptly named just that I believe

yes im using softimage/XSI, its the program that i prefer of the ones that ive tired to use.

another question, i dont know if this would be related to lighting or what, but i want to make energy bolts, an object that glows as its shot out of a cannon, ive noticed at X distance it cant be seen and its not very far, how can i change that if its possible.

its just for a simple animation

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