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Ray Link

by IKA·Workflow

Images © IKA. Used for product review; image policy.

Why we like it

Ray Link earns its place in the Superhive library by pulling Blender's light linking and shadow linking controls into a single pie menu workflow, backed by a Light Mixer and an Eyedropper linking tool.

What is Ray Link?

Ray Link is a light linking and shadow linking toolkit for Blender. It moves these technical tasks out of Blender's menus and into a viewport pie menu, reachable by pressing L in the 3D viewport. It stands out in the Superhive library as a dedicated set of tools for managing which lights affect which objects.

The toolkit includes an Eyedropper that links and unlinks objects through visual guides and overlays, along with operators to link selected, unlink selected, and exclude selected. Solo With Linked isolates chosen objects together with their linked lights, or hides every light except the ones you want with one click. You can also add lights that are already linked and parented to selected objects, and link entire collections to specific lights, with the option to remove shadows.

A unified Light Mixer panel controls linked lights or all selected lights, adjusting brightness, color, light type, ray visibility and more. An HDRI Studio mode decouples scene lighting from camera backgrounds. Ray Link works with both Cycles and EEVEE.

Who is Ray Link best for?

Ray Link is best for blender artists working with light linking and shadow linking who want to manage lights from a viewport pie menu.

How much does Ray Link cost?

Ray Link is completely free to download and use.

Key features

  • Eyedropper tool that links and unlinks objects using visual guides and overlays
  • Link operators for linking, unlinking, and excluding selected objects
  • Solo With Linked to focus selected objects with their linked lights, or hide all lights except the selected ones with one click
  • Add Linked Lights that are linked and parented to selected objects
  • Link Groups to connect entire collections to chosen lights, with the option to remove shadows
  • Light Mixer panel to adjust brightness, color, light type, ray visibility and more for linked or selected lights
  • Works with Cycles and EEVEE, with a global L shortcut in the 3D viewport

Tags

#light linking#shadow linking#lighting#pie menu#Blender#Cycles#EEVEE#workflow

Frequently asked questions

Does Ray Link work with Cycles and EEVEE?

Ray Link works with both Cycles and EEVEE in Blender. Its light linking and shadow linking operators, along with the Light Mixer that adjusts brightness, color, light type and ray visibility, are built to run under either render engine. This means you can set up which lights affect which objects and manage linked lights the same way whether your project uses Cycles or EEVEE. For details on how specific features behave in each engine, check the developer's page and the documentation.

What Blender versions does Ray Link support?

Ray Link supports Blender 4.2 and up, with compatibility listed through 5.1. Once installed, the toolkit lives in the 3D viewport, where pressing L opens its pie menu workflow for light linking and shadow linking. If you are on a Blender release below 4.2, you would need to upgrade before using it. For the current supported range and any version-specific notes, the developer's page and documentation are the best reference.

How do I open Ray Link in Blender?

Ray Link is reached by pressing L in the 3D viewport, which opens its pie menu workflow. From there you can use the Eyedropper to link and unlink objects through visual guides and overlays, run the link, unlink and exclude operators, and open the Light Mixer panel. The global L shortcut keeps light linking and shadow linking tasks in the viewport rather than in Blender's menus. Full setup and usage steps are covered in the documentation on the developer's page.

Is Ray Link free to use?

Ray Link is listed as free here in the catalog. The plugin is distributed under the GPL license, which is standard for Blender add-ons. Licensing terms can change over time, so for the current details it is best to check the developer's page directly. Once you have it, the toolkit runs inside Blender 4.2 and up and works with both Cycles and EEVEE for light linking and shadow linking.

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