Steve Clarkson

One question for you guys, I've made this 15 Objects into a group, and a symbol, and in none of those 3 states could I convert it to an Instrument (Lighting).... is it possible somehow? More info - 12 of those objects are themselves 3D symbols, should I deconstruct them and then re-group the whole mess? UPDATE: So I broke it all down to base components, created a symbol, attached the instrument records, and still couldn't get the option to create a lighting instrument....UNTIL I switched to 2D/plan view. Go figure. I also tweaked the brightness again.

Thanks guys! I probably seem pretty obsessed with this kind of light, but we use them VERY frequently on corporate shows, and it's the only thing I've found in VW so far that doesn't come out looking realistic. scottmoore - sounds good, I'll try that next.

Well I'm still at it, this time it's a glowing texture at 1000% set into a mirror-texture lined case, with one spot light set to 10deg beam with 90deg spread, smooth falloff, lit fog. Way easier on the rendering and not too bad for coverage, though the falloff goes on a bit. Decent realism on the drape I think.

klawson - ya I tried an area light too, they're pretty close in the affect they have for this purpose. My linear light is a rectangle placed barely above the exit of the shell, similar it sounds to your area light. And ya I agree.... it's sorta the real thing. I tried lowering my linear light into the enclosure hoping for a shuttering effect, but all it did was block all light, have you tried anything like that?

It still needs some work, I've put it into an actual project, and it's added to my render time significantly. There's also some other weirdnesses, for example only the linear light is rendering. A work in progress.

Up-Voted!!

Thanks for the props y'all! Ya, that's a good idea scottmoore, hadn't thought of that! Here's the file... LED WITH SPOTS N LINE.vwx

So here's what I've come up with... It uses 12 spot elements and 1 linear light. I used the linear light to somewhat overcome the dark zone right at the exit of the fixture. I've also splayed the 12 elements to reduce the brighter convergence area in the middle. In order to allow for 3D rotation, I've left it as a group of symbols. Haven't tried putting into a real project yet, we'll see how it affects render time and workflow, it's a little clunky I know, definitely fun getting into custom objects. I'll post the file if anyone's interested.

Thanks markdd, if I get anything useful I'll post the results.

So I'm still trying to get this LED BAR to have more versatility. I've attached an image. Currently it's a Symbol with 12 Symbols inside it. But I want more attributes to modify like an instrument. So what would I need to convert this into to be able to convert to Instrument? Should I deconstruct it down to the first Symbol level? What about Multicircuit? I did read that in a Multicircuit instrument the end elements must be different than the interior ones... not sure exactly what that means, or how that could be useful in creating something that requires 12 identical elements? The main attributes I'd like to utilize with this are colour change (across all 12 elements), Focus and 3D Placement Any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks!

I've taken mjm's CF-12 Virtual and increased the number of elements to 12 to mimic the Elation SixBar 1000, it's working well enough, I'm okay with the initial lower brightness issue, and I've created a symbol from that. I'm inserting it into project, and I can't rotate it. I'm getting messages about permissions only in certain views and it's not making much sense. Can anyone explain this to me? Can I convert the symbol to the necessary image type? Thanks!

Thanks scottmoore and markdd!

mjm, Thanks for sharing that!

Nice!

markdd, I definitely don't mind trying to build my own, it's good to know it's at least possible. Thanks!

Thanks! You can add me to the list.

Hello again! I'm using the stock instrument Elation Sixbar 1000, an LED bar that should emit light continuously along the length, however in rendering it shows as a point source. Am I missing any settings or is this just the way it is?

markdd, So I created a new project and everything works as it should, drape blocking both projected light and lit fog. I then went back to my other project, un-checked the receive shadows in the RW background, then rechecked it. And sure enough now the soft goods are blocking the lit fog. Even though I've restarted the app, and the project, it took unchecking/rechecking to fix the issue. Thanks for your help!

markdd, I appreciate the offer, but I can't send this particular file - it's a client project. Maybe I'll draw up something just to feature this issue.

I'm not sure what the difference is, but I'll check that out. I am using included instruments in the software, in this case MAC Auras. Edit: Yes they are set to cast shadows. But as you've pointed out (and can be seen from the shadow cast by the drape at the point the beam hits the ceiling in my example), it's the lit fog that's passing through.

Yes markdd, "receive shadows" is selected in the RW background. And you have made an important distinction, that it's the lit fog that isn't being blocked, the object is blocking the light.

The object I checked (Drape) uses a class texture, so I edited the class texture, in this case *2, and it's settings are already set to Cast and Receive Shadows. FYI, all the objects that are not casting shadows are all included in the software, nothing is custom.

Thanks, will check that out!

Hello again, After investigating all my settings regarding RW-background, lit fog etc. I still have some objects (Soft Goods and Staging) passing light, and others (Tables and chairs, walls), not. Thoughts? I've included a small section...