User-B

@klinzey If that includes IES files as part of the Lighting Device... YAHOO!

Care to elaborate or point out a resource for the philosophy VWX is taking?

The file is from Spotlight 2023 but opened in 2024. When I set the Brightness % above 100% it snaps back to 100%. Even on lights that were set above 100% from the original 2023 file the values are still above 100% until I try and change them then they also snap to 100%. Thoughts? Also created a new file in Spotlight 2024 and the behavior is the same.

@Jesse Cogswell That's a sweet process and the rendering looks great! I totally agree with the IES renderings. It doesn't seem like a stretch that IES should be able to be applied to Lighting Devices though. In the mean time I need to roll up my sleeves and get some scripting done. Just took a look at Marionette last week. Promising for some other things I would like to accomplish. I still consider myself a pretty new user of VW and discovering new things about it. Very encouraged by your work arounds.

I should add a little more context I guess. Although I'd like to have full DMX control for visualization later, this project is more of an architectural previz in the beginning. I've been experimenting with pulling the assets into to Unreal Engine and I have some hope that once I have it in there I can apply IES files directly to the lighting and get more authentic renders in real time. However, as always seems to be the case in our simulated worlds there are more hurdles to overcome... UE required GDTF files which are not exactly prevalent at this time for many fixtures.

A work around for this particular project but with caveats like no DMX control for dimming and color since the Custom Light is created within the Light Device symbol. What I do get is directional control via the OIP, use of focus points and Draw Beam. By editing the Light Device symbol and adding a Custom Light with an IES profile right in front of the fixture and then turning off the actual light, the IES file renders. CAUTION: If you try this in Vectorworks prior to 2024 it will crash the program when copying the symbol or if you drag the symbol straight from the resource browser it will not be a Lighting Device.

I didn't think to look there. So I edited the Light Device, changed it to custom, loaded the IES file and pressed OK to close the dialog and nothing changed, as you noted, but also when I went back to edit the Light Device again the Kind field was set back to spot so it doesn't appear to actually take the IES file.

Jesse, I wrote my reply at the same time you posted. I will investigate your solution. At least I now know that VW doesn't render epliptical beams. That will save me banging my head up against the wall thinking it was possible without a work around. Lol. Thanks, Steve

Spent a lot of time searching the internet for an answer. Some bits of information I think I understand but haven't figured out how to lump it together to form a solution... - I can import a IES file using the Light Tool by selecting Custom in the Kind field - Custom lights do not allow for the use of focus points - Displaying beam/field angles is not an option with custom lights - IES files can not be applied to a existing Lighting Device - Not possible to turn a custom light into a Lighting device I guess in a perfect world I would like a Lighting Device I can select from the Resource Browser that is like any other Lighting Device that can be edited and use the OIP but also uses a IES file to render the beam. I've created lighting devices from scratch before but not with an IES distribution file. It may all be there sitting there in front of me but so far I can't seem to wrap my head around how to accomplish this.

The beam angles are correct but the rendered light pool is not. Why?