Why Doesn't VW Render the Beam Angles Correctly

[User-B]

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

 

[Jesse Cogswell]

The ultimate answer is that the rendering engine in Vectorworks cannot render elliptical beams, only circular ones.  This is a limitation of both Vectorworks and Vision.  There are a couple of workarounds that I use to achieve this for rendering purposes.

 

1.  Create a new Gobo Texture using Spotlight - Visualization - Create Gobo Texture that mimics the beam spread you want.  I have an example posted here:

It can be a little tricky to build, I built mine in Photoshop by taking a screenshot of an orthographic top view (much like you have in your example) with the beam and field filled using ovals.  In Photoshop, I used the gradient tool in radial mode to feather the field angle and then layered in an additional oval for the beam.  I've attached the Photoshop file used to build it.

 

What this does mean, though, is that your Beam Angle 1 and Field Angle 1 fields in the OIP need to contain the wider size, and then have the Lamp Rotation Angle and Gobo Rotation set to 90deg to create a horizontal dispersion like in your example.  Also, if you want to link this file with Lightwright, make sure that you apply the diffusion gobo in the Gobo 2 field and then make sure that you don't sync that field with Lightwright so you keep your Gobo Maintenance clean.

 

To make applying this easy, I wrote a script that lives in the my template file that I run on any fixture that needs the elliptical beam spread applied.  You just need to select the fixture, then run the script.  I have it set to also turn on the Draw Beam, as I usually need to make adjustments to the lamp and gobo rotation for the shot I want.  You would just need to change out the variable named kDiff to match your gobo texture.

 

PROCEDURE LoadDiffusion;

{*
	Sets parameters for selected Lighting Device object for rendering 10x36 Linear Diffusion lens in horizontal position
	Developed By: Jesse Cogswell
	Date: 1/9/2022
	Revisions:
*}

VAR

	currentLayer:STRING;

PROCEDURE LoadTheDiffusion(h:HANDLE);

{Sets parameters of given Lighting Device object}

	CONST

		kDiff = '10x36 Linear Diffusion';
		kLDevice = 'Lighting Device';

	BEGIN
		SetRField(h,kLDevice,'Template',kDiff);
		SetRField(h,kLDevice,'TemplateRot1','90');
		SetRField(h,kLDevice,'Lamp Rotation Angle','90');
		SetRField(h,kLDevice,'Draw Beam','True');
		
		LDevice_Reset(h);
	END;

BEGIN
	currentLayer:=GetLName(ActLayer);
	ForEachObject(LoadTheDiffusion,((SEL) & (R IN ['Lighting Device']) & (L = currentLayer)));
END;

Run(LoadDiffusion);

 

2. The other workaround, which I now heavily rely on but may be cumbersome for you, is to use IES files with Custom light sources.  If you don't know about them, IES files are text files that contain data to accurately recreate a light source's output.  More information can be found here: https://ieslibrary.com/.  These are very commonly used in architectural lighting, and most manufacturers will supply IES files for their lights.  What makes these cumbersome is that you can't apply these files to Lighting Device objects, you can only use them with standard Light objects with the Type set to "Custom", so you would essentially have to add an additional custom light for each of your Lighting Device objects.  If you are looking to produce photorealistic renderings, this is definitely the route that you want to take, but know that it's a lot of work to set up and maintain.  Most of my lighting design work at this point is doing museum lighting, where photorealistic renderings are more important but where looks are also very static (no need to build cues with different intensities and colors).  In my opinion, the IES method would be more work than it's worth for theatrical lighting.

10x36 Linear Diffusion.psd

[User-B]

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. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by User-B

[User-B]

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

Edited October 4, 2023 by User-B

[Mark Aceto]

6 hours ago, User-B said:

- IES files can not be applied to a existing Lighting Device

 

If you edit the actual light object (that's nested in the Lighting Device) via the Visualization Palette, you can import the IES file there. I've done this a number of times with strip lights (not that it made a difference).

[Mark Aceto]

@Dave Donley is this bug back? Or is it that weird ASCII workaround thing where the user has to edit the first few characters or something?

 

ChromaQ Studio Force V 72 IES Test.vwx

 

Studio Force II 72™ IES v1.0.zip

[User-B]

40 minutes ago, Mark Aceto said:

 

If you edit the actual light object (that's nested in the Lighting Device) via the Visualization Palette, you can import the IES file there. I've done this a number of times with strip lights (not that it made a difference).

 

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.

Edited October 4, 2023 by User-B

[Mark Aceto]

Just now, User-B said:

 

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 takes the IES file.

Same. I suspect it’s a regression but waiting for Dave to confirm before I submit it because I’m lazy.

[User-B]

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.

 

[User-B]

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.

[Jesse Cogswell]

@Mark Aceto When did it last work?  I just tested it in VW2019, VW2022, VW2023, and VW2024 and had the same result in each, the light reverted back to a standard Spot kind.  I don't think I've ever gotten it to work, but would be very, very happy to be wrong.

 

I currently use a combination of the two methods listed above.  I'll use the gobo method while I'm developing my plot since it works well in Shaded rendering modes and once the plot is more or less locked in, I have a script that will place an IES Light at the center of the lens geometry for each selected Lighting Device object.  The script then pulls the pan, tilt, intensity, and UUID from the Lighting Device.  The UUID is applied to a record attached to the IES Light, so if the underlying Lighting Device moves, changes focus, or changes intensity then the script will update the IES light rather than building a new one.  The only thing the script can't do is set the IES Light's Light Rotation Angle to match the lens rotation because there is no Vectorscript command to get to that field.  It has sped up my rendering workflow by quite a lot.

 

 

The nice thing about the script is that it also works for fixtures with light sources that are off-center, like the LSI Lumelex 2024 since the light will be generated from the lens geometry rather than the pivot point as it would from the Lighting Device Object:

 

 

But IES Lights are far and away the best method of getting photorealism out of Vectorworks, especially if using a Redshift render mode.

 

 

[Mark Aceto]

7 minutes ago, Jesse Cogswell said:

@Mark Aceto When did it last work?  I just tested it in VW2019, VW2022, VW2023, and VW2024 and had the same result in each, the light reverted back to a standard Spot kind.  I don't think I've ever gotten it to work, but would be very, very happy to be wrong.

 

I think the bug was with importing IES files in general, so I'm just gonna go ahead and submit a new one.

[Mark Aceto]

1 hour ago, Mark Aceto said:

Or is it that weird ASCII workaround thing where the user has to edit the first few characters or something?

 

Not ASCII but the IES file itself:

 

[Mark Aceto]

14 minutes ago, Jesse Cogswell said:

@Mark Aceto When did it last work?

 

I evidently got it to work with whatever build of 2020 I was using at the time:

 

 

[User-B]

@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.

[JBenghiat]

I’m going to take the opportunity to plug BeamViz, which automatically creates the mask for elliptical beams. 
 

https://benghiatlighting.com/software/product/beamviz-6/

 

[Sam Jones]

9 hours ago, JBenghiat said:

I’m going to take the opportunity to plug BeamViz, which automatically creates the mask for elliptical beams. 

 

He doesn't mention it enough.  BeamViz is an absolutely amazing plug-in.  It vastly expands the ability to visualize and manipulate light beams and integrates with Spotlight Lighting Devices seamlessly.  Get this plug-in; it will blow you away.  The downside/upside to this tool is that there is so much functionality you need to take some time to explore it all.