IanH Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I am looking at writing a script part of which will create then update a number of suns (lights) as if they were created with Set Sun Position. Does anyone know if the algorithm for set sun position is accessible from vectorscript (bearing in mind that I need to update some of the parameter values across multiple instances of the light) or where I can find an alternative algorithm. A while back I found a couple of web sites with various algorithms but unfortunately the interesting links were out of date and the others were not quite what I was looking for - either fixed location, some other parameter not doing what I was expecting or me being mathematically challenged. The parameters that I expect to update are likely to be lat/long/timezone (at creation), then page north, date and time as required. The script is similar to create solar animation but either for a static time or a cumulative set of sun positions over a range of times. Thanks Ian Quote Link to comment
gmm18 Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 I have seen on here someone mentioning that they use "Julian Carr's Heliodon" tool to set sun position. Maybe it was something with the Australian local version? Because I look on OzCad and it is not listed as an add-on...hmmm. Quote Link to comment
mike m oz Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 The Heliodon tool is part of the Australian localisation provided by Ozcad. Its a very useful tool, but only works if you have Renderworks. Its unfortunate that it is not available as an add on. Quote Link to comment
IanH Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 That's quite similar to what I am looking at writing, but a bit more complex. I am basically writing a North Point but the text is sensitive to page orientation. I had 70% completed that. I am now looking at adding lights representing the sun to that, so North Point and sun orientation remain in synch. It would also allow multiple simultaneous suns (say am/midday/pm or even every hour) so that you can average light levels over the course of the day). At the moment, sun positions are not linked to North Point except via re-entering the sun position each time and when I create multiple suns representing different times of the day/year, I end up having to create multiple sun positions which can be error prone - I thought it would be a perfect starter pio for me to write until I decided to add the sun positions and realised that I probably did not have access to the VW 'set sun position' algorithm and had to write my own - not a problem if I could find a compatible algorithm. Quote Link to comment
Pat Stanford Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 The sun is just a special instance of a directional light. How about using the Set Sun Position tool to place the lights and then just store those values and use them to recreate the light later? Pat Quote Link to comment
IanH Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 I think that this probably the best way of handling the problem. Slightly more complex in having to manage creating and deleting the sun/lights, but being able to utilise the set sun position algorithm, albeit indirectly, will outweigh implementing my own algorithm. Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment
gmm18 Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 It really is too bad that the heliodon is not a standard feature. I hope this will change soon with the ever growing importance, and awareness about energy efficient design. Quote Link to comment
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