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Light Rendering less intuitive than before


REB

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I've recently upgraded from 12.5 and I'm trying to get a handle on the changes made in 3D rendering with light. My primary issues follow:

1) I liked being able to use my light symbols to render light by inputting height and focus (and swatchbook color, etc..) I have not seen any option akin to the "light on" checkbox that was in 12.5. Is there some other way that's eluding me? I don't see anything in the object info palette.

2) Grudgingly using the light tool instead, when I click "cast shadows" there are still no shadows cast. Is there a hidden setting somewhere, or is this some kind of bug? Is there some other option for color selection than a color picker - like being able to input a catalog number?

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1. If you have more than a couple lights to deal with, the Visualization Palette is definitely faster. (The trick is to make sure every instrument has a Channel # and/or Purpose - otherwise you can't tell what's what.)

But in the regular OIP you can still enter the gel color, height, and focus point.

If you want to get straight to the "light on" button, you can right click on an instrument and select "Edit Light..." This will open up a window that controls the light source built into the symbol.

2. There are two parts to casting shadows. The light has to cast a shadow and the object casting the shadow can't have a texture that doesn't cast shadows (like Spotlight Instrument Symbols). That may be what you are seeing.

And I don't think a regular light object will take a Rosco or Lee color number... Pretty sure that's a Spotlight only thing...

hth

michaelk

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I figured out one problem - somehow the default shutter settings for my instrument symbol had them all pushed in. It seems someone owes the ME a beer!

Though I still have the shadow problem... I have a people figures and wooden benches that all should be casting shadows on the surface they're standing on. All objects are clearly lit by that source, but no shadows on the ground or other people or objects in the way.

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Ah. I must've been clicking "Fast Renderworks" and not "Fast Renderworks with Shadows" by accident.

Is there a logical way to use the shutters to make cuts that isn't guess-and-check? Does it strike anyone else as backwards that the little diagram that shows the shutters is a black circle on a white field and not the opposite?

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I've asked this question before, but never really got a good answer. Here goes: when rendering (in any mode) my shutters cast shadows. It's a real pain, especially when I'm showing students how to use shutters. Anyone have a fix for this? thanks!

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bjw,

I don't understand why the shadows are a problem. Do you not want shadows? If so, then make sure "cast shadows is turned off for all the lights you are using. Send a screen shot. That may help us see what you have. I would be more inclined to think you could not differentiate the slats of the shutters without shadows, and/or hidden line rendering. That's the problem I constantly encounter. RenderWorks shadows are nowhere near as good as the human eye. Object with the same color, and near each other, do not separate well, if they do at all. Yet our eyes see them perfectly fine in the real world.

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Bruce - Brandon is talking about shutters on ellipsoidal lighting fixtures. Not shutters on windows. It's a Spotlight thing.

Brandon - When I use shutters, they only render with Fast Quality w/ Shadows, Final Quality Renderworks, and Custom Renderworks (with the right settings). But don't you want the shutters to cast shadows?

michaelk

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I've attached a simplified file that contains my latest migraine. The same process I used in 12.5 to render gobos with lighting fixtures does not work in 2008. I've tried using custom and vw provided gobo textures. The light will render without a gobo, but once the gobo is in, it is as if the gobo is opaque, and renders black. I've tried a ton of different setting options, and can't figure it out. The unit has a fill, Ray-traced shadows is selected, there's only 1 layer in the document, etc. etc. I've tried with and without a lot of settings, I've tried it in Final Quality and Custom Render modes. I've even zoomed in on the unit in wireframe, and when the gobo is put in, it looks to be in the right place (even though the beam shows the light going through the body) I have run out of things to try. Anyone have new ideas? I feel like it must be a problem with the gobo texture, but I can't figure out what it would be.

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Hold the presses. Not 2 minutes after posting the last comment, I figured out the problem. I think it might be a bug. It's related to the black background preference. If you wish to experiment for yourself, you can open up that file then:

1. Set VW preferences to black background on.

2. Enter a texture in gobo 1; FQRW

3. Observe lack of light and gobo image.

4. with FQRW still on, switch preferences to white background.

5. Observe unchanged lack of light and gobo image.

6. with FQRW still on, reenter the name of the texture in gobo 1 in the OIP.

7. Presto. gobo.

Now... here it gets even funkier...

8. Keeping FQRW on, change prefs back to black background

9. Now you probably have a gobo image AND a black background!

10. BUT... now try reentering in the texture name in gobo 1 of the OIP (or a different texture)

11. Alas, no more gobo.

I also had a friend try this out and the same results occurred.

So, now that I've figured out my problem, I can work around it by working in white background and using a big black box behind my drawing, but the question is "Is this a known bug with a fix pending?"

Edited by REB
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