Bruce Kieffer Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I seem to remember that any object can be turned into a light source. How do I do that? Quote Link to comment
Horst M. Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 In the Modify-->Convert submenu you can find the "Convert to Line Light ...." and "Convert to Area Light ...." Commands Quote Link to comment
Teresa Hull Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I wouldn't recommend turning a very complex thing into an area light or line light, though. Rendering times will shoot through the roof. As I understand it, a line light is basically a BUNCH of point sources all along a path. That is a lot of computing. Depending on what you are trying to do, I may just add a light source (point, spot or directional are all faster to render) to a symbol. Of course, I'm not sure what you're trying to do. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Tamsin Slatter Posted March 26, 2011 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted March 26, 2011 You might also want to look at creating a Renderworks Texture with Glow set as the reflectivity shader. These can be a great alternative to an area light and render faster too. Quote Link to comment
Bruce Kieffer Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 I see it now. Thanks. Got to really crank up the lumens to get much light out of a rectangle. Cool though! Anyway to make the rectangle light object not visible like you can do with lights? Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Tamsin Slatter Posted March 27, 2011 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted March 27, 2011 (edited) Is this with an Area Light? If so, select it and uncheck Render Geometry on the Object Info palette. Try the glow shader though. You need Indirect Lighting switched on to get the effect of a glow, but they are cool. Edited March 27, 2011 by Tamsin Slatter Quote Link to comment
Bruce Kieffer Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 Got it. I'll give the glow shader a try later and let you know my results. Quote Link to comment
Horst M. Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Bruce, you can set the Distance Falloff ("Dist Fall:") in the OIP to none, to get more effect from the Lumens. Quote Link to comment
Bruce Kieffer Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 I see the options for Dist Fall as None, Smooth, Realistic. I don't see a whole lot of difference between those settings. I do see that None spreads the light around more, but it doesn't seem to have anywhere near the effect of changing the lumens from 1000 to 10000 as I did! Quote Link to comment
Bruce Kieffer Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Tamsin, I'm messing with the glow shader. I must have something set wrong. I extruded a rectangle and applied a glow shader texture. The object is bright white, but not emitting any light. I want it to act light a light source. What setting do I need to change with the shader? Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Tamsin Slatter Posted March 28, 2011 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted March 28, 2011 With a glow shader, you need to have another light source in the drawing (even if it is switched off) to turn off the default light. You also need to have the Indirect Lighting settings turned on to see the light bouncing on the surface of other objects. Quote Link to comment
Horst M. Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Bruce, 10000 Lumens isn't that much. It's 3 Flourecents with 1.2m. From a 100W Bulb you get approx. 900 Lumens So it depends pretty much on the Size of the Space that you are illuminating with your Bulb, how much brightness it causes. With the Area Light in the sample File inside the Room the Effect of the DIST Fall set to none is drastical. To get the Glow shader working you must create a Custom RW Setting with Indirect Lighting enabled. In the Glow Texture must be checked, that it emits light. Find the Sample File attached. It has a CIrcle with a Glow Shader and an Area Light with 8000 Lumens inside. To try arround I moved the Arealight out of the Room. Quote Link to comment
Bruce Kieffer Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Ok. I think I get it now. Horst, your file is very helpful. I duplicated Horst's object and shader settings, put that object in a class of it's own, then turned the class on and off to see the effect. Nice to know this stuff. Coloring the shader gives some neat effects. Quote Link to comment
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