Ray Tracing Difficulties

[jeffholloway]

I know this subject pops up a lot, but there really isn't much about it on the training videos! SO, my current problem is in a bathroom that I am redesigning for a client, and now that I am trying to put together a presentation package, and need pictures, the lighting is all (as my grandmother would say) cattywompus! I do have several recessed lights in the ceiling and over shower, bathtub, toilet, etc. and I have even tried putting their intensity down to 5! Still so bright it washes everything out! Please advise, and also understand that I really don't have resources to get a new rendering software either. Thanks!

[Allen42acj]

http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread....hting+tutorial

Might not be in time for this project..

[ECSURFER84]

make sure your adjusting the light for raytrace and not just general.

select on in raytrace only and adjust the light there. if you did that already, i usually adjust the last attenuation number... make the .0001 to .0008 (or however many zeros there are in front) this reduces the intensity of the light dramatically...

good for quick raytracing

[Pat1217]

make sure your adjusting the light for raytrace and not just general.

select on in raytrace only and adjust the light there. if you did that already, i usually adjust the last attenuation number... make the .0001 to .0008 (or however many zeros there are in front) this reduces the intensity of the light dramatically...

good for quick raytracing

Ric,
I never did get the hang of attenuation. For me it's all a guessing game. Can you simplify the 3 boxes for "attenuated"? Not much info in either the help menue nor the render video I purchased. Both tell me to "play around with it".

Pat

[ECSURFER84]

thats basically all i did. there are a few attenuation charts that have been posted here before. I might have them still. But basically, the last two boxes, the higher the number the less light intensity, i really only mess with the last box, and .0008 always worked just right.

if the first box reads .1000 i adjust that back to .6000 like the point light.

all in all... the higher the number the less light is put off by the fixture. If you are going to mess with attenuation, dont go past .0008 in the last box, i think it starts all over again once you go to .0010

[Keith Jeffery]

I never did get the hang of attenuation. For me it's all a guessing game. Can you simplify the 3 boxes for "attenuated"?

I created this spreadsheet awhile ago to help people understand the attenuation values. If you open it up in Excel, you can change the three values and see how it changes the light falloff.

[dr0591]

You could also probably turn some of your lights off completely. If the glass is set as emissive, it will still look like the light is on in raytrace but the fixture won't be contributing any light to the scene. I'd much rather have the scene lit by natural sunlight as much as possible -- really adds to the realism, IMO.

My rule of thumb is to never have more than 3 or 4 lights actually ON in a view -- only the ones necessary to highlight some feature of the design, and no more than 2 of those casting shadows -- only the ones where the shadows will actually show and register with the viewer.

[Pat1217]

I created this spreadsheet awhile ago to help people understand the attenuation values. If you open it up in Excel, you can change the three values and see how it changes the light falloff.

Keith, the 3rd dialog value...what is E-05?

Pat

[Keith Jeffery]

Keith, the 3rd dialog value...what is E-05?

It's scientific notation, and that's because the number's so small by default. Here's how to change it in Excel 2003: Select that cell, go to Format->Cells... . In the Number tab, change its category to Number, and give it 5 or 6 decimal places. It should then read like normal.

[Pat1217]

It's scientific notation, and that's because the number's so small by default. Here's how to change it in Excel 2003: Select that cell, go to Format->Cells... . In the Number tab, change its category to Number, and give it 5 or 6 decimal places. It should then read like normal.

Thanks Keith... you're a genius to come up with this.

Pat