Raytrace

[ABC Denver]

I am trying to raytrace one of our 3D vies but no matter what options I change, it always comes out way too bright. I have adjusted the radiosity and other options and can not find any combination that doesn't give me a very bright picture. Also, it takes a few hours before the raytrace reaches a point that I can tell what it will look like. Is there any way to speed up the process?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,
Zach

[Pat1217]

Zach,
How many lights are you using? Turn off all the lights in other rooms you're not rendering. That helps the speed a little.
Just remember the more "stuff" you have in your plan the longer it will take.
It seems the rule of thumb is not to have more that 2 or 3 lights on if you can help it.

You can adjust each light setting as well. Uncheck "auto intensity" and put a lower number in there for one thing.

There are so many different methods and it really can be a challenge.

Pat

[Keith Jeffery]

I am trying to raytrace one of our 3D vies but no matter what options I change, it always comes out way too bright.

Have you tried turning down the ambient light?

Also, it takes a few hours before the raytrace reaches a point that I can tell what it will look like. Is there any way to speed up the process?

Try doing preview renderings with a smaller image size. Removing unnecessary lights has already been mentioned (save your plan under a different filename first!).

[ABC Denver]

This is an overhead shot looking down into the plan. I have tried removing every light except for 1 in each room and it is still too bright. I've reduced ambient light to 0 (opposite side of scale that says Very Bright)...

[Pat1217]

Zach

Your pic didn't post

Pat

[Keith Jeffery]

Did you turn down the sunlight intensity?

[Pat1217]

Zach,
Are you using an overhead shot, no roof? If so, you're getting the result of the sunlight. Turn off your lights in your plan.

Pat

[ABC Denver]

Yes it is an overhead shot with no roof, when I turn off every single light it goes black. Should I turn them all off and turn the sun up a little bit?
Zach

[Shonner]

I turn the Sun down to 75% and turn off all lights and don't let POV RAY add a default light. Diffused lighting I turned up from 0% to 100%. My open plan renders don't end up blasted by light.

[Max]

Zach,
Having designed and drafted many basement plans for several of your local competitors I am familiar with the tendency to use a large number of can lights as per local demand. The lighting issue in renderings largely stems from these cans and their settings as well as how many you have on. Depending on the view you are trying to achieve you will need to turn off everything you possibly can and focus only on the area within the camera range (those cans you can actually see). I have had to place "sun" designated lights in certain situations in order to get the ambiant light right. Every plan is different.

I would start out by turning off all lights and, starting with one or two lights only, experiment with the indiviual light settings. Once you can get a handle on that you will quickly see the direction you need to go in order to achieve the view you are ultimately seeking.

Max

[dgavin]

Zach,

Are you aware that some light symbols are actually comprised of more than one light? Check the dbx and hit the down arrow next to the light type (e.g.spot or point) and see if there are other lights that are on.

[lbuttery]

One trick I saw posted awhile back was to turn off all the "design" lights and then place whatever lights are needed to illuminate the render/ray and make those "non-display" lights.


I haven't done this, just passing on a tip


Lew

[jonathank]

Or you could just learn Kerkythea, and that might solve all your problems

I'm kidding of course...

[turnersdesign]

The easiest way to achieve a quick but high quality exterior house raytrace is to render with every interior fixture, cabinet etc... turned off in the render view. This significantly decreases the render time as there are not as many surfaces for the engine to render. I can achieve a medium quality raytrace with medium radiosity in under 10mins if i do it this way. Interior lighting also is a big time consumer for an exterior render so if you are able to turn the interior lights off in the preference tab then this will also greatly decrease your render time.

[turnersdesign]

With regard to being to bright, the direct sunlight tab can be brought down to say 70% instead of 100% for raytracing. However the most effective way is to specify a north point on the plan file and using the sun angle option under the CAD tab specify the sun position at a particular date and it will adjust to sun's effect on the raytrace. For rendered floor plan views i use 335, 151 degrees SE 21 June 2008 (Date at which the sun casts least shadows) and 12pm. Brisbane. This raytraces a floor plan view with minimal shadows. with a front view you will have to experiment a bit as each instance is different.