Lighting Nightmare

[teflon07]

Is it possible to see what your house looks like, at night, from outside, in Camera View, with the interior lights turned on and the sunlight set to off?

If I'm doing everything right, Chief is worthless for this task. When I go from one room to the next the lights go off. If I go outside, I have a completely dark house.

Even when I'm inside and moving from one room to the next, the interior lights do not seem to work. I've watched a lot of tutorials, but can't seem to get any results...

I'm using X2, AMD X4 3.2Ghz
Two ATI 4800 HD Video Cards
8GB DDR2 RAM.

[lbuttery]

When I go from one room to the next the lights go off


This is the way the software works...

It only uses lights for the room the camera is in

You have to place lights were they are needed
put them on separate layers so those layers can be turned off in the layersets that don't need them

NOTE: most video cards can only use a max of 8 lights

renders use the video card

raytracing uses the cpu and the # of lights is "unlimited"
but the more lights the longer the time to raytrace

Lew

[teflon07]

Thank you for responding Lew. The limitations are not in the software or hardware, but the program designers and their lack of imagination.

There are several less expensive home design programs that will allow night-time walk-throughs with lights in many rooms or from outside.

Considering the cost of Chief, I'm not impressed thus far.

Furthermore, with video games and gaming design programs now on the market, you'd think chief would make a 3D walk-through more like a video game, with the ability to walk up stairs, open and close doors and use fixtures.

Oh well I guell I'll have to wait for X9 or just find something else.

teflon07

[lbuttery]

Sorry you don't like the software

many, many thousands do...

to each his own

if you find something better please let us know

as for games, they have pre-defined scenes
the software is too dynamic to do what you expect of it

you should contact CA's customer service to discuss your issues
that way they will know and maybe have some answers

while CA staffers read most of these threads they don't read them all

Lew

[Chris Brown]

Are you looking for a picture like this teflon?

[teflon07]

You're on the right track. I have a solution for my needs.

Use a dark background and adjust the light conditions, under lighting options. It's not great, but it works.

See attach....

Thanks for the help.