Can't use more than 8 light sources

[joesstlouis]

I'm new to this software and I need some help...

The light sources appear to be inserting into the model, but it looks like to me that Chief cannot raytrace an image with more than a few light sources. If I add house lights, it ignores the sunlight and ambient light, etc. In the program preferences it says my video card has a max light count of 8.

I don’t really know the mechanics of how it works, sorry if what I said isn’t helpful.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? I need to create drawings with 16+ lights. Is this a video card issue, if so what card do I need as a starting point. I might want to buy a card that will last a while too.

Thanks

Joe

[dshall]

I'm new to this software and I need some help...

The light sources appear to be inserting into the model, but it looks like to me that Chief cannot raytrace an image with more than a few light sources. If I add house lights, it ignores the sunlight and ambient light, etc. In the program preferences it says my video card has a max light count of 8.

I don’t really know the mechanics of how it works, sorry if what I said isn’t helpful.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? I need to create drawings with 16+ lights. Is this a video card issue, if so what card do I need as a starting point. I might want to buy a card that will last a while too.

Thanks

Joe

Can not do it, 8 lights max.

[joesstlouis]

So 8 is the max regardless of the video card? What about the fact that it can't raytrace more than a couple of light sources?

[perryh]

Some (not many)video cards will allow more lights. You can have lots of lights in your plan. Chief just uses the 8 lights in that room.

[Joe Carrick]

You can only Raytrace a "Rendered View" and according to the Docs:

Lighting

In most rendered views, lighting is calculated on a room-by-room basis; only the light sources in the room containing the camera are used. This limitation does not apply in ray trace views, however.

When the camera is outside a building, the program normally uses sunlight for lighting calculations and turns off all other light sources. You can turn the sunlight off and use all the other exterior lights to simulate night time views.

The maximum number of light sources that can be turned on in a view at the same time is determined by your video card. If your video card’s maximum number of lights is eight, the program only uses the eight light sources closest to the camera’s position. You can manually turn on and off individual lights in order to get the desired lighting effects. See Displaying Lights.

Each individual light source has a set of Rendering properties, such as intensity and color, that can be defined. See Light Data Tab.

So, it's a function of the Video Card for Rendered Views but maybe not for Ray Traces.

I don't know for sure but there may be Cards that will support more than 8 lights.

[Joe Carrick]

FWIW, Ray Traces are done by the CPU, not the Video Card. Evidently the reason that you need to have a Rendered View active in order to Ray
Trace is just so there's a camera position, angle and field of view.

[joesstlouis]

will your card allow you more than 8 Joe?

[Joe Carrick]

will your card allow you more than 8 Joe?

No, but as I said....

If it's a Ray Trace it doesn't matter. You can turn on all the lights you want just before you start the Ray Trace. Video Card is not a limit for that, only for the the "render view".

[lbuttery]

there are video cards that can have more than 8 lights

bu they cost $$$

Lew

[dgavin]

Joe S,

You may want to simulate lights being on and increase the ambient light for the room. If you set the color of the lights(the lens color that is) to be highly emmissive (material properities) it looks like it is on. THe more lights actually on the slower the ray trace. THe render view may look toobright but the ray trace view will probably not be as bright. YOuhave to experiment to get what you want. Rendering and ray tracing are sort of art forms that take practice. I have converted to using sunlight set tocome through windows and higher ambient light and use less in the way of actual lights being on. Sometimes you can insert a 3D point light that does not show in render view but works in ray traces and renders. Usually set it at about 48" above floor and not too bright. JUst enaough to lighten up an area that may be too dark.

[dshall]

No, but as I said....

If it's a Ray Trace it doesn't matter. You can turn on all the lights you want just before you start the Ray Trace. Video Card is not a limit for that, only for the the "render view".

I think what Joe is saying is...... you must understand the difference between RENDER & RAYTRACE. Joe I believe has corrected me and he has stated that a RAYTRACE recognizes all lights (unlimited), however a RENDER will only recognize 8 LIGHTS MAX. Is this correct Joe?

[Joe Carrick]

Yes Scott, that's true.

Here's a Ray Trace with 20 lights. If I were to do just a Render View with Shadows it would only use 8 lights.

[lbuttery]

however a RENDER will only recognize 8 LIGHTS MAX

Scott:

a render in chief will recognize as many lights as the video card can support

this is usually a max of 8

some video cards can have more than 8 lights

I doubt if there are any 'modern" cards on the market that have less than 8 lights

Lew

[Artisan Group]

Hi everyone,
I'm experiencing the same thing with an 8 light limit which is in BOTH rendering and ray tracing. I'm using X5. I would think they would have overcome this limitation by now. I also can't find anywhere on video card manufacturer's website anything about maximum number of 'lights' they can display. Any updates would be appreciated! Thanks so much.

[Glenn Woodward]

Chris P,

If you go Preferences...Render...Video Card Status, it will tell you the number of lights that the video card supports.

On the Light Data tab, you need to make sure the light is turned ON and that is checked to be used in both Camera View
and Ray Tracing - I think these are the default settings.

Have a look at Adjust Lights - you can control the lights from there.