X5 Vs Thea...

[Chiefer]

You are welcome.

[kiwideziner]

This has been of immense help to me, am also just starting with RT's

[Chad Cardin]

Graeme,

Yes, the thing I like most about X5 is you dont have to wait 36 hours for the raytrace to find out that its all jacked up and you have to start all over again. I also like that you can adjust the settings while its working and see immediate results so you can change it before its complete.

Now I dont see raytracing with chiefs raytracer machine a waste of time because Im not spending days waiting for it to develop. I also like the fact that the image comes up immediately and then you can choose to wait longer for better quality or just hit save with the current image. Much improved!

[Chad Cardin]

Jintu,

Is there any recommendations for lighting? For example, if we are using can lights, I noticed there are several options for point, spot and parallel lights? I also remember in a video that Pat did, a while back, that she mentioned putting lighting features into light fixtures that arent lighting up from chief, like if you got them from a third party.

Can you explain some of these variations we might be dealing with?

[Chiefer]

Fastest lights to render are Spot Lights, they do not have soft shadows, it is also Chief's default. Try to use it for your tests. Make add lights spotlights too (cut off angle = 175 to 180).

Parallel light in interiors is not advisable, it barely emits light, use it for exteriors only. or not use it at all.

You are right about Pat's video, Re: lighting features > light fixtures.

[Chad Cardin]

Jintu,

My issue with the lights now are the ceiling, even with lights on, you cant even see the cans and the ceiling is darker. Whats this about?

[Chiefer]

Jintu,

My issue with the lights now are the ceiling, even with lights on, you cant even see the cans and the ceiling is darker. Whats this about?

Nice photon mapping.

In the material Class > General Material make both Specular and Emissive 100%., Also assign a darker color for the can, SS is good too.

As for the ceiling, try to make use of the Ambient Occlusion (AO) with a minimum value of 0.1 and maximum value of about 1 or 2.

[Chad Cardin]

Thanks Jintu, I will try that. Is the lighting set to those standards by default or must you change them? Im not at my chief computer right now so I will have to try your setting next time Im on there.

[Chiefer]

Thanks Jintu, I will try that. Is the lighting set to those standards by default or must you change them? Im not at my chief computer right now so I will have to try your setting next time Im on there.

The seem to be by default, I have to adjust material properties every time too.

[amddrafting]

Jintu,

My issue with the lights now are the ceiling, even with lights on, you cant even see the cans and the ceiling is darker. Whats this about?

It's probably the texture on the can light. You have to make sure the texture has emissivity and the slider is set to 60 - 90%

[Chad Cardin]

Great, thanks Aaron, I will give that a try!

[Chiefer]

Anytime.

[Chiefer]

Try to make sun brightness to zero.

[Chad Cardin]

Ok, that worked. I thought since I didnt check the use environment lights, that it would not turn on the sunlight but I guess moving the sunlight down to zero did the trick. It looks much better.

So do you change any of the settings ever on the advanced tab?

[Chad Cardin]

What would be the recommendations for settings for exterior raytraces? I noticed it appears to be a lot more involved with sunlight etc. Does anyone have any guidelines they recommend to get a really nice exterior raytrace? Ive thoroughly enjoyed the advice on interior raytraces, now I want to attempt an exterior raytrace. Looks a lot more involved so I wanted to ask before I launch into one.