[Cosmasad]

Hello Maxwell world,

We are a group of architects that are new to Maxwell and learning how to create lighting for an architectural interior. Thanks to Brian Looney for his answer about how using IES files.

Now we are wondering how to angle a particular light fixture in a certain direction. Let's say we have a painting on a wall and have a track light on the ceiling that we want to focus on it. As we have been told that it is best to apply the emitter material to a sphere about the size of a bulb, we are wondering how we would get it to cast its light on the wall? Do we need enclose part of the sphere in a reflective surface so the light is not cast in all directions?

Thank you.


Cosmas Demetriou

[Half Life]

The sphere is like any other geometry you can manipulate it's position and rotation -- the IES material will follow where the sphere points once it is applied.

Best,
Jason.

[polynurb]

Hi Cosmas,

what software are you using?

if you are in studio you should immediately see the ies distribution diagram drawn in the viewport (blue dots) after applying the emitter material to the sphere(s).
then you can select and manipulate the sphere to rotate the diagram.

btw. the sphere should be much smaller than a "bulb" more like 1cm or smaller


,
daniel

[Cosmasad]

Thanks to Daniel and Jason for your answers. First of all Jason I am using the Maxwell for Rhino plugin so I don't know if the IES diagram shows there. I hope it does.

Now, going back to the sphere, it's interesting that it should be 1 cm. So it is the size of a marble. Okay, then as I asked in my message-- how does it cast the light in a specific direction since it is round? Doesn't light from a sphere radiate 360 degrees? Or do we position the marble within a piece of geometry shaped like a bulb (say an MR 16 light) and silver the back of the bulb to block the light?

Your assistance with this would be appreciated.

Thank you.


Cosmasad

[polynurb]

The ies function in rhino is not supported (yet).
You might want to contact jeremy hill in the rhino specific forum maybe there is a temporary workaround.. or use studio instead.

Daniel

[Half Life]

The normals of the Sphere will determine where the light is pointed -- after you apply the material just move and rotate the sphere like a flashlight/spotlight... at least this is how it works in Studio.

Best,
Jason.

[Cosmasad]

[quote=The normals of the Sphere will determine where the light is pointed -- after you apply the material just move and rotate the sphere like a flashlight/spotlight... at least this is how it works in Studio.

Best,
Jason.[/quote]

Hi Jason,

Aren't the normals of a sphere pointing in all directions? We're talking about a ball right --the size of a marble. Wouldn't it glow evenly in all directions (x,y,z)?

I'm sorry if I'm having so much trouble understanding this.

Thank you.

Cosmasad

[Cosmasad]

Thank you, all. I finally understand.

I appreciate the patience.

Cosmasad

[Cosmasad]

Hey guys,

Jason, I am looking at your videos. They are very helpful.

Another question about lights. Okay, so we use emitters to create lights and the Multilight sliders allow us to control them. If you have a large number of lights, how do the sliders control them? I don't know if I mentioned it but we are designing a restaurant interior and we have three different types of lights: 50 overhead tracklights with 50 watt MR-16 halogen bulbs, 40 overhead downlights with Par30 halogen bulbs, and 40 table lamps with compact fluorescent bulbs. I have downloaded the IES files for each of these.

My question has to do with grouping these lights into sliders and how Maxwell figures lays out its sliders. Is it possible to group a specific set of lights into one slider? So in the example above, if I want all 50 of the tracklights on one slider, would I do it by having them share an emitter material?
And if I want 10 of the Par30's to be one slider #2 and the remaining 30 on slider #3 can I do it by giving them differently named emitter materials (they would have different names but actually look the same -- share the same IES)? Is that how it's done?

I'm thinking of a lighting designer in theater and how they can group their lights in any way they want and connect them to as many sliders as they want.

Does Maxwell allow you to do that?

Thank you all. I really appreciate your help.

Cosmasad

[Half Life]

I'm glad they are helpful

Right now it is set to use MXM Materials to designate Multilight sliders -- and the material can have all the same properties, as long as it has a different name it will result in a new Multilight slider.

There may come a point where they allow users to do it the "old" way (like version 1.X) and use groups of of emitter geometry as the basis for multilight which suits some workflows better than others... but for right now you should use a different (named) material for each slider you want.

Also worth noting is you may want to up the starting intensity of the IES files to cover that many -- for more information see this thread:

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... 97&t=35918

and this one:

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... 97&t=35858

Best,
Jason.

[Cosmasad]

Jason,

That’s very helpful. Those threads were interesting.

I just finished watching your videos on emitters and I want to see if I understand how Maxwell handles multiple light fixtures. If I have 50 tracklights in my model and each one has a sphere with emitter material attached with an IES file linked for a 50 watt halogen light, then what’s the problem? Are you saying that Maxwell divides up the 50 watts over the 50 lights, so each light basically is emitting 1 watt? Is that why we would have to “up the starting intensity of the IES files” and if so would we have to apply a multiplier of 50 times?

Your help with this would be appreciated!

Thank you, for all your posts and thank you for your videos.

Cosmasad

[Cosmasad]

Hey Jason,

I am wondering how I can get the workfiles that you mention in your videos. I saw that they are not available for download. Is the dvd available for purchase.

They are really helpful and I want to keep going.

Thanks.

Cosmasad

[Half Life]

Mainly the reason would be you want to avoid unbalanced power from your emitters as it will lead to extra noise -- if you are going to have any sunlight coming in from the outside you should remember that the sun is much more powerful than the IES so to keep the noise and render time manageable it is sometimes useful to set the emitters to be more powerful before you render and reduce to a realistic level in Multilight... the idea being the more powerful emitter gets priority preference from the engine.

Here's something to take into consideration for general emitter information as well:

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... t=emitters

Bottom line is: using lots of emitters can be an issue, so it's best to cross your t's and dot your i's before committing to a full render.

As far as the workfiles are concerned:

You have to request the files by sending an email here:

onlineuni@vtc.com

They will validate that you are a VTC subscriber and either mail you a DVD if you are based in the US or email you a link to download the files if you are based outside of the US.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the training.

Best,
Jason.