INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Photometric Lights: Preset Lights

Setting up good lighting is immensely important and is usually done in the final stages before a scene is rendered, although in some pipelines light kits are applied in the previz or layout stage. In either case, you need to make sure that lighting is accurately placed and that the intensity and color complement the scene. New light presets called Photometric Lights take a lot of the effort out of this.

If you want to light your scene with, say, a realistic 60-watt light bulb, you can choose it from the new Photometric lights available through the Create > Lights menu. These lights are the same as in previous 3ds max versions, except now the presets have been configured for you (Figure 5.1).

One of the Photometric light types is free point lighting. As with omni lights, free point lighting emanates from a point that is infinitely small. As with a standard free spotlight, a free point light has no target to control its angle. To aim a free light, you must manually select and rotate it.

The Distribution type of the light determines how strong the light is (in other words, it determines the intensity of the light cast relative to the distance and direction from the source). The Distribution parameter can be set to Isotropic, Spotlight, or Web light types. An Isotropic distribution is even in all directions. A Spotlight distribution has a focused beam; Hotspot/Beam and Falloff/Field parameters control where the brightest point is and how the light intensity fades on the edges of the beam. A Web distribution is more complicated and requires a file to determine the surrounding intensity in 3D space. Web files can be in the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society), CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers), or LTLI standard photometric profile formats. If a profile is not provided in the 3ds max 7 maps folder, it might be available through the light manufacturer and downloadable from the Internet (Figure 5.2).