Make Maxwell sun follow Z sun (animation)

[Imagix]

Hi Pylon

 

I can make the Maxwell physical sun follow a formZ directional light (sun). I can also animate the formZ sun by setting a start and end time in my animation.

 

The Maxwell sun position only updates whenever i open the dialog for the physical sky. So when exporting for rendering (Maxwell), the sun becomes static.

 

Is this something there is a workaround for or can you possibly make the plugin update the sun position before exporting each frame?

 

Thanks

Anders

[pylon]

Anders,

 

The Maxwell sun will follow an animated Distant light during a Maxwell animation. To do so, follow these steps: Set keyframes on the Distant light's time or position parameters, set the Maxwell Physical Sky or Sky Dome sun to "Follow Distant," and then export the animation sequence via Display > Generate Animation.

 

(We do not recommend using the formZ Sun Position palette for this; first, it's code does not notify that changes to the distant light have been made, so the Maxwell sun cannot update its position, and second, if the 'Export' button is used to generate an animation, formZ requests that a separate still rendering be made for each sun position, rather than an animation sequence. As mentioned above, use Display > Generate Animation, which works as expected. )

 

 

 

[Imagix]

I did use the formZ Sun Position palette. It has the option to set keyframes, so I just thought it would work the same (and be easier) than the sun light dialog from the Lights palette. I will try that instead.

 

Thank you!

[Imagix]

Hi Pylon

 

I just found out that if "Angle Of Site North" is set to anything other than 90° (50 in my case), then the above approach does not work. Unfortunately for a new project of mine, my object model and camera path is synced with a C4D project, so I can't just rotate my model.

 

Is there any way you can make the "follow distant light" feature work when the distant light doesn't have a 90° north?

 

Thanks

Anders

[pylon]

Hi Anders,

 

I reproduced the problem where Distant lights with Angle of Site North set to anything other than 90 degrees may not be animated. The problem lies with formZ, and does not have anything to do with Maxwell. (i.e. the Distant light itself does not move, so there's no motion for Maxwell to track.)

 

I recommend writing up steps to reproduce this issue with Distant light animation and submitting your report to AutoDesSys. When it is fixed on the formZ side, it should immediately start working with the current Maxwell plugin.

[Imagix]

ADS, here is a small test project. It works as is. Change the "Angle of Site North" to anything but 90° animating the sun position with time/keyframes stops working... https://we.tl/187LNOkkEP