Spannerhead Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Had this issue ever since 6.5, and I was hoping they would have fixed it for 8.6... Maybe I'm doing something wrong though? See attached images. My display has two rows of 5 point lights. 75% intensity. They shine THROUGH half the objects on the display (like on the top surface of the base module at the back---that area should be completely in the dark but it's lit up like there's a light right next to it...). Any insight would be super helpful. Would be SO nice to be able to create lighting "in camera" rather than fudging it in Photoshop after the fact..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew West Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Sure looks like you have shadow casting turned off in your light setting. It needs to be enabled for all your lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerhead Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 7 minutes ago, Andrew West said: Sure looks like you have shadow casting turned off in your light setting. It needs to be enabled for all your lights. Thanks, but here it is with shadow casting on. The top of the bottom row of bins should be lit up, and there's no reason the reflective floor should be totally blown out like that. And I don't see any evidence the top lights are turned on at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTEK Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 Hi, did you check that your bottom reflective floor is receiving shadows? It look that this option is turned off in their attributes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew West Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Are you using V-ray or just straight RenderZone? If using V-ray I would forget about point lights and use a flat plane or a mesh light. Much simpler and easy to control. Better still if you have the time your project would benefit from Maxwell but that is much more of a commitment. It certainly still looks like you have issues with shadow casting and receiving in both your lights palette and your materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerhead Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 On 11/13/2018 at 1:59 PM, Andrew West said: Are you using V-ray or just straight RenderZone? If using V-ray I would forget about point lights and use a flat plane or a mesh light. Much simpler and easy to control. Better still if you have the time your project would benefit from Maxwell but that is much more of a commitment. It certainly still looks like you have issues with shadow casting and receiving in both your lights palette and your materials. Straight RenderZone. Would prefer to do everything in formZ if possible. I know V-Ray and Keyshot are great rendering programs, but I really think RenderZone should be able to at least get the basics right so that lights don't shine through objects. Still dealing with this issue. Here's the latest example. I have a line light with a 1/2" radius inside my display. Colored green. And it shines through objects as shown, and doesn't cast shadows for the headphone arms (among other places). Any insight? I've been adding lights in post-processing in Photoshop for YEARS and would love the flexibility to be able to add them "in camera." Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Judging by these images, it looks as though your displays are letting light pass through the back-faces. Only one side of a face will block light, the other ends up "invisible." You can test this theory by creating a cube, then using the Reverse tool on it. This is essentially what you have, an intricate "box" with a light inside: You can see that the light leaks out through the cube, because there is no face to catch the light. To fix this, I'll need to create inward-facing faces. The easiest way to do that is by using the Thicken tool. Once the object has thickness, it will block the light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerhead Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 Thank you for the reply. This is the most thoughtful reply I've gotten to this issue for ages. And I've been using formZ professionally and working around this problem for well over 10 years. Unfortunately, while the insight about faces is helpful, it doesn't solve the problem. The light is not "inside" anything (it's located behind a shroud with a 1/16" thickness) and everything in the model has a thickness to it. Changing the shadow type on the line light to Hard (Raytraced) helps some, but as you can see below, the light still shines through the black base and reflects off the floor. Thank you again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Okay, I wasn't able to make out the thickness from the above images. Could we get you to send that to support@formz.com for us to investigate more closely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerhead Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 Sent. FYI this is an issue I've been dealing with for YEARS, ever since I started using formZ professionally with version 6.5. Lights shining through objects, even with thicknesses. If there's a "trick" I'm missing, I'd love to hear what it is! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerhead Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) So...Support helped me to bandaid the issue by changing the reflectivity parameters of the floor. Still no permanent, universal solution for why lights shine through objects even WITH thicknesses on everything and why lights (point, cone, line, etc) fail to illuminate surfaces they're RIGHT NEXT TO. Edited June 17, 2019 by Spannerhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Roughness is an essential material parameter that will need to be increased for a more visible effect of light on a surface, especially if the light is very close to the surface. Take a look at the images here: the plane on the left has a roughness of ~20, while on the right it has a roughness of 100. The left plane will reflect the light more directly, allowing it to be visible only from certain angles. The one on the right will diffuse the light with its rough surface, scattering the light and giving it a more illuminated effect. Some of the reflective materials for Renderzone will illuminate, even if the path is obscured. Here is the list of modes that behave that way: Chrome, Frosty, Glass Accurate, Glossy, Metal Accurate, Mirror, and Multilayer Paint. This is a limitation of Renderzone, though there are work-arounds to achieve desired results (as was mentioned above). Limitations like this is the reason we've adopted the V-Ray technology. V-Ray for form•Z does not have these restrictions and will only catch the light on a surface when light rays make contact. To try out these capabilities, sign up for a 30-day free trial on our website: http://www.formz.com/home/evalvrayLanding.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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