United3dArtists Archive

hello all, just wondering if anyone could give me some tips on how to make TS lights ....light up?

scenario:- for music vid, i have made a stage and some Par 64 cans on a lighting rig, now i would like the cans to illuminate, ie- so as when the camera is looking at them from their front side, they appear to be "lit". Also any tips on how to keyfame lights so as to create the illusion of a stage light show [ie- turn them on an off at will].

Im still stuck on the modeler side due to moStud models.

thanks

you need to use spot lights.

i made a sample scene, maybe that should help you in something.. other good thing is use volumetrics to see the spot lights cone effect..

You can use cones with transparency to increase the performance and the effect is almost the same.. so that should do the trick too..

HTH!

PS there are still quite a few of us that use the model side so don't think you are stuck there.... it still does an awful lot of good for some projects.

leevviiJ I think you mean you wan the objects, the models of the stage lights, to look bright in the appropriate places when they are in the image.

Prodigy is right, of course, about using cone lights to cast light from the cans to the stage.

I can think of two ways to make the cans look like they have bright lights inside of them.
1. The obvious: put lights inside of them. Maybe a point light with a fall off rate such that it won't have much effect far from the can. Put it where the real light source would be and change the brightness to illuminate the inside of the object.
2. Give the appropriate parts their own texture and use a high luminance on the reflectance shader.

Finis wrote:leevviiJ I think you mean you wan the objects, the models of the stage lights, to look bright in the appropriate places when they are in the image.

Prodigy is right, of course, about using cone lights to cast light from the cans to the stage.

I can think of two ways to make the cans look like they have bright lights inside of them.
1. The obvious: put lights inside of them. Maybe a point light with a fall off rate such that it won't have much effect far from the can. Put it where the real light source would be and change the brightness to illuminate the inside of the object.
2. Give the appropriate parts their own texture and use a high luminance on the reflectance shader.

Thats correct, i can get the lights to illuminate the area of the stage i require, no problems, but i want to position/pan the camera to give a view from the rear of stage looking towards where the "crowd" would be [ie:- a performers viewpoint], so i want the lights to appear to be lit when this happens.

thanks guys, i'll give these suggestions a try.

With any luck, I should be finished this project, somewhere around the 2012 mark ........possibly!! .....And they said AVATAR took a long time to produce!!

I use TS often when I design lights for stage shows.

You just have to remember a TS light is just that, a light....No Filament, No Lens, No envelope, No fixture.

When you see a stage light, you arent really seeing the light, but the reflection (and refraction) of the light in lenses, and off of the caseing of the instrument.

Since TS spot lights contain thier own "lens", all you really need to make is a fixture model, and put the spot light as a child to the fixture mode, in the correct position, and pointing the right way. Then add a flat disk in the fixtures "lens" position, and give it a almost clear material (I use translucent plastic, which glows when the amount of light behind it changes). Be sure to set the disk lens NOT to cast shadows, or no light will come out of your fixture.

If you set the center point of the fixture (with the child light) correctly, you can point the spot where you want, and it will always look correct.

Kurt