lightsource linking

[eek]

ok,

Parent the omni to a point, and use the attachment constraint on the point. Then scroll till you find the vertex you want. Dunno if you can use the attachment constraint on the omni.

I could write a little script for you to handle the whole lot if you want.


eek

[Wenamun]

That did it! It took some fudging with an extra dummy, just to keep the light where I wanted it, but it works like a charm now. Thanks a lot!

-W

[Wenamun]

There's been an annoying little hiccup. The linking has gone beautifully, the omni follows any surface I tell it to with any number of constraints, but now that I'm rendering, I realise that the omni no longer emits any light. Once I link it to any object, it seems to forget it's a light.
I've tried every concievable constraint combination, as well as xform links just out of desperation. Every now and then a tiny sliver of my mesh will actually be illuminated, but I know it's nothing to do with the size or the brightness value of the light, since tweaking wither has no effect. Any help would save my sanity.

-W

[eek]

Ok,

To me i think your trying to create a lighting rig for your model. The reason why the light source is producing nothing is that its float on the the surface face of the object i.e like gluing a light to piece of paper but, its resting in the middle of the surface not on the outerside or inner side but in the surface. ( like a bank note with the sliver strip interweaving the paper)

So what i would do is use the attach surface constraint with a point helper, then parent the light source to it and move it slightly away from the mesh. That way its still following the skinned mesh but also you get an extra control.


Then if you have lots of lights in the scene and need to change them all, you could write a nice macro (its what i do):
Select all your lights then run this:


for i in selection
(
i.multiplier = 0.1 (that number you can change)
i.shadows = on
)

etc etc
You can do it with anything, i do such as bones. Mesh editing etc, its like a macro in PS.

Or you could write a Function that you could call:

fn change_lights_soft_green = (

al = ($omni01,$omni02,$omni03,$omni07)
al.multiplier = 0.2
al.color = [12,170,12]
etc etc
)


so you could have different setups, etc etc


hope i could help.

eek

[Wenamun]

Thanks for your help Eek, but for some reason once I link the omni to any object with any kind of constraint on it (attach, surface, position etc.) it stops illuminating the scene.
I've tried point helpers, dummy helpers, actual objects, other lights.
Maybe I'm doing something out of order.
1. I create my omni and test it to make sure it lights.
2. I create my point helper, resize it etc. and attach it to the surface of my mesh.
3. I link the omni to the point helper. I've also tried point to point constraining it and other techniques but once I assign the helper to it, the light no longer lights.

I'm not sure there is a solution to this dilemma, so I'll probably just have to animate the light by hand, keeping it near my mesh. Thank you for your help.

-W

[eek]

you tried parenting the light to the omni?


eek

[Wenamun]

I guess I was always a bit confused when you said "parenting". I assumed you meant linking, and I thought if I made the MRomni the parent of the point helper then it wouldn't follow the point but vice versa. I'm beginning to think there's a "parenting" I don't know about. Please enlighten me. http://www.cgtalk.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Thanks again for your help Eek, I really appreciate your taking the time.

-W

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