PDA

View Full Version : Emit light from object?

Abaddon
05-16-2008, 09:59 AM
Hi guys,

I want have light emitting from a large pillar of energy, so the most efficient way to do this would be to have the pillar geometry itself emit the photons instead of having a bunch of omni's piled up.

I remember there is a way to do this but cant for the life of me remember how, or what it was called. Cant find anything on the web either which is strange.

Any hints would be fantabulous.

cheers,
Ab.
SoLiTuDe
05-16-2008, 10:04 AM
What software/renderer are you using?
Abaddon
05-16-2008, 10:10 AM
Oh, forgot that piece of vital info. :argh:

Im using 3dsmax.

Edit: and mental ray
noouch
05-16-2008, 12:12 PM
Starting with Max 2008, the Arch&Design shader for Mental Ray has a Self Illumination feature. Set it up and check "Illuminates the Scene (when using FG)" and it should give off light when you render with Final Gather.

Otherwise you can set up a material that has a completely white map (for example a gradient with all colors set to white, or using the plugin SolidColor), and regulating the intensity via the Output Amount value.
Abaddon
05-17-2008, 04:01 AM
Awesome, the Final Gather method may be perfect.


Thnx so much. :wavey: I'll give it a try...
phix314
05-19-2008, 04:50 AM
Depending on your scene, it might be more efficient to have it set up with the FG method, and just have a few omnis emitting photons. There is, however, a shader at mymentalray.com which allows an object to be an actual light, not just look like one as with the FG method. Can be expensive to render from what I understand though.
CGTalk Moderation
05-19-2008, 04:50 AM
This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.