REQ: Area Lights
by Woody · in Constructor · 06/12/2007 (8:46 pm) · 8 replies
I don't think this is too difficult to do, but maybe I'm wrong. How hard would it be to include "Area Lights" in Constructor/TGE??? So far the only choices are basicly Point or Spot Lights ... both circular in shape. It would be great to have retangular Area Lights to help with lighting from florescent-style overhead lighting.
Also, on the same note ... I have a DTS florescent light fixture that I'm using in my building against the ceilings. The only way to somewhat get it to appear lit is to have TWO point lights, one on either side. When I only use 1 point light (or spot light, for that matter), directly underneath the DTS fixture, it will no light the object at all ... completely black. It is only when the light is to the side ... and in the case of using 1 light to the side, the other side of the object is completely black.
Any help? Thanks in advance!
Also, on the same note ... I have a DTS florescent light fixture that I'm using in my building against the ceilings. The only way to somewhat get it to appear lit is to have TWO point lights, one on either side. When I only use 1 point light (or spot light, for that matter), directly underneath the DTS fixture, it will no light the object at all ... completely black. It is only when the light is to the side ... and in the case of using 1 light to the side, the other side of the object is completely black.
Any help? Thanks in advance!
#2
By the way, I was using Constructor 1.0 (now I just started on 1.02), and importing a DIF building with a lot of baked in DTS files and a lot of lights into TGE 1.5.2. Is there any way to force TGE to save lightmaps so that it doesn't have to recalculate every time you load the scene into the editor? The only solution that helps a bit is to use a version of the DIF building that was not using baked in DTSs and not using any Constructor lights... then lighting the scene is more resonable (still long though).
06/14/2007 (8:00 am)
Thanks for the info John. I was basically hoping there was a solution without the need for a ton of lights (I have a lot of these fixtures), because it already takes around 10 minutes to relight my scene every single time there is a change, which seems a bit on the ridiculous side. If that's the only solution, it's good to know. Thank you.By the way, I was using Constructor 1.0 (now I just started on 1.02), and importing a DIF building with a lot of baked in DTS files and a lot of lights into TGE 1.5.2. Is there any way to force TGE to save lightmaps so that it doesn't have to recalculate every time you load the scene into the editor? The only solution that helps a bit is to use a version of the DIF building that was not using baked in DTSs and not using any Constructor lights... then lighting the scene is more resonable (still long though).
#3
By the way, I was using Constructor 1.0 (now I just started on 1.02), and importing a DIF building with a lot of baked in DTS files and a lot of lights into TGE 1.5.2. Is there any way to force TGE to save lightmaps so that it doesn't have to recalculate every time you load the scene into the editor? The only solution that helps a bit is to use a version of the DIF building that was not using baked in DTSs and not using any Constructor lights... then lighting the scene is more resonable (still long though).
06/14/2007 (8:24 am)
Thanks for the info John. I was basically hoping there was a solution without the need for a ton of lights (I have a lot of these fixtures), because it already takes around 10 minutes to relight my scene every single time there is a change, which seems a bit on the ridiculous side. If that's the only solution, it's good to know. Thank you.By the way, I was using Constructor 1.0 (now I just started on 1.02), and importing a DIF building with a lot of baked in DTS files and a lot of lights into TGE 1.5.2. Is there any way to force TGE to save lightmaps so that it doesn't have to recalculate every time you load the scene into the editor? The only solution that helps a bit is to use a version of the DIF building that was not using baked in DTSs and not using any Constructor lights... then lighting the scene is more resonable (still long though).
#4
06/15/2007 (12:41 pm)
Sure, check out Lighting Profiles in the TDN Lighting System section. The profiles can reduce the lighting quality in-engine, speeding up relights. You can also disable shadows to improve relight performance, while editing your scene.
#5
06/15/2007 (2:27 pm)
Thanks much, John. I'll check it out. And sorry about the double post... not sure how I managed that one so far apart in time. :-)
#6
06/15/2007 (2:33 pm)
I don't want to hijak this post, but you'll maybe know this answer. Is there also a way to change the scale of terrain editting in TGE that I can't seem to find anywhere? Our project's scale is based on meters, and I basically need to make a ditches along a road and also a slightly bigger ditch with a small stream in it. Unfortunately, I've had to resort to making everything in constructor as dif objects to be able to have more control over the terrain. This, as you can imagine, takes a much longer time to create, and also makes the lighting poor on my sloping ground because of shadowing and the seams that are created. Thanks much!
#7
06/21/2007 (11:57 am)
Check the terrain block, it has a blockSize member that you can lower (make sure it's still a power of two) to increase the terrain and lighting density. 
Torque Owner John Kabus (BobTheCBuilder)
Any time a light gets too close to a surface the light will start to drop off because the angle between the light and most of the surface is large. In these types of situations I usually use a few lights; a small array of spots (two or three usually work fine) for the direct lighting shining down from the light, and a point light to simulate the indirect lighting reflected from the illuminated surfaces back into the room.