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Lighting in 3ds Max 1279
Light sou rce Color
Temperature
Hue
Sunlight at sunset or sunrise
2000 K
7
Candle flame
1750 K
5
Lighting in 3ds Max
Lightingin3dsMaxsimulatesnaturallighting.
However, st andard lig hts are simpler than natural
lighting. Using photometric lights (page 2–1301)
with a radiosity solution (page 3–51) with your
lights provides a b etter model of the real world.
Intensity
The intensity of a standard light is its HSV Value.
At full value (255), the light is at its brightest; at 0,
the light is completely dark.
Note: See Designing Materials (page 2–1395) for
more information about material color and how it
interacts with light intensity.
The intensity of a photometric light is set
by a real-world intensity value, measured
in either lumens, candelas, or lux. See
Intensity/Color/D i stribution Rollout (page 2–1352).
Angle of Incidence
3ds Max uses a vector from t he lig ht object to the
face, along with the face normal, to calculate the
angle of incidence.
A surface is fully illuminated when the angle of
incidence is 0 degrees (that is, the light source
strikes the surface perpendicularly). If the angle
of incidence increases, attenuation is in effect, or
if the lig ht has a color, the surface intensity can be
reduced.
In other words, the position and orientation of the
light, relative to the object, are what control the
angleofincidenceinascene.ThePlace Highlight
comm and (page 1–467) is one way to fine-tune the
location of a light.
Attenuat ion
For standard lights, attenuation (page 3–912)
is turned off by default. To shade or render a
scene with attenuation, you turn it on for one
or more lights. All types of standard lights
support attenuation. You can set explicitly where
attenuation begins and where it ends. This is partly
so you don’t have to worry about setting up strictly
realistic distances b etween light objects and the
objects they illuminate. More import antly, this
featureletsyoufine-tunetheeffectofattenuation.
In outdoor scenes, attenuation can enhance
the effect of distance. (Another way to m odel
environmental effects is to use the atmospheric
settings when you render. Se e Environment and
Atmosphere Effects (page 3–271).) In an indo or
setting, attenuation is useful for low-intensity light
sourcessuchascandles.
Photometric ligh ts always attenuate, using an
inverse-square falloff, as in nature. (In the case
of the IES Sun Light, its g reat intensity makes its
attenuation hardly apparent.)
R efl ected Li ght a nd Ambi ent L ight
Rendering with the default renderer and standard
lights does not calculate the effect of lights reflected
from object s in the scene. Because of this, lighting
ascenewithstandardlightsoftenrequiresyou
to add more light objects than would be needed
in real life. You can, however, use radiosity (page
3–51) to show the results of reflected light.
When you do not use a radiosity solution, you
can use the Environment panel (page 3–272) to
adjust the color and intensity of ambient light.
Ambient lig ht affects contrast. The higher the
intensity of ambient light, t he lower the contras t
in the scene. The color of ambient light tints the
scene. Sometimes ambient lig ht is bounced light