2011

■ Sun simulates the sun’s light. The orientation of your model is defined by North and Up directions. The
position of the sun is specified as Azimuth and Altitude. If the sun’s Mode includes Position, you can input
your location on earth, the Time (using local time zone) and date and Presenter will calculate the sun’s
azimuth and altitude for you. If the sun’s Mode includes Intensity, Presenter will also calculate an accurate
intensity for the sun based on position, time of year and atmospheric conditions.
There are an additional three types of light visible only in photorealistic renders:
■ Projector lights are used to project an image onto surfaces. You can define the file of the image to be projected.
■ Sky simulates the illumination from the sky (but not the direct contribution due to the sun itself). The
orientation of your model is defined by North and Up directions. The position of the sun is specified as Sun
Altitude and Sun Azimuth. While the direct contribution of the sun is not included, its location will determine
the appearance of the sky hemisphere. If the Intensity is left at 0, Presenter will calculate an accurate intensity
for you based on the sun’s position.
■ Goniometric lights can emit widely varying amounts of light energy in different directions. One goniometric
source could behave exactly like a point light, another could behave exactly like a spot light, and a third
could look nothing like either of those. A goniometric light gets its intensity distribution function (how much
light goes in any one direction) from an industry-standard file. Presenter supports CIE, IES, CIB, and LDT
files.
NOTE A complete reference manual for all light types is included with the Autodesk Navisworks API (see
\API\COM\documentation\shaders.chm). The Autodesk Navisworks API is included with Autodesk Navisworks Simulate
2011; it’s an optional feature in the installer, and is installed by default into the API subfolder in the Autodesk Navisworks
installation folder.
Each light type has its own parameters, and the editor for a Point Light is shown here:
Point, distant, spot and projector lights have a Location parameter. Distant and spot lights additionally have a
To parameter. See “
Add and Position Lights” on page 361 for more information.
NOTE If the Presenter profile in the Options Editor (see “Presenter Page” on page 472 for more information) is set to
Advanced, the dialog box will include a full list of available parameters and allow you to change the type of a light.
Point, distant, spot, sky, sun, projector and goniometric lights have the Shadows parameter. See “
Shadow Casting”
on page 365 for more information.
Editing parameters in the dialog box will interactively alter the scene with those changes.
364 | Chapter 14 Create Photorealistic Visualizations