Draft 3ds Max Render - help with lighting!

[pindrop]

Hi,

does anyone have any suggestions on how to create lighting for this recessed wall light?

 

 

I've used several free lights placed behind the wall, with a Dimming: Resulting Intensity: 6000%. (Just played around, am no 3d max expert!) I have a freelight just behind each wall slot, but I would like the light to shine through the whole vertical length, just like the image attached.

 

Any general suggestions or improvements to my rendering will be greatly appreciated as well!

 

Thanks,

 

 

[TeeJay]

Area lights!

 

Or use geometry as a light.

 

The best way to approach these situations is to think how it would be done in reality. In the case of that picture, the lamp type would likely be a strip light of some kind, fluorescent or LED.

 

So use a rectangular area light, sized to fit the recess, or use a cylinder as a light source, again, sized to fit the recess.

 

Remember to switch on shadows and set your color temp to white and you should get a similar result to the pictures.

[pindrop]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Are you referring to Standard Lights - mr Area Omni and mr Area Spot?

 

I haven't used Standard Lights before so can you give me some guidelines on what parameters I should change to make the light visible (I tried a mr Area Omni but no light was shown) and how to create the rectangular shape?

 

I saw the Area Light Parameters box but not sure what to do in there,

 

Thanks heaps

[TeeJay]

I think you could use either Standard or Photometric.

 

Standard:

 

Create a mr Area Omni > Area Light Parameters Rollout > Type: Cylinder > Adjust Scale / Settings as required

 

Photometric:

 

Create a Free Light > Shape / Area Shadows Rollout > Emit light from (shape) : Cylinder / Rectangle

 

I think that should work!

[TeeJay]

Just tried it quickly, seems to work ok. This is using Photometric lights, with the setup I described previously.

 

In the example photo you linked, I think those recesses might actually be windows, I'm not sure lighting would work that well, it would be a bit of a 'hotspot' for anybody walking past to see a full height light tube. It would be like being on a sunbed!

 

[pindrop]

Yes thanks! It worked for me as well.

 

I'm trying to work out my design now, haha as what you said is true. I will either try to make the light VERY subdued or make it some kind of back lighting or something. If you are interested, here is the link to where I found the slot recessed wall light,

 

http://pichaus.com/inspirations-slot-recessed-wall-@aa96acee4563996d88965d585a35e56f/