IES Files in 1.6 Beta

[digstudio]

Did something change from the previous version of vray to the new beta version regarding how IES light files are handled? Before I never had to adjust a power level to get them to be visible - I just loaded them in and the output level was based to the IES file. I've used this program to study various landscape lighting effects with the different fixtures, I'm concerned if I have to manually input power I will not be getting a true representation of the power level of each fixture.

Any suggestions on knowing what power level to set the ies lights at to achieve an accurate representation of the their output?

Thanks,
Brandon

[dkendig]

We are not currently aware of any bugs regarding IES lights in the 1.6 beta. I do recall a discussion about scene scale, or scaling the light, somehow having an incorrect effect on the IES light in 1.49.01. I can't remember anything much beyond that though. Do you have an example that you could show us? Maybe an example IES file and a scene file that we can use to reproduce the issue?

[digstudio]

Thanks, Attached is a link to view the model - it is just a blank study model with pretty much default setting in vray - sun set to late evening. The ies file is from Bega - it should be a fairly bright floodlight. I've also tried a couple other companies' ies files and same results. I also remember model scale affecting output somehow, its currently set at Decimal/Millimeters which is what worked correctly in the past.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4BX...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4BX...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4BX...it?usp=sharing


I actually found one of my older study models - opened it in sketchup 8 (it was originally built when 7 was out) relinked the proper ies files (from bega) and it is not working anymore - producing the same results as the study model attached.

Is there a way to attach a file directly using this forum - or do you have to post links - I'm new here.

[dkendig]

you can't attach non-image files in this forum. Thank you for the links. I can see the light in the render, but I don't have any idea what the expected out put would be. Do you have a render that we can compare this to, so we can see the difference please?

[digstudio]

here is the output when the light is set at 2,000,000 power - this should be about correct for the fixture.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4BX...it?usp=sharing

[dkendig]

I was referring to the way it looked in the previous version. If you enter a power value, the data in the IES file is ignored. If you are trying to use this light in a realistic manner, you do not want to modify the power value at all, unless you're trying to dim it. I understand that you're trying to simulate the output in 1.49.01, but I would like to see an actual render with this IES file from that version, for a true comparison.

[digstudio]

Exactly - I guess that's what I'm asking - I thought you shouldn't have to change the power level on an ies file. The rendering below (sketchup 7 with the older version of vray) was done straight out of vray for sketchup with the bega ies file as the uplight shown. There were no power adjustments to the ies file and it was the default vray settings, scale was decimal/millimeters.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4BX...it?usp=sharing


Thank you,

[dkendig]

was that scene using the physical camera? It's hard to really tell what the difference is with a given feature, from one version of our product to the next, without having the same exact scene to test with in both versions. Exposure, Physical Camera, Environment, Physical Sun... there are lots of variables to consider. We have been given reports like this in the past, and then discovered that it was simply a matter of adjusting some render options, or scene units. So I want to be sure we aren't missing something simple before we go and call this a bug.

[digstudio]

Unfortunately I don't have the actual model anymore as it was produced at a prior company. So I am not sure, it was whatever the default setting was as I know I did not change any camera settings.

[dkendig]

alright, well if you believe this is a bug, and there's no way to test it on your machine, please submit a bug report about this issue so we can try to have someone test it in house.

[digstudio]

will do - thanks.

[dkendig]

Thank you for your report! The more feedback we get, the better the product will become.

[am2]

It will be great if we had ability to see a preview in light editor dialog, For example about IES lights we can see how does the selected IES look like .