Place for mesh light UI

[vlado]

As I outlined in this thread:

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbu...ad.php?t=43083

There are three possible places to implement the mesh light UI; which one do you prefer?

Some random thoughts:

- A material or a modifier can be applied to many objects at once;
- Scenes already set up with VRayLightMtl can be easily converted to use direct lighting, if the options are there;
- VRayLight already has specialized UI for lights (e.g. light portal, cast shadows, visible in reflections etc) and a material is probably not the right place for such controls;
- VRayLights can be managed by other light-related tools (render hidden lights, turn lights on and off) while materials and modifiers probably not;

Best regards,
Vlado

[trick]

If all the regular options for a light type would be included (like in/exclude lists, visible in reflections, eyc)...without a doubt a new lighttype then. I could imagine situations where you want some polygons to lighten things up, that do not look like a light, which would make the material itself a weird place to put the controls. Modifiers would be nice to put lights on certain subobjects, but in the end searching for all those lighting places could be a nightmare.

[rivoli]

even though I really like the idea of vraylight modifier, I think I see the advantages of having the option directly available in the vraylight ui. seems sound and logical as well.

[Dschaga]

I want to suggest a modifierer for vraylights and not for objects (but this is still a strong option)

So we could have the advantage to be able to use the vray light we know, but add meshlight related features as we need it (attach multiple Objects, use vertex or edge or faces for lighting, use only specific mat id's, render the material of the obect without visible lighing..)
It's like only adding new features and nothing more with a modifierer to a vray light.

For example, you can use it for a skyportal and tell vray to render the glas of the window, but also to use the matID for the glas as skylightportal.

[duke2]

Add option to VRay Light that has a "mesh" toggle and a picker box, with optional MatID selector.

[duke2]

Frankly speaking though, I think the best place for this would be in the material - just updated VRayLightMtl. It might not be logical, but for management it would be superior to adding this to an individual light. The scene could become quite a mess with alot of mesh lights, and it's much, much easier to load up a material preset than it is to re-setup a mesh light system.

If you're to go with the VRayLight option, could you make it so it's more like an include/exclude list for meshes so you can attach multiple as sources to the same light?

[Undersky]

Although I think it would be more logical to have it inside of VrayLight, I think it would be most flexible to have it inside VrayLightMtl.

[plastic_]

in the material...no question.

[bardo]

vlado...excuse me but it's not real possible to have mesh lighting both as a vraylight option and a vraylight material option??

So, we have the best solution for multiple situations...

If not possible i vote for a vraylight option with multiple selections, matID, subobjects selection.

More liberty, more workaround for daily troubles...

[Mnietek2707]

What about "skylight portal" mode? Only plane light can work in this mode at this time.
Is there any posibility that mesh with more complex surface can be used?

Sorry for my English...

[vlado]

What about "skylight portal" mode? Only plane light can work in this mode at this time.
Is there any posibility that mesh with more complex surface can be used?

It is possible, yes.

Best regards,
Vlado

[^Lele^]

It could also be a spacewarp, to be bound to any object that share the same lighting properties in the scene (hence all still controllable from one place, and easy to bring settings across scenes).
I'd prefer this to the modifier (stacks can get messy), to the vraylight (wouldn't complicate the already long light rollout), and to the material, in general slightly more complicated to handle (i'm thinking of scripting, merging, and so on) than visible nodes in the scene.
This, unless the new light type had the ability to have a list of meshes to be attached to, instead of just one.
So my preference goes for an entirely new object.

[Horizon]

Additional light type in VRayLight *with multiple mesh selections*

[Dschaga]

ohh ...come on!
Who needs a copy of the vraylight with a new rollout?

[jonnybefree]

hi all,
i think, when you have a Vray light, with pick mesh option, you allways have 2 objects for each light. could you have access to the light options over the mesh also then?
but then it would be the same as a modifier no?
i would vote for the light material, cause its the easyiest way to control, but when you have a lot of lights, its getting confusing.
hmm, i need coffee.