Retro Reflective Material

[dellis]

I would like a material that responds to light. Esentially the same way that stop signs...or construction signs do. The closer you get the brighter they get...as well as glowing slightly. I think this is a fairly easy thing to do but i could be wrong. This type of material would benefit me immensely but in the grander scheme of things...i think it would be helpful to everyone.

I know that this can be accomplished in round about ways through scripting and parameter wiring but it makes more sense to have a material that works directly with the lights. I'm not sure how hard this would be to impliment but it would be really really really useful to us....we do a lot of night time visualizations (forensic). Any thoughts???

[olitech]

why don't you use falloff maps?

[percydaman]

Heres something I came up with that uses falloff maps. But uses a raytrace material and the luminosity slot. Worked fine with vray though. Its certainly not a perfect looking solution but its a start I think.

Heres a .mov that has a steady spotlight moving closer along with the camera to the sign. The falloff map uses the light and the distance to the camera I believe.
http://myweb.cableone.net/amylenhart.../STOPSIGN1.MOV


The second .mov has the same light moving closer and also panning left and right as it moves.
http://myweb.cableone.net/amylenhart.../STOPSIGN2.MOV

Heres the scene file:
http://myweb.cableone.net/amylenhart/stuff/STOPSIGN.ZIP

I think the effect might be too subtle, but could be adjusted at will. Theres probably a better way to do it if anyone else wants to give it a try.

percy

[dellis]

I'm getting those results by setting the attenuation ranges. I was thinking more along the lines of a plugin or a scripted controller that basically says if this light is X distance from this object with this material applied to it....the self illumination will be Y....or its perceived illumination. I'm just looking to get realistic results in an automated sort of way.