VRaySoftbox inverse square law

[sherridge101]

Hi all

Is it possible to link a curve (remapValue) in to the Horizontal Gradient slot on the VRaySoftbox?

I would like to create an inverse square law curve for the light.

Maya's remapValue slots in to the Horizontal Gradient's position, colour and interpolation by the looks of things, but I can't see a slot for the ramp.

Cheers

[yolov]

I'm not sure I understand this, could you help me out a bit? Where do you need to plug in a remapValue exactly? The Horizontal gradient is like a ramp - when adding new positions, you can plug in anything to their value (color).

[sherridge101]

Hi Alex

No worries. I may not have explained that correctly.

I was thinking of using a curve, to match a light decay curve I grabbed from a pic online. This way I can control the falloff from point to point.

Is this possible with the gradient?

Cheers

[yolov]

Are you talking about the curves that are used for example in the light intensity remap (for instance for the maya spot light) ?

[sherridge101]

I'm not sure what that is, sorry.

Here's what I'm thinking of:

[yolov]

I don't think that's possible. Can you do that for a regular maya ramp?

[sherridge101]

Nah, I don't think so either.

I've used a remap to adjust the fresnel of a vray mtl, so thought it might be possible.

For now, I'll create a grad which has the same settings as the curve and set the grad to 'smooth'.

[yolov]

Well, most of things that are possible about how a regular ramp behaves should be possible with the softBox gradients. In fact, the control is similiar, if not the same, as any ramps available in other nodes.
You can plug a remap between the texture and the gradient's ramp position, just like in any other ramp, if that suits your case. But you can't plug the remap after that.

[sherridge101]

Cool, cheers.

Can you explain a bit more about 'You can plug a remap between the texture and the gradient's ramp position'

Cheers

[sherridge101]

Plotting the curve gives this result:

[yolov]

Cool, cheers.

Can you explain a bit more about 'You can plug a remap between the texture and the gradient's ramp position'

Cheers

Here's what I mean - you can plug a remap or a remapRamp (from texture > effects) and then plug the result in the horizontal gradient. I don't know if that is going to work for you, though.

[sherridge101]

I don't see the Horizontal Gradient in the VRaySoftbox node?

[yolov]

Hmm, Maya seems to expose those only when they are connected. I've basically connected the textures to the color of the gradient positions in the attribute editor - then they are exposed as inputs in the node view like on my screenshot.

[sherridge101]

Hi Alex

Thanks for the info.

Tried plugging the remap in to all available Horizontal Gradient slots, but the ramp doesn't change/appear to be an available slot.

Cheers

[yolov]

Does it connect if you first select the position on the horizontal gradient and then connect your texture to the "selected color" slot?