using vray rectangle lights properly

V-Ray V-Ray for Maya General
1

I scaled the size and shape of a vray rectangle light but my TD is concerned this could cause those lights not to work physically accurately. He thinks I might need to use the U Size and V Size in the attribEditor of the lights ‘basic parameters’ . Should they be scaled, or use the U and V size or does it not matter?

Thanks,

2

Funny, I was recently thinking about posting on this exact topic! I read that scaling lights can create a lot of noise, compared to sizing in the light attributes.

Any truth to either of these concerns?

3

They should work the same. There were a couple of issues in the past, but they should be fixed.

4

Things should mostly work fine, but I would still avoid scaling the lights. I know for a fact that non-uniform scale of sphere lights will not work…

Best regards,
Vlado

5

Just get in the habit of working with UV parameter and never worry about that. Scaling - I wouldn’t recommend it.

6

I’ve personally moved to using that method, but was more wondering if it was worth the effort to modify previous projects that get revisited now and then.

7

Probably not worth it; things should still work fine.

Best regards,
Vlado

8

Alright thanks for the comments, it sounds like my current scenes should be ok.

9

While it seems intuitive that non-uniform scaling of spherical lights won’t work properly, it might be good to mention that scaling of lights is not recommended/unpredictable in the VRay docs, as I think most people would assume scaling the Rect lights is OK. Just a thought! :slight_smile:

10

It is ok; I just don’t want people to get into that habit :slight_smile:

Best regards,
Vlado