CompuServe Thread

Spotlight Help needed

4 messages in this thread
#159466From: Judy WellerMar 17, 1995 8:00 AM
I am having a problem with a spotlight. It is simulating a street light at night. I have a cone mapped with a transparent 2-side material. But the problem is – depending on how I position or turn the mesh of the streetlight – sometimes I will see the beam in the cone directly and other time it "vanishes" and it acts almost as it the light were off – I make very sure that the cone of the light is withing the mesh of the beam but it still doesn't always work. I know that there is something wrong with the way I am setting the angle to the light and the beams but am not sure exactly what I am doing wrong. Could some one give me a hint how to solve this problem? Thanks Judy
#159538From: Paul Sanford [LVL5]Mar 17, 1995 3:00 PM
I would suggest giving your cone object a self-illuminated material, then it will show up whether or not it is in the light cast by the spot. To make sure the mesh cone is within the spot's cone, try using the spot's viewport (if you aren't already) to check for alignment. Also, make sure the tip of the mesh cone is lined up with the spot, and make sure the spot's target is lined up with the base of the cone. This should make the mesh cone and the spot's cone easier to line up (make sure you have "show cone" selected for the spot. Check out Inside 3D Studio, I believe their is a stained glass scene like this. Paul S.
#159588From: Paul Sanford [LVL5]Mar 17, 1995 8:38 PM
Oops. I should add to exclude the cone mesh with the self-illuminted material from the spotlight. Paul S.
#159650From: Judy WellerMar 18, 1995 11:14 AM
Thanks – I have been using the Inside 3DS – but after spending all day yesterday with it – I think that you are right it is an alignment problem. I had thought it might be an angle of incidence – but that did not prove to be the case. I like your idea about adding some self-illum. to the beam material I will give that a try. The interesting thing is that even after I get it to "work" it never really illuminates the area or object correctly – I usually end up with a discrete omni light with exclude and attenuate set. Judy