Hi there, folks!
I am currently developing a little script (rather a collection) called “Lighting Tools”.
I want to include stuff that makes it easier/faster etc. to light a scene/object or adjusting lights in general.
As my main work I do does not involve lighting very often, I’d like to hear what you guys would like to see as script which enhances your workflow Just write anything you think what would be cool to have concerning lighting work!
So far I’ve got:
-
Light Soloing by the press of a button (and turning on all lights to reverse the process)
It involves selecting a light either directly in the scene or by dropdownlist, which updates on deletion/addition of a light -
Changing of light intensities with various mechanics for either selected or all lights:
- Unify Intensities to a specific value
- randomly set intensity between to values
- Make light(s) flicker (by noise controller on intensity) (WiP)
I am currently developing a little script (rather a collection) called “Lighting Tools”.
I want to include stuff that makes it easier/faster etc. to light a scene/object or adjusting lights in general.
A&G tool company has a great commercial lighting tool that you may draw inspiration from.
As my main work I do does not involve lighting very often…
If you don’t do a lot of lighting, then you probably shouldn’t write a lighting tool until you have a lot of experience lighting different scenes. In addition to collecting this experience beforehand, I would suggest purchasing and perusing Jeremy Birn’s “Digital Lighting and Rendering”. Essentially, lighting is a very subjective artform, and as such, randomly placing lights with random colors and intensities does not produce professional work. I know because I wrote a lighting tool that did just that, expecting that it would save me time or give me ideas on how to light a scene. Instead, it made me realize that lighting a scene does not involve randomness, but rather a discerning eye that knows how to manipulate light and shadow to convey shape. A&G’s tool integrates well into this mindset because it creates lights based on HDR photographs of real studio lights, which max does not have by default.
You can check out my lighting tool here, maybe it gives you some ideas.
Thank you TheGrak,
I’ll definitely look into the tools you mentioned, I have read the book already.
The “randomnes”-factor came from my work which involves exterior archViz, sometimes at night and I wanted to have some differences in the light intensity in the windows, You are absolutely right that usually every light is placed/adjusted by hand, and with a certain intention in mind.
Furthermore I am also learning to get better at maxScript with the tools I write, and I still have a lot to learn So it definitely will serve at least this purpose