Self Illumination (Glow) Rollout

Command entry:

Material Editor

Arch & Design Material

Self Illumination (Glow) rollout

These parameters let you specify luminous surfaces within the Arch & Design material; for example, a translucent lamp shade.

NoteThe Arch & Design material works only with the mental ray renderer, so in order to see it represented accurately in the sample slots, you must first set mental ray to render in the Material Editor. For details, see Assign Renderer Rollout.

A self-illuminated surface does not actually cast light, but it can optionally act as a source of indirect light when Final Gather is in effect, so it can have an impact on scene lighting in the rendered image.

The optimal settings for self-illuminated surfaces depend on the lighting conditions and desired effects. This table provides recommended initial settings for lights and the glow options under different circumstances:

	Light Object		Self-Illuminated Surface
	Affect Specular	Affect Diffuse	Visible in Reflections	Illuminates with FG
Area Lights	Off	On	On	Off
Point Lights	On	On	Off	Off
Glowing Object	not applicable	not applicable	On	On

TipThe easiest way to toggle the Affect Specular and Affect Diffuse switches for a light source is to select the light in a viewport, right-click it, and then use the Tools 1 quadrant settings. This affects only one light source at a time.

Interface

Self Illumination (Glow): When on, the material is set to be self-illuminating, and the remaining rollout settings become available. Default=off.

Color group

To set the illumination color, choose either option and adjust its parameter:

Light Pick a common lamp specification to approximate the spectral character of the desired illumination.
Kelvin Set the color of the self-illuminated surface by adjusting the color-temperature spinner. The color temperature is displayed in degrees Kelvin.

Filter: Use a color filter to simulate the effect of a color filter placed over the self-illuminated surface. For example, a red filter over a white luminance source casts red light. Set the filter color by clicking the color swatch to display the Color Selector. Click the map button to apply a map to this component. Default=white (RGB=255,255,255; HSV=0,0,255).

Luminance group

To set the brightness of the illuminated surface, choose either option and then adjust the numeric setting:

Physical Units Sets the brightness in candelas per square meter. This is a physical value that takes the physical scale into account.
Unitless Uses an arbitrary numeric value to represent the brightness.

[numeric value spinner]

When Physical Units is chosen, sets the brightness in cd/m². When Unitless is chosen, sets the brightness as an arbitrary value.

The following table shows some representative real-world luminance values.

Object	Brightness in cd/m²
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) television screen	250
Liquid-crystal diode (LCD) television screen	140
Bright light-emitting diode (LED) panel on an electronic device such as a DVD player	100
Frosted lens in front of a desk lamp	10,000 (average)
Frosted lens in front of a residential recessed halogen lamp	10,000 (average)
Exterior of a ceramic lamp shade on a decorative fixture	1300
Interior of a ceramic lamp shade on a decorative fixture	2500
Frosted incandescent bulb inside a decorative fixture	210,000
Cloudy sky in the afternoon	8,000
White ceiling in a brightly daylit room on a cloudy day, oriented north	140
Reflection from a cloudy sky on a varnished wooden floor	875
Dark asphalt on a cloudy afternoon, outdoors	115

Glow Options group

Visible in Reflections: When on, the illumination produced by the settings on this rollout appears in reflections on other surfaces. When off, the object is still reflected, but the illumination is not.
Illuminates the Scene (when using FG): When on, and Final Gather is in effect, the self-illuminated surface acts as an indirect light source and contributes to the Final Gather lighting in the scene. When off, has no effect on Final Gather.

Self-illuminated spheres not illuminating the scene

Self-illuminated spheres illuminating the scene