TRANSLUCENT PANELS AT NIGHT

[Anonymous]

We're doing a tower with a large translucent panel, Kalwall, to be precise, and I'm trying to do a rendering to show it glowing at night. While messing with all the transparency settings, light sources, etc, the result either ends up being transparent and not the right look during the sunlit renderings(which doesn't bother me that much) or not transparent enough and the light doesn't show through in the night time renderings.

I'm in V.13, I have access to the internal engine, Z-buffer or lightworks.

The short question: what settings (material and render engine) should I use to make something look like Kalwall at night?

[Anonymous]

To get a glowing appearance you need to adjust the "emission" setting for the material.

[Dwight]

The real answer is to get the demo of Artlantis… but in the meantime:

Another approach:

Make the Kalwal as transparent as glass with a covering 'scrim' - an image of an array of fine white dots, for instance - say, equal to 50% coverage.

The dots confuse the rendering engine, creating translucency.

This approach can complement the white emission that Matthew recommends because it also allows some interior light through the wall to cast shadow beyond the building, an aspect that emission alone cannot achieve.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:
To get a glowing appearance you need to adjust the "emission" setting for the material.

What level would emission need to be set to? I'm trying to recreate Kalwall in ArchiCad too and I'm not enjoying much success.

[Anonymous]

KBurhani wrote:

Matthew wrote:
To get a glowing appearance you need to adjust the "emission" setting for the material.

What level would emission need to be set to? I'm trying to recreate Kalwall in ArchiCad too and I'm not enjoying much success.

Try a simple test model and adjust the emission settings to extremes and in between to see the effects. There is a setting for the amount and color of the "emitted" light

[Dwight]

Kalwal cannot be created with "Emission" alone since you are looking for light radiation as well as whiteness.
As said below, a 'scrim' is required to allow interior light to glow outward.

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
Kalwal cannot be created with "Emission" alone since you are looking for light radiation as well as whiteness.
As said below, a 'scrim' is required to allow interior light to glow outward.

Of course. The difference between translucence and transparency. The Kalwal has diffuse transmission.

[Dwight]

I reiterate this point because Archicad users using LightWorks 'emission' will be attempting an impossible effect, having been spoiled by the simplicity of this effect in Artlantis, etc.