Sun Object
1. General Description
Sun Object is used to simulate sun light with soft shadow edge.
It consists of distant lights distributed in a cone area.
The following examples show the rendering output with ArchiCAD's default sun and with Sun Object (the second image).
2. Parameters
The input parameters of this object are:
| Name | Type | Default | Effects | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Length | 1 | 2D / 3D | Not used |
| B | Length | 1 | 3D | Not used |
| C | Boolean | 1 | 3D | Switch on / off the light source |
| D | RGB | 0.81 | 3D | Red colour component |
| E | RGB | 0.89 | 3D | Green colour component |
| F | RGB | 0.99 | 3D | Blue colour component |
| G | Intensity | 50 | 3D | Intensity of the Sun Light |
| ZZYZX | Length | 1 | - | Not used |
| AC_show2DHotspotsIn3D | Boolean | 0 | - | Not used |
| gs_lwa_num_lights | Integer | 11 | 3D | To set the number of generated light sources. |
| gs_lwa_diversion_angle | Angle | 5 | 3D | Angle of the sun's light cone |
| gs_lwa_cast_shadows | Boolean | 1 | 3D | Shadow casting on / off. |
| gs_lwa_different_sun_color | Boolean | 0 | 3D | Different sun color for sunset/sunrise |
| gs_lwa_sunset_R | Integer | 193 | 3D | sunset/sunrise red component |
| gs_lwa_sunset_G | Integer | 102 | 3D | sunset/sunrise green component |
| gs_lwa_sunset_B | Integer | 51 | 3D | sunset/sunrise blue component |
| gs_lwa_set_sun_position | Boolean | 0 | 2D / 3D | Set Sun Position Manually |
| gs_lwa_sun_azimuth | Angle | 0 | 2D / 3D | Sun Azimuth - If gs_lwa_set_sun_position = 0 then this parameter use the GLOB_SUN_AZIMUTH global. |
| gs_lwa_sun_altitude | Angle | -1 | 3D | Sun Altitude - If gs_lwa_set_sun_position = 0 then this parameter use the GLOB_SUN_ALTITUDE global. |
| gs_cont_pen | Pen | 10 | 2D / 3D | Object contour pen |
The Light Cone
Direction vector of the light sources are distributed within a cone's area.
The angle of the cone can be adjusted with a GDL parameter.
Different Sunrise/Sunset Color
For sun study generation Sun Object offers different sun color settings
when sun altitude is low (in case of sunset or sunrise).
Compare the end frame of the two movies below.
In the following animations you can see the difference between the default setup and the one with modulated sun color (the second one). Click on the pictures below to see the sample movies.
3. Usage
Place the Sun Object just anywhere in the plan.
Do not forget to turn off default sun light source in LightWorks®
rendering engine's settings dialog.
If you made sun study, you have to check on the "Rebuild Model for Each Frame" checkbox.
Note that the integrated LightWorks® rendering doesn't give a proper image quality in case the 3D data stucture generated from a selection (eg. with the Arrow Tool or with the Marque Tool) and this selection does not contain the Sun Object.
Important settings affected the effect of the Sun Object
Important settings when Sun Object used in sun studies
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