Page 1137 - Chief Architect Reference Manual

Ray Tracing Tips

In addition, a number of settings specifically Nighttime Views
affect ray traces. See “Properties Panel” on
page 1036. For best results when creating a nightime ray
trace view, there are a few considerations to
One example is reflectivity. For example: bear in mind:
• For outdoor scenes, ensure that your win- • While the Standard rendered view you
dows are slightly reflective. You may wish to ray trace is active, select 3D>
want to set up a building across the street
that, though not in the scene, appears in Lighting> Toggle Sunlight t o t u r n
the reflections in the windows. off the sun as a light source. See “Generic
Sunlight” on page 1091.
• In interior scenes, use partly reflective
materials on objects such as stove tops, • Use the Ray Trace Assistant to create an
tile floors, and coffee pots. Outdoor ray trace configuration. Choose
Dark or Nighttime as the outdoor condi-
Interior Views tions on the Environment Lighting page.
See “Ray Trace Assistant” on page 1130.
When creating an interior ray trace view in • When the new configuration is finished,
which sunlight shines through windows, bear click the Edit button in the Ray Trace
these settings mind: Options dialog and enable Photon Map-
• To produce effective lighting in interior ping. The Use Caustics option improves
ray traces, Use Photon Mapping needs the quality of light shining through trans-
to be checked. See “Advanced Panel” on parent objects. See “Advanced Panel” on
page 1128. page 1128.
• For colored shadows created by light • When your ray trace is finished and the
passing through colored semi-transpar- ray trace window is active, select File>
ent objects, check Compute Caustics as Adjust Image Properties and either
well. See “Advanced Panel” on page lower the Intensity value or uncheck Use
1128. Tone Mapping to turn this feature off
• The Direct Sunlight Intensity setting for altogether. See “Adjust Image Properties”
interior views should be set higher than on page 1135.
for exterior views. A value of 5 is a good
starting point, but you may wish to exper- Faster Ray Tracing
iment. See “Lighting Panel” on page
1126. Depending on the scene, a ray trace can quite
literally take days to produce. There are
• When your ray trace is finished and the several things you can do to reduce the time
ray trace window is active, select File> required:
Adjust Image Properties and adjust • Reduce the number of surfaces in the 3D
the Brightness value as needed. See model by turning off all layers not used in
“Adjust Image Properties” on page 1135. the scene to be ray traced. For example,
you may be able to turn off terrain layers

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