Template:Rendering sunsimulator
Setup
This tutorial doesn't cover setting up the plug-in. Refer to the installation instructions provided with the plug-in for the installation.
Make sure the plug-in is loaded.
- Create a camera to be used for rendering if you don't have one already. 'persp' can't be used for that purpose when using the SunSim.
- Start the plugin using the command SunSim (case sensitive; type on the commandline). This will set up the SunSim.
The SunSim consists of a few parts:
- a Directional light linked to the SunSim for the proper rotation
- an Image Plane linked to every perspective camera (but not 'persp')
- an AzimuthAltitude node that converts location and time into rotations for the sun.
When you execute the SunSim command, the settings for the AzimuthAltitude node will show in the channelbox. You can use the SunSim command to get it back, so it might be a good idea to create a button in your shelf by MMB-dragging the text 'SunSim' from your commandline into your shelf.
Settings
- Hour, Day, Month, Year
- Date and time settings
- Daylightsavingtime
- on or off whether or not Daylight saving time should be used. So for regions where DST is applicable, it should be set to off when DST is not active (winter) and to on when it is (summer). For regions where it's not applicable, it should always be set to off.
- Timezone
- Offset from GMT timezone. +1 for western Europe.
- Longitude, Latitude
- location on the earth in degrees
- Orientation
- Rotation in degrees for the north arrow (positioned at the origin)
- Sunlight Color
- Color for the sunlight at dusk and noon. RGB 0-1 notation.
Lighting
The SunSim plugin doesn't take care of the ambient lighting. This should be taken care of manually. There are several strategies for ambient lighting. A few examples:
- Software rendering: create ambient lighting by placing several (non raytracing) lights in your scene with a lower intensity.
- Mental Ray: use Final Gather for ambient lighting.
Using Mental Rays Final Gather should be the most easy to set up. It's recommended to set up you ambient lighting before setting up the SunSim. Or temporarily disable the SunSims directional light when configuring your ambient lighting.
Camera Image Plane
The default depth, distance between camera and image plane, is set to 100. This may be insufficient, causing you to only see the imageplane and no other geometry.
Select your camera and open the Attribute Editor.
Click the SkySimulatorImagePlane tab and change the depth.
Notes
The SunSim plug-in isn't ultimately fool-proof. Be careful not to delete any parts or change hierarchy, as this may break one or more of the links, rendering the plug-in defunct.
- Removing the SunSim from your scene
If, for whatever reason, you need to remove the SunSim from your scene, proceed as follows:
- Open the outliner and delete: SkySimulatorLightGroup, SkySimulatorNorthArrow
- Open the Hypershade and go to the Cameras tab. Delete the SkySimulatorImagePlane(s).
Using this procedure, you can also reset the SunSim if something has broken. Delete SunSim and run the command SunSim again. This should create a fresh SunSim.
