Light Maps with 3DSMax and VRay — I

Other posts of the serie

1. Light Maps with 3DSMax and VRay — III (October 28, 2010)
2. Light Maps with 3DSMax and VRay  —  II (October 28, 2010)
3. Light Maps with 3DSMax and VRay — I (October 28, 2010)

This tutorial deals step by step with three processes – modeling of geometry in 3DS Max, exporting of lightmaps to Director and creating of mapping coordinates for ligthing maps. To follow it you need: 3D Studio Max 2009* and Director 10.1 or later.
Create a directory “C:\lightMapsTutorial\”. Open 3DS Max 2009.
From the main application menubar, choose
Rendering > Render Setup > Common > Assign Renderer > Choose Renderer… > Vray.
From the main application menubar, check
Customize > Units Setup > Generic Units.
Save the scene in “C:\lightMapsTutorial\” under the name “lights.max”.

In Top view, create Quad Patch
Patch Grids > Quad Patch
Set Length to 512, Width to 512, Length Segments to 2 and Width Segments to 2.
Place** the grid on point 0,0,0. Name it “floor”.

In Top view, create Sphere.
Standard Primitives > Sphere
Set Radius to 16, set Segments to 32. Place the sphere on point 51, -68, 16. Name it “sphere1”.

Create two copies of the sphere. Name the first one “sphere2” and the second one – “sphere3”
Place “sphere2” on point 86, -37, 24. Change its Radius to 24.
Place “sphere3” on point -21, 19, 32. Change its Radius to 32.

In Top view, create a ChamferBox and name it “box1”.
Extended Primitives> ChamferBox
Set Length to 32, Width to 32 and Height to 32
Set Fillet to 0.5 and set Fillet Segments to 1.
Place the box on point 16, -31, 0

Create a copy of “box1” and name it “box2”.
Set the dimensions of “box2” to 24 x 24 x 24
Open Rotate Transform Type In dialogue and set the Z-rotation of “box2” to 30 degrees.
Place “box2” in point 25, -40, 32

Create a target camera
Cameras > Target
Place it on -82, -211, 318. Place the camera target on 6, -19, 11

Create a Target Direct light
Lights > Standard > Target Direct
Place it on 332, -239, 297. Place the target of the light on -20, 20, 0
Now modify the light properties in the following way:
Under the Directional Parameters:
Set Hotspot/Beam to 12
Set Falloff/Field to 273. Check Overshoot.
Under General Parameters:
Check Shadows > On and set the shadow type to VrayShadow.
Under the VRayShadows Params:
Check Area shadow.

Now is time to set-up the VRay settings.
Open Material Editor and create a standard material, named “light” with
Diffuse = 128,128,128 and Ambient = 128,128,128
From the main application menu choose
Rendering > Render Setup, go to Vray tab, expand the V-Ray::Global switches section and check Override mtl.
Press the button next to the checkbox and choose the material “light”. ( If you dont see the “light” material, choose Mtl Editor radiobutton )
Expand the V-Ray::Image sampler (Antialiasing) section:
Set Type to Adaptive Subdivision.
Set Antialiasing filter to VRayLanczosFilter and Size to 2.2
Expand V-Ray::Environment section and check GI Environment (skylight) override
Go to Indirect Illumination tab and expand V-Ray::Indirect Illumination (GI). Check On.
Set Primary Bounces > GI Engine to Irradiance map. Set Secondary Bounces > GI Engine to Photon map.
Expand V-Ray::Irradiance map section and set Bult-in presets > High. Check Show calc. phase
If you render the scene through the Camera01 view, you will see something like this:

* Note: For this tutorial I used 32 bit version of 3D Studio Max for Windows.
** Note: You can invoke the Move Transform Type-In dialogue by right clicking on Select and Move button on the main application toolbar.