zsLightingTools

By Jan Köhl · 2012-11-26

Version: 1.2
Version requirement: 3ds Max 9 (maybe works in older versions too)
Date updated: 2012-11-28
Votes: 3
Homepage: www.greenfair.de
Download: Download

Description

A little lighting-helper...

- rollout "On/Off"

MULTIPLIER: set the global multiplier to apply with the buttons below
ISOLATE: turn selected lights on, all others off
ON / OFF: turn selected/all lights on/off
SET MULTIPLIER: apply the global multiplier to the current values of selected/all lights

- rollout "Properties"

group "Transfer Properties"

PICK SOURCE: pick a light and apply its properties to the current selection
TYPE: includes Type and Distribution
VALUE: includes Multiplier, Intensity and Dimming
DECAY: includes Attenuation and Decay
COLOR: includes Color, Kelvin and Filter Color
SHADOWS: includes Cast Shadows, Use Global Settings and Shadow Generator

group "Apply Color" (uses Filter Color for Photometric Lights)

COLORPICKER: choose a color to apply
GET: pick a light and get its color
SET: apply the chosen color to the current selection

Works with Standard and Photometric Lights.

Additional Info

NOTE: The current selection is always filtered for Standard and Photometric Lights. Other objects in selection are simply ignored. v1.0: Initial release v1.1: Shadow controls added v1.2: Apply Color controls added

Comments (4)

milie · 2012-11-28

Hey, thanks for the response.
What i meant by wanting an separate option to override the values is better rephrased by "replace" the values.
For example, if i mess up the lighting in a scene, i'd like to set all/only selected lights to a specific color and multiplier, to start from scratch.

Jan Köhl · 2012-11-28

Ah, now I get it. But why don't you adjust one light and use "Transfer Properties" to apply the settings to the rest?
I always try to keep the UI as small as possible and since Standard and Photometric Lights have different properties and use different units, the UI would become very cluttered (e.g. Standard: Multiplier - unitless, Photometric: lm, cd, lux at...). There are just a few identical settings. That's why the script only transfers properties from Standard to Standard and from Photometric to Photometric Lights. The rest is ignored.
But a general color control is a good idea.

milie · 2012-11-27

Hey,

Cool script. I thought of some extra features.

- Override All/Selected light color, multiplier, cast shadow, shadow type.
- Vray lights (multiplier color, type, shadow type, shadow subdivs ).

Are they feasible?

Thanks

Jan Köhl · 2012-11-27

Thanks, I use this script all the time... ;-)
What do you mean with "override"? Just a temporary change?
The shadow controls will be added as soon as possible. I already planned to do this.
Concerning the Vray lights: I didn't use Vray for many years, so I have no idea of the differences or special parameters. Maybe I can find some information about that.