Poor man's nightlight

[Hans_Petter 1]

I figured I would try to add some nightlights by creating a 2D model that showed during the night but not during the day. In other words, a rectangle with a transparent day texture and light spots once it switches to the night model. It works. However, I don't know what the frame rate consequences would be with a really large one.I've been trying for some time to attach a small zip with the pertinent BINs and MIPs but it won't go through. In any event, daytime transparency and nighttime light spots did the trick.Hans Petter

[Roger Over 0]

Hi Hans,Why don't you hold off a few days and give LightGen2 a try. I think using models is going to whack your frame rate, and the lighting won't follow the elevation contours.Your concept would probably work great where you wanted a small area lit fairly accurately.Which region are you trying to build the lights for?Cheers Bruce H

[Guest fu3]

H-P,I tried a similar thing but I thought the transparency might slow things a bit. If you did one large model to cover an area, it would affect the transparency & nightlights of any models under it. If you put 2 transparencies together (or 2 nightmips), you can get weird effects (like your landing light beams being made of FBO textures :-lol ), or one or both models may disappear entirely. I got this effect with my trees at Pillar Point Harbour - at night, the building lights don't appear in the transparent parts of the trees! With separate models not occupying the same piece of ground, the problem disappears :-rollAttached at the bottom is another attempt of mine at this - using transparent cubes that light up at night. No mips, no night models (no polygons either!!) and they work OK close-up. If you're wondering about the layout, use one at night as a moving model - they're car headlights :-lol I use them on a few bridges but you have to set the height in FLED or they'll run across the water ;-) As moving models though, they DO affect framerate a bit - as each moving model added to a scene does.An adaptation of this would be to create a large, fixed model with cubes placed where you want lights. This would not affect other models placed near them - and if it did, they're only 100mm (transparent) cubes, so you probably wouldn't see them.Ah, the things one does when bored... Regards,Jon Point

[Guest fu3]

Hey Bruce,You online? What, finished the house(or has the missus gone shopping)?:-lolI'm all dressed-up, awaiting a call from "Her Nibs" as we, well, converse electronically...Regards,Jon Point

[Roger Over 0]

Hi Jon,Back@work today. Getting a bit tired of plastering, painting and chippery....Documentation nearly done. Hopefully you will have it by, say, November? :-lol Anyway, back to it..