Spotlight mixed with other lights

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Korma
Licensed Customer
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:43 am

Hey guys, i'm struggeling with the spotlight.

For a customer project i need to recreate a simple spotlight like on a stage (image 1).


Image

If i use the standard spotlight without any other lights, it works great (image 2).


Image

But the moment i add more lights than just the spotlight, the whole system fails (image 3).


Image

I tried to play with the settings and hide the other lights with the "Lights pass Mark" function, but the spotlight ignores it (image 4).

Image

What worked a bit, was deactivating "Alpha shadows". But this lead to other problems that made it even worse.
Has anyone already stumbled upon the problem and may know a solution?
Thanks in advance
Michael
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

Hi,

This is to be expected.

It would require some tweaking to work with other lights. Or, a different approach.
I'd suggest consulting this page as it will help understanding lighting in Octane (approaches, "philosophy", etc).

Let us know.
Korma
Licensed Customer
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:43 am

Thanks elska, but i don't know what to do with your answer. I'm here because of the "tweaking" you're talking about. Can you be more precise?
Your link does not really deal with the subject.
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

Korma wrote:I'm here because of the "tweaking" you're talking about. Can you be more precise?
I can't be more precise as it depends on what one intention is, exactly.
The pre-made Octane spotlight aka "Spectron Light" is an one-off type of light, featuring a volumetric "cone" attached to it, associated to a volumetric material, which properties can be tweaked to alter the volume appearance (density, etc).
Korma wrote: Your link does not really deal with the subject.
The link is pointing to further explanations of lighting in Octane. Your approach to volumetric spotlight might not fit the project in question. The link shows different spotlight approaches.
Korma
Licensed Customer
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:43 am

Thanks for the effort, then i'll wait for someone who understands the issue
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

I have never mentioned that I misunderstood the issue, and instead, pointed out options to what's possible to at user level.
The solution / answer is literally in what was mentioned in my previous messages. Have a second look at it and do not hesitate to ask for help if needed.
Korma
Licensed Customer
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:43 am

I'll wait. Maybe someone knows a trick on how to get it to work in that lighting combination
jayroth2020
OctaneRender Team
Posts: 486
Joined: Mon May 04, 2020 7:30 pm

Hi Korma, I have had the best results "building" a light fixture that mimics the way actual spotlight fixtures work: they consist of a globe (light source), a dish reflector behind the globe, a simple cylinder for the overall housing, and an (optional) fresnel lens in the opening for the light to exit. If you make the interior of the housing white, you can get away without the reflector. The key is the distance of the light source globe from the opening of the housing. Closer to the front opening the spread of the light will be broad; the closer to the back of the housing the beam will be more focused. I rigged up some simple Xpresso to control this relationship (spot to flood). You can also go crazy and fashion bard doors or use digital versions of flags, scrims and so on (it helps if you have real-world lighting experience.) For the light emitter, you can use an area light (circle-shape) or fashion your own emitter polygon, which some argue can be tuned a little more than the standard Octane lights.

Of course, if you want to "see" the beam, you need a volume medium of some kind. Elsksa described the Octane "spotlight" and how it works and you could do the same. It is common to put the volume around the scene components, and others have done so just around the lights. If the overall illumination is dark, you might be able to get away with that, but if you have a lot of bounce lighting and your overall illumination levels are brighter, you will need an encompassing volume.

Note that the volume medium will be the noisiest in the brightest part of the cone. In fact, most lighters will not use that portion of the cone for illumination in the real world, as the center area of the cone tends to be the sweet-spot. A good read up on set lighting technique is a good idea. Octane is physically-based, so mimicking real-world techniques is the best way to go. This technique will also play nice with other lights that you might have in the scene.

In terms of sampling, you will have noise with the volume medium. That will take samples to deal with. I have found that that PMC kernel is the best for a pleasing spotlight cone, but it is also by far the slowest of all of the kernels. If you are animating, the PT kernel would be better for time (though noisier) and you could work with the denoiser settings to get a look. You are going to need a good amount of samples to resolve the noise to the point that the denoiser can give you a cleaner result.

Here is the resulting image:
First_Encounter_v4_CC.png
Puget Systems / Intel Core Z790 ATX / RTX 4090 / Cinema 4D
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

Here is a basic test scene showing the two approaches:
Image

The link shared in a previous message covers both approaches (and more).
Actually, there is this one too.
Attachments
Photo_Lo1vQsIV48.gif
Last edited by elsksa on Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

And here an other demo (from the link I've shared) with disc-based spotlight (diffuse material + emission + spotlight distribution):
Image
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