Lightmix

[reyaz]

Hi,
Using Lightmix for corona latest versions are really annoying.
Sorry! to say that but I liked the lightmix much better in previous versions(4.0 and below).
If I add new lights and click on lightmix my existing values are going back to default. Even if I save the lightmix preset, After loading it, creating an issues with the existing light color temperature and values. Basically values of the lights are exchanged.
Is there any way to tackle this, apart from adding lights manually in render elements.
Thanks and regards
Reyaz

[TomG]

The design is based on an expected workflow, where you add all lights before actually using LightMix to adjust them - using the automatic button to generate LightMixes can't carry across the settings really because what comes out of the auto generation could have changed dramatically, and it would be hard or impossible to know which color and intensity settings are meant to apply to which LightSelect. The same with saving and loading, the LightMix set up could be very different.

So the expected workflows are
- Create all lights, use Automatic, adjust Lightmix; for any extra lights added (which should be only a few by this point), manually add them to the LightMix
or
- Create some lights, use Automatic, PLAY with LightMix but not set anything up that is final that you want to keep just as a way of testing the LightMix set up, use Automatic to add more lights (resetting everything), repeat until you have all lights added, then start adjusting LightMix for final values.

[Ink Visual]

I must say the previous version behaviour when new lights has been just added to the existing lightmix setup (without resetting others to the original values) was just way more comfortable indeed.
I never had a problem with situations which you (@TomG) described as "different lightmixes carrying across values that are dramatically changed due to auto generation".
Worst case scenario if there was any issue I could just manually reset the values of the particular LightSelect that didn't look right anymore.

The new behaviour even if considered as correct by the developers has just not better but worse in the day-to-day work scenario.
For me personally that change has been a step back in LightMix developement.

[TomG]

Well with autogeneration all sorts could happen - originally you used by individual light, now you use instances, so layer 1 of LightMix is now totally different lights than it was before, but is getting some orange and intensity 3 applied to it which is not at all relevant to the lights now in that group. Or you used Instances now you use Groups. Or you use Groups both times, but now there's a group which will come first in the list, pushing the other LightSelects down, meaning every LightSelect layer now has the wrong color.

LightMix is intended as a post production tool, not a scene development tool as such for doing something as specific as setting light colors before all light sources are actually added - that would be a "use at your own risk" scenario. Bear in mind if you have used it to decide some light colors and intensities, doing a >scene before rebuilding the LightMix will bake those selected colors and intensities into the lights (but you can still go and tweak them again in the new LightMix).