Author Topic: corona sun angle  (Read 5376 times)

2015-10-20, 15:10:10

peterguthrie

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Although I do prefer the new method for moving the corona sun around, I do sometimes miss being able to type in the angle... what about having both?

It would serve as a handy reminder to what your vertical sun angle is, and you could type it in as well for more accurate control.

If this isnt clear I'll try and explain it better

pg

2015-10-20, 15:16:50
Reply #1

Juraj

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I miss it too but you can now type it in rotation slot (in 3dsMax, the bar in top down under viewport) when you uncheck targeted.

But even then the rotation is from vertical... so 30 degree sun angle is 60 degree.
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2015-10-20, 15:18:05
Reply #2

romullus

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Maru added additional controls to sun object: https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,9218.msg63106.html#msg63106

Don't see a reason why it can't be done officially, though.
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2015-10-20, 16:04:56
Reply #3

peterguthrie

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thanks guys, that helps a lot.

would be cool to have what Maru did added officially

2015-10-20, 16:46:44
Reply #4

Ludvik Koutny

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I think this can definitely be done, but what I am afraid of is that it would look a bit silly. You would basically have same two parameters on screen twice for no reason. Aside from vertical sun angle being inverted in 3ds Max transform boxes, you would basically have two same values on two places at the same time. So if you decided to rotate sun 45 degrees right and have your cursor in a middle of the screen, only difference is you have to move that cursor pointer down, not to the right.

I still don't get what's so hard about it. Any other lights, be it regular max lights or corona lights, are transformed by native 3ds Max rotate tool, as well as is pretty much anything else in the 3ds Max viewport. So it should be completely natural to adjust sun angle using the same tool you adjust every single 3ds Max object with. It's not slower nor more complicated.

2015-10-20, 17:19:53
Reply #5

peterguthrie

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for sure its quicker and more intuitive now, but many people I'm sure have different sun angles set up for different cameras - so numeric entry is often better for that.

If I had to vote for one or the other, i'd go for the previous one, but if we are sticking with this new corona sun then having numeric entry (similar to maru's scripted thing) would help a lot.

(using it in non-targeted mode as Juraj suggested is a massive help - i just need to subtract my sun angle from 90)


2015-10-20, 17:31:48
Reply #6

Ludvik Koutny

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for sure its quicker and more intuitive now, but many people I'm sure have different sun angles set up for different cameras - so numeric entry is often better for that.

If I had to vote for one or the other, i'd go for the previous one, but if we are sticking with this new corona sun then having numeric entry (similar to maru's scripted thing) would help a lot.

(using it in non-targeted mode as Juraj suggested is a massive help - i just need to subtract my sun angle from 90)

That's what I meant :)

When you use non targeted mode, and activate rotate gizmo, the three boxes at the bottom of the Max's UI are now numeric entry for your sun, so you can rotate your sun horizontally using Z axis, and vertically using Y axis. Only difference is really that 0° now means sun is perfectly perpendicular to the ground (noon) where as previously it would be perfectly parallel (sunset). It requires some change of mindset, but other than that it's the same thing. If they were added back to the modifier panel, they would behave exactly the same way transform type in boxes above trackbar now do, with only difference that the Y angle would be flipped :)

2015-10-20, 17:55:25
Reply #7

peterguthrie

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i'd definitely like to see it added anyway. Little things like this make all the difference. When you are adjusting things like that 50 times a day then the mental arithmetic toll adds up

2015-10-20, 17:57:18
Reply #8

Ludvik Koutny

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Okay then. I will ask Ondra what can be done about that :)

2015-10-20, 18:42:55
Reply #9

Juraj

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It's not the same because I am rarely in rotate gizmo mode. So when I need to change the sun, I need to also change into rotate mode, ideally also the correct space. That's two, or three clicks as opposed to one.  Plus doing small math. It's just annoying since sun is such an important asset to work.
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2015-10-20, 19:02:02
Reply #10

romullus

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When you use non targeted mode, and activate rotate gizmo, the three boxes at the bottom of the Max's UI are now numeric entry for your sun, so you can rotate your sun horizontally using Z axis, and vertically using Y axis. Only difference is really that 0° now means sun is perfectly perpendicular to the ground (noon) where as previously it would be perfectly parallel (sunset). It requires some change of mindset, but other than that it's the same thing. If they were added back to the modifier panel, they would behave exactly the same way transform type in boxes above trackbar now do, with only difference that the Y angle would be flipped :)

This is true if one uses pivot point center. Try it with selection center or transform coordinate center and your sun object may rotate in a quite unexpected way. This is definitely less convenient than simple controls in modify panel.
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