Can't get Maya to light paint effects
 

hey guys,

I am having 2 problems with my new scene, I am using Maya 4.5.
My problems are with the trees and plants which were created with paint effects.

1. I can not get Maya to cast light on the trees.
I have searched the light linking menu and it doesnt show the paint effects at all...

2. As a result (or not) the trees and plants won't cast any shadows as well...

How can I solve this problem?
Thanks in advance!

-Gurt

Try this first, and lemme know if it helped before we try other things:) Cool?

Use the lighting commands on the Object Shading menu to select which lights to use in the canvas or scene.

These options include:

Use Default Lighting-
Surfaces appear fully illuminated by the Paint Effects default light.

Use All Lights-
Surfaces appear illuminated by all lights in the scene.

thanks for the quick response!
I apologize but i don't really understand where I can find these settings...
Is it part of the paint effects menu? I already have the plants in my scene so I don't understand how to edit them from the paint effect menu again..

Thanks :rolleyes:

No problem:)

In your Outliner, select your stroke.
NOT your curve, just your stroke.

Then, look in the channel box (on the right).
You will notice that your SHAPES attributes are now listed.

Scroll ALL the way down intill you see the Black BOLD word:
"INPUTS".

Below that you will see your brush name and below that a
"TIME" word.

Click on TIME, and TONS more attributes will appear.

Scroll down and try these settings:

CAST SHADOWS - ON
FAKE SHADOW - NONE
REAL LIGHTS - ON


Cool?

You can also find these in the attribute editor.

Good one Mike, hehe..

Sorry, sometimes I make things harder for myself than neeed:)

hey again :)

Thanks for your replies, I managed to solve the light issue, tho it still doesn't look natural.
I am still having troubles with teh shadows though...
I am attaching a photo of the scene that I'm working on.
Please notice that the big tree is visible but does not recieve the amount of light that the environment recieves from the moonlight (directional light, blue color).
Also, both the tree and the plants don't cast any shadow and I have double checked and all the shadow parameters you've instructed me to check are on. :banghead:

In addition, I am having a problem understanding how to fix the porch light.
As you can see, there is a lit light bulb on the porch wall with one point light right ahead of it.
What happens there is that the light actually lights the entire scene and is not shown too well to my taste.
So, first, is there a way to limit the radius of a light? I just want the bulb to light the balcony and some of the ground nearby, but it actually reaches the front part and the hills on the back...
Second, is there a way to create a more yellow intense light from that bulb? is using point light the right choice for a bulb like that?

Thank you again, you are saving me!! :p

-Gurt