need help with lighting
 

hi I'm attempting to model the interior of a room and I cant seem to get the lighting right. I thought adding in a down light would be as simple as modeling it and chucking in a spot light but seems I was wrong.



heres what happened when I added in a spot light:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/se001/spot.jpg

As u can see it doesn't flow down naturally like a normal light would. I don't want it to start off from a point



heres what happened when I tried using a area light:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/se001/area.jpg

The area light just doesn't flow down enough, plus some of the light escapes from outside the light box.




I tried experimenting with just using an object as a light source:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...001/object.jpg

here I experimented with GI lighting and had a red cylinder inside the down light but as you can see the intensity is wayy to low.


Can anyone help me out here? All I need is a way to setup a realistic down light.

thanks in advance

:)

either:

adjust the cone of the spotligt so it's a bit wider and give it a bit of a penumbra so that it falls off.

or

Use a point light which as long as you make sure the geometry above casts shadows light wont escape upwards or around the room.

:ninja:
A

Very valid. you can simply scale it in the needed direction to give it the effects that you need. The problem with a point light is that it has no decay, so it'll be constant no matter how far away it is from its object.

Sparticus

Hey thanks for the advice but I tried it and it didn't really get the effect I wanted.

Do you know how to make it so the light comes down evenly in a straight line rather than spreading out from a point?

what? it does have a decay rate... it's right there under the emit diffuse check box. Please check your info before you post such a definitive statement.

Here is something i put together to show you what I'm talking about:

:ninja:
A