32
The General Parameters
rollout for all
the Standard lights
is the same.
Light Decay
Under the Decay section, you can set the way your light fades across distance. This is
not the same as falloff with spots and directional lights, though. Falloff occurs on the
sides of a hotspot, whereas decay happens along the path of the light as it travels away
from the light. Figure 10.34 shows a light with no decay type set. Figure 10.35 shows the
same light with its decay Type set to Inverse Decay. Figure 10.36 shows the same light
with decay Type set to Inverse Square Decay. Notice the decay rate increases with each
successive figure.
Figure 10.37
Seeing the start of a light??™s decay helps you see how it
will illuminate your scene.
Figure 10.36
A light with Inverse Square Decay illuminates the first two numbers
and begins to lose the remaining three.
Decay Start Gizmo
Figure 10.35
A light with Inverse Decay illuminates the back numbers less.
Figure 10.34
A light with no decay evenly illuminates all the numbers.
476 ?– chapter 10: 3ds Max Lighting
If no decay is set for a light, its intensity remains at full strength from the light to infinity.
An Inverse Decay diminishes the intensity of the illumination over distance traveled
according to some brainy formula.
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