Maybe you should try out the lightsys macro?

/Stefan

"Kman" <mzu### [at] toughguynet> wrote in message
news:3f94203b$1@news.povray.org...
> Tim Cook wrote:
> > Kman wrote:
> >
> >> BTW, I know this issue has been "addressed" by "area" lights with
> >> "jittered"
> >> shadows, or whatever the term is... but that seems so "fake" to me -
> >> shouldn't ray-tracing be able to more accurately simulate "real-life"
> >> light
> >> behavior? Shouldn't I be able to model the components of a real-world
> >> spotlight and have it behave the same way? Why is this not working?
> >
> >
> > It isn't working because "real-life" lights aren't discreet points; they
> > are areas.  The only way to make a "real" light source in POV is to
> > generate an area light by hand; e.g. build an array of point lights.
> > Exactly the same effect, except area lights with jittered sampling
> > produce a smoother effect in a lot less time.
> >
> But Tim, what I'm after is seeing the effects of the light that has been
> reflected from the parabolic cone in which most lights are mounted. It
> is this reflective cone that most often, and certainly most effectively,
> causes "soft" shading in scenes. You've seen those silver
> umbrella-shaped light shades in professional photo studios, right? Their
> sole purpose is to "soften" the lighting in a scene. The relative size
> of the filament in a lightbulb makes it effectively a "point" anyway...
> How come POV-Ray is not registering the light that reflects off that
> reflective cone and is being "bounced" back into the scene? Isn't that
> what "ray-tracing" is supposed to be doing? If not, I would guess that
> at least radiosity should cause this to happen. (Isn't that what
> "radiosity" is defined as being? - the reflected light from other
> objects in the scene?) I guess I'm just bewildered by the way things
> work in the POV-Ray world.
>
> -Kman
>

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