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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