On Thu, 03 Aug 2000 13:35:30 -0700, ryan constantine wrote:
>in example one it seems to me that light from the outer edges of the
>area light should get farther underneath the point light than in example
>two.  example two should light less than one hemisphere and example one
>should light way more than a hemisphere.  in my opinion, if this isn't
>how it works, it's wrong and should be fixed.

That's not how it works.  That's even not how it's documented to work:

|  The area_light keyword in POV-Ray creates sources that are rectangular 
|  in shape, sort of like a flat panel light. Rather than performing the 
|  complex calculations that would be required to model a true area light, 
|  it is approximated as an array of point light sources spread out over 
|  the area occupied by the light. The array-effect applies to shadows only. 
|  The object's illumination is still that of a point source. The intensity 
|  of each individual point light in the array is dimmed so that the total 
|  amount of light emitted by the light is equal to the light color specified 
|  in the declaration. 

If you want "real" area lights, use an array of point lights.  Be aware that 
that will make your render time a lot slower; so would "fixing" the current
implementation.

-- 
Ron Parker   http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr/traces.html
My opinions.  Mine.  Not anyone else's.

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