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[SOLVED] Lightmap from VS 4.2.5 to VS 5

This thread is a few years old. Some details may refer to an earlier version of Visionaire Studio. Current tutorials

  1. · 10 years ago#10
    Now, I deleted those transparencies and all work fine! I think the maplight must not have transparencies...
    Hm, but in 4.2.5 it is possible to use f.e. 50% or 80% transparent light maps. I often have smooth borders (what means transparency is going from 100 to 0%).
    So thats new in r5? Only sharp shadow borders?

    I'm not sure but in VS 4.2.5 my transparent lightmap works fine and in VS 5 it isn't work properly...

  2. · 10 years ago#11
    I'm not sure but in VS 4.2.5 my transparent lightmap works fine and in VS 5 it isn't work properly...
    Thats what I mean and what I'm afraid of. My next project needs a lot of half transparency... I tried this with transparent overlay pngs now, but in r5 I think it's not the same effect...
  3. · 10 years ago#12
    Vis 5 uses a premultiplied alpha system, so the pixels get multiplied with the alpha making them darker. There is absolutely no sense in using a transparent lightmap, the transparency gets ignored. You only now saw this, because the system changed how it processes alpha.
  4. · 10 years ago#13
    A lightmap only simulates darker or brighter areas. So it makes sense to use transparency if you don't want to have only black parts on the scene. Or I don't understand it? What can I use instead to create dusty areas or twilight corners?
  5. · 10 years ago#14
    Lightmaps were always intended to be a non-transparent image with light and dark areas. 

    see here for more info:
    ( or you can watch thisgerman video i made a week ago discribing exactly how it works:


    because the color gets multiplied, you need to use white for "no color" and complete black for "black". 
    And all colors between ...
  6. · 10 years ago#15
    Ok, my understanding fault. I misinterpret a 50% grey as 50% transparent. But it's a solid grey. Smoothness is therefore possible to make a "Verlauf" (I don't know an English word). That all comes from working with Photoshop grey masks and alpha-channels. smile
  7. · 10 years ago#16
    Just a tip: If the behaviour hasn't changed over the latest Visionaire versions, lightmaps also work with colors, so you are not limited to black-grey-white. Shadows look more realistic when using blueish colors.

    Kleiner Tipp: Falls sich das Verhalten in den letzten Visionaire-Versionen nicht geändert hat, funktionieren auch farbige Lightmaps; man ist also nicht auf schwarz-grau-weiß beschränkt. Schatten wirken realistischer, wenn sie in Blautönen gehalten sind.
  8. · 10 years ago#17
    It's more a problem that transparency doesn't work in webp-formats. Definitely in my case. I don't know why not. So I will still use pngs. 
  9. · 10 years ago#18
    It's more a problem that transparency doesn't work in webp-formats. Definitely in my case. I don't know why not. So I will still use pngs. 
    If you create a png with transparency then convert to webp (lossless) format with XnConvert then it will retain the transparency/alpha mask whatsit of the png.

  10. · 10 years ago#19
    Hm, I did this, but it was an earlier version of r5. Maybe it was still a bug. 
  11. · 10 years ago#20
    Hm, I did this, but it was an earlier version of r5. Maybe it was still a bug. 

    I don't know. I just mean for images/animations in general. Marian exports them as png files from cinema4d, then I convert them to webp lossless format to import into Visionaire Studio. Should work fine with both 4.2.5 & all versions of 5.x as far as I'm aware.

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