Setting the radiosity options for custom radiosity rendering provides a high level of control over the radiosity solution. The radiosity solution can be tested, stopped, changed, and resumed in order to determine the best parameters for rendering in a reasonable amount of time.
To set custom radiosity options:
1. Select View > Rendering > Custom Radiosity Options
2. The Custom Radiosity Options dialog box opens. Select a category from the list on the left to see the associated parameters on the right.
The Texturing, Geometry, Lighting, Final Gather, and Rendering categories contain parameters. The parameters set in these categories are identical to the custom RenderWorks settings, but apply only to the custom radiosity rendering.
3. Click the Radiosity Options category to specify the custom radiosity settings.
4. To control the ambient light options, click Ambient Options. The Ambient Options dialog box opens. Normally, ambient lighting should be turned off for a radiosity rendering, to avoid overlighting.
5. To control which surfaces participate in the radiosity solution, click Optimizations. Before the solution is generated, visibility information is gathered to exclude insignificant objects from the solution, either because they are not visible, or they are not participating in the indirect lighting scheme. If textures and/or objects have radiosity overrides, enable the overrides.
6. Click the Radiosity Solution category to generate the solution.
The radiosity settings are used for a rendering with radiosity when View > Rendering > Custom Radiosity is selected. However, the radiosity solution can be generated from the Custom Radiosity Options dialog box first, if desired, in order to refine a solution until it is acceptable. By using the color-coded preview and the Solution Info controls (Start/Resume, Accept, Delete, and the Esc key), the radiosity solution can be refined until the best quality is achieved in the shortest amount of time.
