Lights not working

[Anonymous]

hi, i can create lights, but they will not light the scene, they just sit there and i can't figure out why.  I've trawled the internet and come up with nothing.  I have tried exposure and Attenuation and it doesn't work.  Also there is a daylight system.

Thanks, Kane

[Anonymous]

Zip your scene and attach it here, we will take a look.

[CAMedeck]

What render engine are you using, and are the lights you're placing compatible?  If you are using mental ray to render and adding Standard lights, they don't always work well together.  V-Ray is a little more forgiving, but not perfect.

Are they not showing up in the viewport, or at render time, or both?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have included the zip file, it's a walkthrough practice thing and it's too dark inside so i'm trying to get lights inside.

Yes, i'm using the mental ray renderer and standard lights.  What can i use instead?  And the lights aren't showing up in the viewport or the render.

p.s. I was messsing around last night with lights and they were working fine on another project (it was just six planes that i put together to make a room).

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

- Switch your lights ON.... 🙂

- adjust your Exposure and the intensity of the lights

- if you begin with lighting i suggest to begin with standard lights, Photometric lights are little bit more complicated

I have attached a simple render, nothing fancy, just to show the result after a fast adjustment of those settings.

[Anonymous]

hi eric.paris, YOU ARE A GENUIS!!!!!!!!!  I always had the lights in the building off and i never thought to turn them on, i was just trying to add max lights and they weren't working.  Thank you so much!!!!!!!

the attachments are after lights and what i was wrestling with before
!

[Anonymous]

So how do you turn the lights ON? Would be nice if you added that to your "solution".

[Anonymous]

Hey Phluitje,

Sorry for the delay 🙂  Just select the light (make sure its the light, and not the target) and go to the Modifiers tab, then go down to General Parameters and select 'On'.  Then scroll down that menu to Intensity/Colour/Attenuation and up your intensity, the higher your exposure is, the more you will have to up your intensity, I like to use the unit 'cd'.  I have attached some pictures, hopefully this helps!

Kane

[Anonymous]

i have the same problem but your solution didnt fix it unfortunatly 😞

I just installed 3ds max. Didnt change a thing. Lights are turned on but there is no light.

[Anonymous]

This is also happening to me!

[Anonymous]

yes this is also happening to me! if you figure it out let me know

[CAMedeck]

If you are rendering with mental ray or V-Ray and using any sort of Global Illumination solution, you'll need to make sure Exposure Control is enabled and set correctly.  Your scene also needs to be built to a realistic scale, and using Photometric or V-Ray lights, not Standard.  

[Anonymous]

hi there, I need a quick answer plz, I started rendering using vray (3dsmax), and I noticed that when I placed the vray light in my scene,they just sit there and produce no light,kindly plz advice me ..thanks

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I don't use vray, but check your exposure, make sure it's not set to something stupid like 30, I typically have one set at about 15, sometimes less. Then select the light and go into the modify panel and look for anything along the lines of turn this light on. If there's nothing like that, go to the brightness section in the modify stack, and keep turning it up until you have light.

I'm sorry if this doesn't work, as I said, I don't use vray.

All the best, Kane

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I just downloaded 3ds max 2017 and I tried using the standard and photometric lights as well but nothing works. I know for sure their on. I even downloaded the Vray add on and tried using IES lights but that doesn't work either. The only lights that don't work is the interior but the sun and any exterior lighting work just fine. My main goal is to try to see the interior lighting when I render the outside. I've used 3ds max lights multiple times in the past and I've never came across this problem. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

thanks alot, i found a way around it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

I just downloaded 3ds max 2017 and I tried using the standard and photometric lights as well but nothing works. I know for sure their on. I even downloaded the Vray add on and tried using IES lights but that doesn't work either. The only lights that don't work is the interior but the sun and any exterior lighting work just fine. My main goal is to try to see the interior lighting when I render the outside. I've used 3ds max lights multiple times in the past and I've never came across this problem. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

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This is exactly the same problem I'm having, exactly as you described. 

[Anonymous]

Hey gullah, try turning up the intensity of the photometric lights to something like 120,000 cd for an exposure of 15, which is the default when you put the daylight system in. If that doesn't work, leave the intensity of the lights high, but set the exposure to 10 and see if your lights are working (Note: at that exposure level your daylight system won't work very well). If they are working go back to exposure 15 and just turn the lights intensity up until it reads.

Sent from my iPad

[Anonymous]

In render setup light is not working, view  port is showing lights perfectly.

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@CAMedeck wrote:

What render engine are you using, and are the lights you're placing compatible?  If you are using mental ray to render and adding Standard lights, they don't always work well together.  V-Ray is a little more forgiving, but not perfect.

Are they not showing up in the viewport, or at render time, or both?

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[Anonymous]

Shift + L      switch on/off light icons