Development of Array-Based 3D Lighting Tool using MAXScript.

Abstract

Array lighting uses a group of lights behaving and functioning as a single light. This method can be used to simulate the effect of global illumination in less time. In this research, Cylight, an array-based 3D lighting tool with tubular geometry, is developed using MAXScript. The image quality comparison to global illumination using Scanline and mental ray is conducted through an online survey using six 3D scenes. 98 respondents participated to determine the realistic level for each rendered scene with a value between 1 to 5. The rendering time is also measured. The results show that Scanline produces the best image quality, but not significantly different compared to Cylight. On the other hand, Cylight is significantly faster, taking less than 10% of Scanline's rendering time. Keywords: global illumination, fake GI, 3ds Max, array lighting, light arrays, computer graphics.