Radiosity Rendering Black

[Allan Chesney]

Although radiosity is not 'needed' outside, when you compare your images, the Radiosity render is actually much more realistic. Although inside the house is darker, this is also realistic too.  Compare the shadow of the palm tree on the side of the house in the last two images.  The radiosity one is much better.

These are actually a great comparison: I assume the lighting the same in these two images(?) You will notice the the Raytrace one (2nd last) has a shadow on the lawn all around the pillar as if light is coming from above as well as from the sun and I suspect it is - from the light on the pillar.  This is also casting a shadow from the palm on the other wall of the house where the door is, and also it is throwing light on the front of the house. This is probably why the Radioisty ones looks better, as the front is technically in shadow as the sun is on the right.  The Radiosity has turned off the pillar light, so it has a single light source - the sun and hence correct shadows. In reality this is what would happen - not that the sun would turn the light off but the sun is so much brighter that there is no way the light would be bright enough cast a shadow in sunlight.

In reality the only issue with the Radiosity render is the bug that is causing the pillar to be black (and the inside of the plant box, although this is so tiny as not to matter). Because the pillar is seen as 'inside a room' (the plant box) it is rendering black.  This is easily fixed. Create a new location with the same settings as the ground floor. In 2D select the pillar, right click and Duplicate to Location..., then select and delete the original.  Because the pillar is now on another location it is no longer 'in a room' and should render as normal brick, complete with correct shadows from the sun.

It seems that TFP radiosity in most cases it doing the right thing.  It acts like an automatic exposure camera that adjusts the lighting for the conditions.  In this instance the basic render (2nd last) has just added the sun and pillar light together as if they were of equal brightness, creating two shadow sets and even in this case overexposing slightly the walls of the house.  Radiosity has recognised that the sun is so much brighter that the light on the pillar, that the pillar light would have no impact in daylight and so it does not show it.

Thanks for posting the images, it provided an insteresting 'diagnostic"! 

Just one question, if you know - what is causing the square box effect across the bottom of the front of the house in the last image? I thought it may be the foundation or floor showing through, which can happen in a 'Perimeter ' floor, but it usually creates a random pattern not this effect. Is there something else there that has not shown up in the basic render image?

Allan

[Surfer_Gurl]

Whew, Allan, great info; I understand a lot more now!  As for the square box effect... I have no clue; I wasn't going to ask you all, until I could try to figure it out myself. 
I made 2' foundation walls, on a location called 'Foundation' (I'm so smart!).  Then I put the house walls on a different location.  I saw this effect, so looked at the wall elements, and found that they extend a food below 0, in "Drop Exterior Face".  I set this to 0', and dug around, trying to find other attributes set below 0.  Didn't find any, so thought I solved problem.  This was before the renders, so obviously, I didn't solve it.  As I move the camera, the artifacting (is that a word?) changes from blocks, to bands, to bars.  AND, when I open the Render window, the artifacting looks different than it does in the view, and is different when rendered. 
From what I understand, although this looks and feels like the FP8 that I have, it is entirely new code, so a new program to debug.  I used to be a programmer, so know what they are going through.  I'll be here, following you all, with this new program.  This could be frustrating, but, with all of us together, it's kind of fun!

[Allan Chesney]

Yes, TFP is entirely new code - actually a cut down version of Envisioneer, but is marketed as FP V12. An so Yes again  -we are debugging new code.  Actually there are not too many problems - the update address some of the worst. The main remaining ones being in the Radiosity rendering and the balance between interior an exterior rendering.  I have been doing more tests and found a way to keep the lights on inside when you have sun outside but I will put this in a separate post so it can be found easier by others.  Not quite ready to post that yet.

The banding on the foundations you are getting would be because there are two textures in the same space. Probably the walls and foundation are exactly the same size - logical - but it puts the surface of both in effect on top of each other, so it is trying to display both.  If the edges of the two surfaces are set to the same texture it will probably render OK or if the foundation or floor (what ever is in the same space as the wall dropface) is made slightly smaller by a faction, it will only display the outside one.

I still do a bit of programming, so like you I can sympathise with the programmers.  Occasionally some users complain about the bugs but with the complex programming that goes into something like this, it is virtually impossible to test for every situation - the program would never get out to the marketplace. However, it would be good if they kept us in the loop a bit more, so we know exactly what bugs are confirmed, any temporary work arounds, and news of progress on fixes.  Anyway - we are all here to help each other and the program still does a remarkable job despite the bugs.

Allan