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The Sun and Positioning

DarkRepastDarkRepast Posts: 226
in The Commons

Hello!

 

I'd really like to get a better grasp on what I'm doing with the sun when I play with the settings. Can anyone suggest a good resource to explain what Longitude and Latitude is doing? How I can see where the sun is shining? How the general settings work?

I played around with it and got some bizarre results. The default of Long/Lat was 0 and -110 respectively. When I moved them around, I got a lot of darkness...it seemed hit or miss.

Any thoughts would be very welcome.

 

Thanks!

Comments

  • Daywalker DesignsDaywalker Designs Posts: 3,586

    Iray Sun-Sky seems to use the time you initially set up an image as the default for a given scene, so if you're doing this after local sunset, you will have to change the time of day to actually have the sun where it can be used. On the Latitude/Longitude, I'm not sure if it somehow knows where you are, or if it has a default setting.

  • DarkRepastDarkRepast Posts: 226

    I've played around with the time and it sort of works. Setting it for Noon doesn't quite seem to put it directly overhead nor does helping it out by setting the scene in the heart of July.

    Do you think the Long/Lat is literally where it is in the world?

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 26,424
    DarkRepast said:

    Do you think the Long/Lat is literally where it is in the world?

    Yes

  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,925

    Look up a particular location using Google. If you want tropical, pick a tropical place. I live in Pensacola Florida so I use that when I use Long/Lat.

    Do you know you can also select a camera to be the sun? If you have Sun-Sky  selected, then in SS Sun Node, select your camera that you want to use. Wherever you point the camera, that's your sun.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,093

    Or just mess with values until the sun is where you want. ;)

    I generally set time to get the height right, then Dome rotation to move it along.

  • RafmerRafmer Posts: 564
    Ruphuss said:

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

    There is indeed a sun dial in render settings -> presets, where you can set elevation and azimuth; or just kind of point the arrow to where you want the sun to appear.

  • DarkRepastDarkRepast Posts: 226
    Novica said:

    Look up a particular location using Google. If you want tropical, pick a tropical place. I live in Pensacola Florida so I use that when I use Long/Lat.

    Do you know you can also select a camera to be the sun? If you have Sun-Sky  selected, then in SS Sun Node, select your camera that you want to use. Wherever you point the camera, that's your sun.

    Hi and thank you! I read you could do that with the sun node but I tried it and the results weren't conclusive. I'll try again and see what I come up with.

     

    Thank you for the long lat! I appreciate it very much!

  • DarkRepastDarkRepast Posts: 226
    Rafmer said:
    Ruphuss said:

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

    There is indeed a sun dial in render settings -> presets, where you can set elevation and azimuth; or just kind of point the arrow to where you want the sun to appear.

    Thanks! I didn't find that setting but I'll certainly look for it.

  • DarkRepastDarkRepast Posts: 226
    timmins.william said:

    Or just mess with values until the sun is where you want. ;)

    I generally set time to get the height right, then Dome rotation to move it along.

    Yeah, I was doing the guesstimation a lot and decided I should just reach out to find out more about this stuff. I read a Daz article to get myself just far enough to be dangerous but everyone here's been awesome so thank you!! I appreciate it :)

     

  • ToborTobor Posts: 2,300

    I you're not trying for geopositional accuracy, juist do this:

    1. Add a Distant Light.

    2. Switch to it in the Viewport. You can now aim it as if it were a camera.

    3. Choose Sun/Sky for the Environment Mode.

    4. Click the button under SS Sun Node, and pick the distant light you added.

    That's it. The distant light is used to position the sun, as if you are the sun looking down on earth. You still get the regular Iray sun, but it's now a lot easier to aim where the light is coming from.

     

  • thedoctorthedoctor Posts: 201
    Rafmer said:
    Ruphuss said:

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

    There is indeed a sun dial in render settings -> presets, where you can set elevation and azimuth; or just kind of point the arrow to where you want the sun to appear.

    Any ideas why I don't have the sun dial tool under my render settings / presets? ... I've searched my library and can't find it either under "sundial" or "sun dial"

  • SevrinSevrin Posts: 6,313

     

    thedoctor said:
    Rafmer said:
    Ruphuss said:

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

    There is indeed a sun dial in render settings -> presets, where you can set elevation and azimuth; or just kind of point the arrow to where you want the sun to appear.

    Any ideas why I don't have the sun dial tool under my render settings / presets? ... I've searched my library and can't find it either under "sundial" or "sun dial"

    You need to either set your Environment to Sun & Sky or to one of the Dome settings and then remove the HDRI in order to activate the sun controls.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 42,027
    Rafmer said:
    Ruphuss said:

    isnt there a sun dial tool existing ?

    There is indeed a sun dial in render settings -> presets, where you can set elevation and azimuth; or just kind of point the arrow to where you want the sun to appear.

    ..I use this all the time.  The sun dial should be the default and the location/time setting the option.

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