How can I turn a prop into a light source and see it's texture at the same time?

l_riefkohl_ferrer_1923365ed0

I have this light prop that consists in a glass sphere inside a metal frame and I want to make it a light source but when I change it into emissive in the surface tab it gets completely lit and all I can see is white and I'm not able to see it's texture. How can I fix it so I can see the texture while I keep it emissive at the same time?

Richard Haseltine

If you want to see a pattern, such as the contents of a screen, apply the diffuse map to the Emissive Colour. In this case I think you want the frame not to emit at all - that might work with the emissive colour if the frame is actually black, if not you may need to make a black (frame) and white (everything else) version and apply it to the Luminance.

l_riefkohl_ferrer_1923365ed0

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Richard Haseltine said:

If you want to see a pattern, such as the contents of a screen, apply the diffuse map to the Emissive Colour. In this case I think you want the frame not to emit at all - that might work with the emissive colour if the frame is actually black, if not you may need to make a black (frame) and white (everything else) version and apply it to the Luminance.

So basically I need to paint in black everything that's not supposed to get lit like a mask? The frame is black so I think I can use the base color texture. Where exactly in the tab should I apply it? Sorry if I sound noob and also thanks for your reply.

Fishtales

There are two things that can cause this. The light set in the emissive chanel may be set to high or too bright a colour. Try setting it to Watts and set it to the wattage you think would be in your light, next lower the light temperature to 2750 or 3750 then use Tone Mapping settings to  get the light into the camera at a level you think is right for the scene.

JamesJAB

The above method is correct, the only issue is that only things on your texture that are pure black will not emit light.  That also means that those parts will apear pure black in your render.  This effect is great for video screens and Scifi computer consoles.

Can you post a screenshot of the materials list on the item + a render with and without the emmissive surface?

Inkubo

I'm so glad this question was asked! I bought the Red Spyder Convertible and started work converting surfaces to Iray materials, but I couldn't figure out what to do about the tail lights. Making them red glass and putting an emissive "bulb" inside them does not achieve a desirable result!