How much control does one have over 'lighting' a static prop

[CaptainCrazy]

So basically i've made a model for the Source Engine and it's in game and all but i'd like to have the same sort of lighting as seen in this picture:



That isn't what i made but an example of the sort of lighting i'd like to have on it in game. I've tried rendering my light sources to texture but, as you can imagine, this just isn't the same. There's only so much that 'glow' can do as well (i'm using 3DS Max).

So my question is- will i have to just rely on lighting in the actual map itself? But, to my knowledge, props are not effected by lights and shadows.

Any ideas as to how i could go around this or is it hopeless? It's the only thing stopping me from finishing it to be honest.

Thank you

[TheDanishMaster]

Props are affected by light and shadows or else they would be either completely black or fullbright and I think you should do this with self illumination. Basicly what I would do, is to place lights in 3DS Max and try to get that look. Then I would bake it (keeping it all white) and then using the bake as the self illum map..

[nub]

Self illumination is about as good as it's gonna get in Source my friend. Danish Master's idea of baking in 3DS Max sounds like a good idea, though it'll take some time to do.

[Stormy]

You can enable per vertex lighting on static props. I think it's either a flag in hammer or an option I'm vvis. Also, have a look at some of the illuminated signs from left4dead, they have the kind of effect you are looking for. I would say a combination of $selfillum, diffuse trickery and engine lighting will get the effect you seek.

[llr]

You can try:

-StaticPropLighting
Generate per-vertex prop_static lighting; always enabled for light_spot entities. Disables info_lighting entities on props WITHOUT normal maps.
-StaticPropPolys (New with Source 2007)
Perform shadow tests of prop_statics at polygon precision. Default is to use collision meshes.

For vrad (https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/VRAD) You can't get lighting you are looking for, but these will help you in the progress

[Gary]

Though others said it. Just to be clear: It must be a prop_static in order to receive per-vertex lighting.

Another option, if it must be dynamic(prop_dynamic, prop_physics, etc.) and affect other objects. You could use a non-shadow casting env_projectedtexture. It is a dynamic, per-pixel, projective light source. You must have r_flashlightscissor set to 0. Note that unless this is GMOD or a custom mod, that you can only have one shadow casting env_projectedtexture(which includes the player's flashlight). This is unlikely to be your best option, but it is an option if the other methods won't work.

[CaptainCrazy]

Getting the look i want using lighting isn't a problem at all as i've already achieved that so i'll look into doing that i guess. I have heard of vertex lighting but never really looked into it to be honest but i guess it wouldn't be a bad idea =-/

[CaptainCrazy]

Tried your method, DanishMaster and there's not really any noticeable effect =-/

[Stormy]

Is it the backlight that you want to emphasize? If that's the case then you should just do it in the diffuse. Also don't forget that when you're using selfillum, the parts of the texture that the light casting parts are casting light on will also be reflecting light, so use a bit of selfillum on those parts too, to simulate the bouncing light.

[cra0kalo]

Baking the AO and illumination is the best thing to do

then again last time i tried that on my models i got some unwanted black shadows

[Gambini]

I´m very inexpert when it comes to baking lights in the model material but wouldnt be better to just add lights in 3ds and when the desired result is achieved bake the texture as it looks in the modeler and then use unlitgeneric?

I remember the first (and only one) tutorial i followed to learn to use XSI, it automatically baked the lights i added in the program and created a tga file ready to use.

[stoopdapoop]

crackalo, are you mirroring the uvs on that barrel?

[cra0kalo]

crackalo, are you mirroring the uvs on that barrel?

I think so, I created the mesh using C4D (cinema 4d) then baked AO and illumination then exported to 3ds max

I think i should just export the fullbright albedo and make the AO in 3ds