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Hello Daniel,

Kerkythea is a free renderer that can import SketchUp models with the
addition of a Sketchup plugin.  I believe you can set lighting fixtures
within Sketchup and import them along with the model into Kerkythea.  It
doesn't have a great user interface, but it does give you a lot of control
over properties like light absorption, reflection, etc...  With some work,
you can achieve the same photorealistic results as programs like MAYA.  It
may not be worth the effort for prototyping lighting, unless you need the
photorealism for marketing purposes.

Here's a very rough Sketchup model imported into Kerkythea.  The lighting
was placed randomly, hence the odd shadows.
http://tinyurl.com/4j8b7v 

-Eric
The Children's Museum of Portsmouth
Exhibit Developer



-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Bartolini [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ISEN] Lighting Simulation Software?

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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Dear List.

I am in search of free or relatively cheap lighting simulation  
software. Something that offers libraries for various kinds of  
lighting fixtures/lights/projections.

I have been using the TurboSketch plugin for Sketchup Pro. It isn't  
bad, but it is a bit limited regarding type and output of lighting.  
And converting lumens to candelas to match its parameters isn't ideal.

The photo-renderer in programs like AutoCAD or Vectorworks do this,  
and I had WYSIWYG recommended to me, but they are all quite out of my  
price range.

Thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

Regards.

Daniel


------------------------------------
Daniel Bartolini
New York Hall of Science
Exhibits Department
718-699-0005 x391

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