Material - Light Mesh Shader
This shader can be applied in Meshes and also in the default Area Light.
It includes a Target to aim better the light.
-- Please, let me know about what you think about this product!!
Version 3.2 Update
Fixed the Default Values of the Inputs. No more weird results when importing the Node Group.
Added Tooltips for all Inputs. While hovering the Input now you have a little explanations of what that input do.
Version 3 Update
General: Add a multiplier by texture for the light strengh. It prevents to the black blow out.
Linear mode: Add a switch to Linear, quadratic and easing mode. As well, the texture now is controlled by the Transform commands (it was static before).
Reduced the size of the file.
Tutorial Video Comming Soon!
Notes:
- The main texture is set in Black and White.
- All the Group is based in UV Coordinates.
- With ‘Texture’ I mean the main texture result from the UV manipulations and the gradients used.
- In Color Tab you can add a Custom color or Image, but will not be affected by the Transformations since Blender does not allow the images to be manipulated after they are generated, only before by Texture Coordinates.
- The values on the Inputs have a Minimum and a Maximum value set by default, but you can extrapolate it by clicking on the input and typing a new value.
- The Sphere Texture uses the Gradient Node set in Quadratic Sphere, I think it is the more pleasant texture for light.
- Only works in Cycles.
- All the transformations are made from the UV Center.
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How to Use:
Append: Press F4 or go to File > Append. Choose either the Collection or the Node Group.
My personal preference is to append the collection as you will get the light target to make your life easy.
Asset Library:
Both Collections and Node group are set as Asset, to have it in your Asset Library go to:
Edit > Preferences > File Path > Asset Libraries > Hit the Plus Button and choose the file location > Confirm by selecting Add Asset Library.
Adding it your Scene:
Open your asset Library > go to Studio Tab > set the Import method to Append > Drag and Drop the desired Asset.
Note: For some reason when you append from the asset library you need to hit Ctrl + Z / Undo for have the collection and be able to edit it in the current scene. (Maybe this bug is only for my blender, Idk, but you can try it if your append don’t work at all)
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What you will Get:
On the Main File you will have 2 Collections:
CustomLightcol & MeshLightcol
CustomLightcol has an Area Light, an empty as a Target and an empty for grouping all together.
Pros: as it uses an Area Light you can have different values for each light and also have the benefit of the default light parameters as light Spread, Power, etc. Also have less noise.
Cons: you can only see the result of the texture when using a addon as Node Preview or the default node preview in the Blender 4.2 release
MeshLightcol have a Plane, an empty as a Target and a empty for grouping all together
Pros: You can see the Texture in the plane ans also use some features of the group that only work in the Mesh version as ‘Only Front Face Emission’, ‘Transparent Backface’, etc.
Cons: For having different values per light mesh you will need to duplicate the Material of the Plane.
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Shape - Integer Input
Set the type/shape of the texture.
0 = Square
1 = Stripe
2 = Sphere
3 = Linear
Light Strength - Float Input
How much strength the light will have - It controls the Emission node inside the Node Group.
Texture Brightness - Float Input
It multiplies the texture, the higher the brighter the texture is.
Use Falloff - Boolean Input
When On, activate the Falloff Node to control the Light strength in the distance.
Only Front Face Emission - Boolean Input
When On, it will allow the light to be emitted only from the front face of the place, as a Area Light like.
When Off, both faces will emit light.
Transparent Backface - Boolean Input
Turn the backface transparent. on viewport it will show a ‘X’, but when rendered it will disappear per complete. For this effect it needs a Geometry Nodes group which is already on the light Plane on the Main File, please append the ‘_MeshLight_col’ Collection to have this benefit.
Hide for Camera - Boolean Input
It hides the light from the camera but still affects the scene. - For Mesh only
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Transform Tab
UV Uniform Scale - Float Input
Set the scale of the texture relative to UV.
X Scale Bias - Float Input
Squish the texture in the X Axis
Y Scale Bias - Float Input
Squish the texture in the Y Axis
X Translation - Float Input
Move the Texture in the X Axis
Y Translation - Float Input
Move the Texture in the Y Axis
Rotation Angle - Float Input
Rotate the texture in the center of UV
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Square Tab
Divisions - Integer Input
Set how many divisions the texture will have, as more divisions, more little squares you will have.
Division Mixer - Float Input
It mixes between One division to the divisions set in ‘Divisions input’
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Stripe Tab
(Type) Single | Multi | Fancy - Integer Input
It controls what kind of stripe you will have
Single = A central stripe
Multi = You can subdivide the stripe in how many you want.
Fancy = This is a result of a mistake of mine, it will give you circle and ‘X’ shapes depending on the ‘Fancy angle Rotation.
Thickness - Float Input
Controls the main thickness of the Stripe
Divisions - Integer Input
Set how many stripes you will have - Only apply when the Type is set to ‘Multi’.
Fancy Angle - Float Input
Control the rotation angle of the texture - Only apply when Type is set to ‘Fancy’.
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Sphere Tab
Divisions - Integer Input
How many divisions (rings) it will have.
Sine | Módulo - Boolean Input
The interpolation mode between the rings. Sine to smooth transitions, Modulo to more harsh transitions.
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Linear Texture Tab
Type - Integer Input
0 = Linear (Directly outputs the input X coordinate.)
1 = Quadratic (Interpolates the input X coordinate quadratically.)
2 = Easing (Uses a combination of quadratic and linear interpolation to generate a smooth gradient from the input X coordinate.)
Rotation Angle - Integer Input
Each iterations add 90° to the rotation;
0 = 0°
1 = 90°
2 = 180°
3 = 270°
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Falloff Controls Tab
Quadratic | Linear | Constant - Integer Input
0 = Quadratic Falloff (Standard)
1 = Linear (Giving a slower decrease in intensity over distance.)
2 = Constant (The distance to the light has no influence on its intensity. similar to a Sun Lamp)
Light Falloff:
“The Light Falloff node allows you to manipulate how light intensity decreases over distance. In reality light will always fall off quadratically; however, it can be useful to manipulate as a non-physically-based lighting trick. Note that using Linear or Constant falloff may cause more light to be introduced with every global illumination bounce, making the resulting image extremely bright if many bounces are used.”
*“Strength:
Light strength before applying falloff modification.”
“Smooth: - Float Input
Smooth intensity of light near light sources. This can avoid harsh highlights, and reduce global illumination noise. 0.0 corresponds to no smoothing; higher values smooth more. The maximum light strength will be strength/smooth.”
Source:
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/shader_nodes/color/light_falloff.html
*It uses the Main Light Strength from the Node Group.
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Color Tab
Use blackbody - Boolean Input
Turn on the Blackbody Temperature Slider. It uses the ‘Color Mix’ node in ‘Mix’ mode to color the light.
Color A - Color Input
Defines the borders color.
Color B - Color Input
Defines the Main Color, this is what will emit light.
Blackbody Temperature - Float Slider
“The Blackbody node converts a blackbody temperature to RGB value. This can be useful for materials that emit light at natural occurring frequencies.“
Source: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/shader_nodes/converter/blackbody.html
In this Node Group the color is set by mixing the Temperature by a Mix Color node set in ‘Mix’. The more white the texture is, the more it mixes with the temperature.
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If you have some problem when using this Node Group or have some idea to make it better, please send me an email!!
Thank you!