Some Lights Don't Work...Why?

Hello residents,

I've noticed a strange anomaly (well, I've always noticed, but in this case it must be remedied) that irks me to no end...

When I create a light, or a prim that acts as a light (feature), it will work just fine until other lights are placed near it. These new lights don't illuminate as they should. However, strangely, when you RMB>edit said light, it will illuminate properly.

See image below:



All four corner lights should be illuminating at the same radius and intensity...but two of them are not.

Can this be fixed? I know I'm not the only one this happens to because this occurs on multiple rigs. Any help?

Thanks in advance.

Isn't there a limit to how many lights you can have at once? Does your avatar have light sources as well?

**Edit**
I found this in the knowledge base...

"Why six realtime lights, as mentioned above? Because the OpenGL specification which SL uses allows for eight lights in a scene. Specifically in this case: six lights, one for the sun/moon, and one for the backlight representing reflected light. Static (non-moving) lights will be "baked" so you can still see the effect they have on the area. For this and more behind-the-curtain details, please see the related technical document."

Isn't there a local light source count limitation? I thought I read somewhere that it was 6 in some defined area...

Love.

You have a limit of six "local lights" that can be effective at any given moment. Usually that will be the six that are closest to you. Older video cards may support even fewer lights at once.

I thiunk it's possible that some really high-end cards may allow more, but 6 to 8 sources may be an OpenGL limit.

If you use more than one prim with the "Light" property set, it eats one possible light source for each prim! So a torch with three anomated fire planes should be made so as to only have one of those planes actually casting light.

I presume that is you, on the left by the bleachers? It looks like I see at least 5 lights on-screen that are casting some sort of visible glow. The sixth may be closer to you, but off-screen in that picture.

It's my understanding only 6-8 hardware lights will be illuminated at any given time, no matter how many are in the area. How the viewer decides which to illuminate, i'm not sure, maybe the ones that are closest to your AV. The only solution is to have fewer lights.

hehe, cross post

Great thanks...yes, it's the 6 closest to your AV.

Bummer, because I NEED ALL the lights to be on...lol. Hmmm....must find a work-around.

Thanks guys.

I've hadda deal with dis with my light show as well, as I wanted each mantle light to provide the lighting. Unfortunately, dis was so not possible, so I have invisible light balls providing the illumination for each area, an simply let it go at dat.

Mari

I've seen some good results using particles as lights. Set the Emissive mask on them so they 'generate' their own light. It doesn't exactly cast light the way that the point light source property does in a prim, but it manages to look pretty good.

-Atashi

What do you mean?

One way to 'fake lights' is with shading on your textures

alot of ppl make the floor textures darker on two edges and lighter towards the catty corner to give the illusion of light in the center of the room that fades off towards the walls

Michael, also note that this is also a avatar-relative experience. Exactly which lights appear on will vary from person to person. So there no way to really be certain which lights a person will see.

This is complicated by the fact that so many people are now walking around with hidden prim attachments to light up their face and body. These lights count toward the six, so a person with several invisible lights attached to them may never see all of the lighting work you have done.

Ceera and I posted nearly the same answer at the same time.