Hi,
Does anyone know why a directional light shows on a reflective material like Big white circle? how do make it invisible on reflections? i am using UE5.3 with almost all default settings.
thanks!
That’s very likely the specular highlight.
The default value for “special strength” is, IIRC, 0.5.
If you bind a constant 0 to the input of the “specular” material output, then the highlight will likely disappear.
Oh, where do I find this? sorry I’m still a newbie here, wait, do you mean my material output? this?
but I need my material to be reflective, or I understand it wrong…
here is the problem
lights have a specular scale parameter in the advanced options.
btw… if you have that huge of a circle you have set a wrong source angle. you should use the default angle. if you need more intensity, every other parameter gives you that.
unless you’re an alien, don’t touch the source angle.
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Hey @glitchered,
yes, it is the source angle thanks! also specular scale doesn’t seem to work for directional light…, is there a better to soften my shadows? or do i limit the use of source angle so it wont be too visible in my reflections?
and also, what do you think causes this?
- something creates a dark spot at the corner of the window
- the lower left of corner of the wall, light behave as if a waving tree casts a shadow on the wall,
- and lastly, suddenly the project file im testing with suddenly went out of video memory? should i be worried?
Thanks!
those artefacts are lumen trying to light it up. it’s not got enough light being cast thru the small window. a common problem with path tracing light.
the specular scale should work on directional lights too. i tested exactly that, yesterday.
large source angle is unfortunately the way to get soft shadows. it’s not proper tho, tbh.
and well… overcast lighting is a bit of a complex issue unreal doesn’t exactly manage, rn.
jsyk… i’m working on some cloudy weather. hard to balance ambient capture and the sun and potentially dynamic cloud shadows.
@Krzysztof.N ideas are welcome. you’re the lighting chief.
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i see, thanks… now im a little enlightened how on lumen works, last question
which is better (Faster and easier to use/learn)
lumen or pathtracer? btw, path tracer is same as raytracing right?
depends on what you want it to look like and what your target platform is. for pictures and movie renders pathtracer is the best option if you have the render time to spare. not a choice for gaming, obviously. you can still use lumen if you get good enough results. it’s like any other modelling and rendering tool. maya, blender, whatever name it. if it outputs what you want or need it to look like and does it fast it’s what you should use.
learning is a kinda “non factor”. you just use common material properties or dial it in aka eyeball it, until it looks like you want it. hmmhmm
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okay, cool! my target is realtime visuals… iguess lumeng it is! thanks bro! i appreciate your help!