Natural and artificial lighting in 3D interior design

Daylighting in Architecture

Today, architecture and design are closely intertwined with each other, together forming a coherent image of buildings and structures, because without proper design of the entire volume of the building can not get a beautiful interior solutions.

One of the most important aspects in the design is its lighting, because the buildings can not be imagined without windows and artificial lights. Light is an important tool that frames the design process and most accurately forms the space created by the architect, so modern architecture, as never before, is characterized by taking into account natural light.

Two concepts of approach to lighting

In today’s architecture, along with a thoughtful, creative approach to lighting problems, there are two extremes. One is the arrangement of windows on the facades of buildings based entirely on formal concepts of architectural composition, subject either to the traditional techniques of facade construction or only to the laws of symmetry. In this case, the illumination of the interior is always conditioned by the character of the external form and is obtained most often by chance.

The other extreme, which has been prevalent in recent years, is the desire for maximum glazing of building façades, which supposedly provides the best light and the most acute perception. However, neither hygiene nor aesthetic requirements are often met. In addition to the fact that abundant room light can blind people, making it difficult to see objects clearly, harsh light can create sudden shadows which interfere with the correct perception of the shapes of objects. This is why mastering the efficient organisation of lighting remains a major challenge today.

What should be kept in mind?

When the architect decides how to properly flood all the necessary rooms with light, he will think from the start about the orientation of the project in relation to the sides of the light, other buildings or natural factors (trees, mountains, etc.) nearby, and the size of the window openings. All of these factors influence the natural lighting from the sun and the sky dome. The most significant influence on the architectural and artistic image of the building has the following aspects of the distribution of light in space: the distribution of brightness in the field of view, the saturation of light, lighting contrast and the direction of light streams. Natural light can visually transform the topography of a surface.

For example, bright direct light can make the texture of a smooth surface less visible, while similar lighting on a material with a strong texture creates contrasting shadows and highlights. Falling and intrinsic shadows are the primary condition for perceiving the texture of a material. In some cases, an expressive texture can produce a stronger impression than the shape of the object. Soft diffused light, on the other hand, minimises the contrast between light and shadow, making the texture more difficult to perceive. However, diffuse lighting tends to convey the features of the material more accurately, while the high light and shade contrast created by the sun can cause an illusory distortion of the material’s properties. 

Configuration of lighting in 3D Max software

In today’s 3D software, developers have come as close as possible to the realism of natural and artificial light. Using the laws of physics, which give light the necessary properties, the program recreates photorealistic images. In 3Ds Max in conjunction with Corona Render there are several options for lighting the scene: the first option is CoronaSun+CoronaSky, which is the easiest way, and the second option is using HDRI mapping in conjunction with CoronaSun. Using an HDRI map will result in a more realistic picture, because such maps include photos of the environment and physically correct lighting from either natural or artificial sources.

With the former, you can simulate the light of any time of day, while adjusting the brightness and colour of the sky and the sun as you wish. Most commonly, CoronaSun light is set to 6500 K (white light) under daylight conditions. CoronaSky at the initial settings has a bluish tint of light, which is physically correct, but today’s visualizers in interior rendering often make the light from the sky also white, which does not spoil the photorealistic object, but gives a clearer colour to objects. Using the second method, you will need to find a suitable map, as its settings are not as flexible as the CoronaSun and CoronaSky. The map can be scrolled 360 degrees in all directions and its brightness can be varied.

The aforementioned light sources in 3Ds Max can be used to illuminate the exterior of a project as well as the interior. However, it is often necessary to fine-tune interior lighting depending on the architect’s or designer’s task. For example, natural light from the outside is not always sufficient, even if it is physically correct, so the designer has to install additional lights in areas of the interior that are too dark. For example, a second CoronaSun or CoronaLight. The next step in designing interior lighting is to take artificial luminaires.

Artificial light in interior design

Lighting is endowed with the ability to create unique experiences. Light is a key tool in revealing textures and colours. With it, the designer can outline the shapes of rooms more precisely, turn away or draw attention to certain details. The saturation of a space with light affects the impression created by the interior. Depending on its level, the atmosphere in a room can vary from festive and uplifting to soothing and gloomy.

Artificial lighting – functions

High-quality natural light is one of the most important tasks of the designer, but if it is not enough, then artificial light has to be installed. Artificial lighting is the finishing touch to a long search which, like a mosaic, has to come together in the final design solution. In addition to its primary function in the interior to illuminate, artificial lighting can also have a decorative function: all kinds of lighting designed not so much to illuminate a certain area, but to have an aesthetic effect, to cause an emotional response. The shape and size of the luminaire and the material used are of particular importance.

The direction of light streams has a significant effect on the image of an interior. Directional light creates sharp light and shade contrasts, making outlines clear (Figure 1). In contrast, with diffuse lighting, objects lose their volume, and shadows and outlines become smoother. (Figure 2).

Types of artificial lighting

There are three types of artificial lighting:general, local and decorative (accent lighting).

General light floods most of the rooms and is the main light. Today, such light can also be referred to as technical light. Architectural luminaires can be used, which in the background provide good and even illumination of the space, creating atmosphere. They emphasize the successful geometry of the room and correct unsuccessful ones, add volume, emphasize the texture of the material, set the rhythm, participate in zoning, and also help build lighting scenarios for different times of day, different occupations and moods. Architectural light is a tool for modelling space and psychologically influencing people (Fig. 3). A new word in interior lighting is track systems.

A variety of luminaires are mounted on a metal track profile, inside which electrical contacts are located. The range is wide: the designer chooses the type of lighting (diffused or directional), its intensity, colour temperature, beam angle – all depending on the objectives of the author of the interior. Today we see an interesting trend: from auxiliary components of the interior, architectural luminaires are becoming the main component. In turn, local light is needed to illuminate specific areas that are used for work: such as lights that are aimed at the worktop in the kitchen, which is used for cooking. Decorative lighting is designed not so much to illuminate as to decorate and create accents in a room. 

All of these types of ambient lighting can be used in 3Ds Max and other design programs. Additional light sources designed to simulate artificial light look quite realistic thanks to a variety of settings. Such a light source is the aforementioned light called CoronaLight. In the CoronaLight parameters, you can adjust the direction of the light, its shape, intensity, colour, visibility, etc.

The LightMix plug-in – helping to customise lighting

The culmination of all the manipulation of interior lighting in 3Ds Max is the setup in LightMix, which makes working with light a hundredfold easier for the modeler. This is a plugin that allows you to collect all the light sources together and be able, with a couple of clicks in a single window, change the settings of all fixtures and natural light. In addition, you can tweak settings with brightness and contrast, light point pattern settings (in settings with Blur and Glare) and add various masks, which would further help to correct details of light flow in this or that luminaire. 

The topic of light in design and 3D visualisation is one of the main topics and therefore will always be relevant. With each release of updates for visualisations in 3D software, and directly in 3Ds Max, light simulations are becoming easier and more realistic, and are calculated faster each time, allowing you to speed up the pace of work and experiment with more different lighting designs.

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