Lighting Software...

[fakie99]

anyone know of a software program that simulates landscape ligthing? i used to have a program that would allow you to import a photo of the client's house, then add fixtures, press ENTER, and it would darken the picture and light up the lights to show the client how thier house would look. it was really cool, but now i can't find it.....

thx.

[cgland]

I use Design Imaging Groups designware bundle. It includes a nice lighting feature. Kinda pricey though.
www.designimaginggroup.com

[4seasons]

visual impact imaging is another---$1,200range i think
Sketchup does a nice job-- with Muirview doing it of course.

[NCSULandscaper]

Pro Landscape also has a lighting feature in their package, another one in the $1400 range

[Evening Star Lighting]

We use Visual Impact's Earthscapes software, however the actual core of the program is Corel Poto-Paint 12. There are various programs that can apply "lighting effects" by adjusting the mid-tones and lighter areas of an image. Most landscape software makes it easy by having a button or an option to apply that feature. A more hardcore program will call it a "macro" or "filter". In any sense, it will take time to make an image look realistic.

[HRLand]

I can send you a copy of Vista night vision software if you're interested. For some reason I have at least 3 copies. I tried it out years ago and it remember it being good enough to get the point across. I believe it's made by DIG.

[MuirView Design]

This one will do what you want and it's only $60 - http://www.ideaspectrum.com/rls_photo_overview.php

On another note, I have a pretty cool lighting analysis program that I got from http://www.alllighting.com/new/3dop/3dop.html. It's not a program for homeowner visualization, but rather it's more for a lighting designer to gather data that will help to achieve a more balanced lighting effect. It works with .ies files, which a lot of 3D render programs are using for lighting. This might be useful to Evening Star, or someone who does lighting full-time.

[fakie99]

thanks everyone for the feedback (HRLand i sent you a PM). i think the idea of lighting software makes closing a sale much more likley for our existing clients. thanks again for the help.