Task 1.2 deals with the problems that can arise when a user wishes to pass lighting information to a radiosity system that is not prepared for the complexities therein. As with task 1.1, there is not only the question of handling complex lighting information (such as a luminaire emission profile that describes how different amounts of light leave a source in different directions) there is also the problem that such data can come in numerous formats: LightWork Design deal with 4, at the time of writing, and that is not a comprehensive list.

Once the data has been understood, the radiosity system must be extended to accommodate the new light source type. This was more of a issue for IGD and GRAVIR, than it was for LightWork, since LightWork could already handle a large number of different light source types, prior to task 1.2.

Since the consortium had already adopted the LightWorks ADS for task 1.1, it made sense to utilise its lighting interface to address many of the problems encountered within task 1.2. Not only could the ADS already handle a large number of light source types, it also had the advantage that parsing light source data into the LightWorks ADS meant that IGD and GRAVIR only had to concern themselves with interfacing to a single system, whose contents could be queried in a well-defined manner. Also, the fact that geometry pre-processing was being handled within the LightWorks ADS, in task 1.1, meant that light sources with associated geometry (area emitters) could easily be linked to their emission information, since the two pieces of data are resident in the same system.

During the past year, LightWork Design has concentrated on extending its light source querying functionality, so that consortium partners can use the ADS as a light source front end. At the same time, LightWork Design has been extending the number of light sources it can handle, whilst IGD and GRAVIR have been hooking the LightWorks ADS into their lighting front-ends.

As part of task 1.2, LightWork Design have been working on

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