Add Lighting To A Custom Wall Cabinet?


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I am having a difficult time adding lighting to the inside top board of a custom wall cabinet.  I downloaded an LED light strip from 3D Warehouse and imported it into X6.  Each time I adjust the measurement so it will align inside top of the cabinet it disappears in full camera view.  If I pull it out in front of the wall cabinet it reappears.  

 

Here is the light strip in front of the cabinet, you can see the light strip easily.

 
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To create the fireplace built-in - I inserted a wall and base cabinet and adjusted the floor height of the wall cabinet so it sits just beneath the top of the base cabinet to create the look of one piece of furniture into a base cabinet to create a built in look on either side of a fireplace.  Here is the full built-in.
 
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Here is the floor plan showing the light strip in front of the wall cabinet, which is what you see in the first image above in the full camera view.
 
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Below is the floor plan showing the LED light strip moved into the cabinet
 
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Here is the full camera view of what I see once the LED light is moved into the cabinet - the LED light disappears.  
 
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I have the height of the image adjusted to several inches below the inside top of the cabinet, so I can see it when I move it into the cabinet so I know the top of the cabinet is not hiding the LED light strip.
 
I'm out of ideas.  I simply want to put a good amount light in the top of this wall cabinet to shine through all the glass shelving.  If anyone has any ideas on how to get this to work on my mac I'd be most appreciative.  This has stumped me for two weeks!

 

 

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Do you want the effect of a light strip that is hidden inside the cabinet?  Or do you actually want to be able to see the light strip in a camera view, and see its lighting effect with surfaces lit, shadows, etc?

 

Have you set the specs for your light strip object to have one or more lights?  Point lights are what you want here, I believe.

 

This is not much different than wanting puck lights inside cabinets to light up the inside of the box, and it can be done.  Use the materials control to set your strip to LIGHTING WHITE with very high emissivity, so it looks bright when viewed with the 3D camera.

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Hi Gene,

 

Thank you for taking the time to review my question and offer some advice.  

 

I need the light strip in the cabinet to shine light to illuminate the cabinet.  

 

The problem is when placing the light strip inside the cabinet it disappears in camera view I know this because the only light showing in the cabinet is that from the lamp and ceiling fan.  In the inserted image where the light strip is pulled out in front of the cabinet you see the light fill the cabinet and filter through the glass.  As soon as I move the light strip back inside the wall cabinet, the light strip disappears along with all its light.

 

Regarding hiding the light strip, I plan on placing a piece of trim on the top of the cabinet that will hide the light strip - just like in the real world, but I need the light to show.

 

I initially tried to insert a puck light, but I could not get it to stick to the top of the cabinet and shine light - no matter how much I adjusted the materials controls. Unfortunately there are no step by step instructions on how to insert a puck light in a cabinet.  I've tried and tried for two weeks and last week I thought I'd try this LED light strip.  With the LED light strip at least I have the option of adjusting the height to get it in the top of the cabinet.  

 

See image below of floor plan view with a 'puck above cabinet' inserted to the right built-in wall cabinet and the Electrical Service Specification Box General Tab

 

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Here is the 'puck above cabinet' and the Electrical Service Specification Box Light Data

 

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See image below of floor plan view with a 'puck' inserted to the right built-in wall cabinet and the Electrical Service Specification Box General Tab

 

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Here is the 'puck' and the Electric Service Specification Box Light Data

 

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Below is the camera view of the 'puck' and 'puck above cabinet' in the right built-in and the LED light strip in the left built-in set inside the cabinet.

 

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Thanks again for your input - I truly appreciate your advice!

 

 

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In the pic attached of a quick render, you can see the puck light I moved using xform into a wall cab.  I changed the shelves to glass, and changed the door to an opening before shooting the raytrace.  The puck had been mounted under the cab.

 

The puck light is ON and its material (the lens) is set to LIGHTING WHITE with emissivity way up in the 90s.

 

Have you solved your problem yet?

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Lisa,

 

Can you attach the plan?  If so, I think we could help you get things fixed rather quickly.

 

I think what you need to do is set the height off the floor, or offset from ceiling dimensions correctly for your pucks.  It can also help in these situations to check "show position in camers view" so you see where the actual light source is.  If the light source is offset from the fixture it could be buried and you may not really notice it. 

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  • 1 year later...

I've had no luck getting LEDs but can get the light look-this may get you started and a crappy quick RT.

I've also had trouble with glass shelves so I delete the shelves and put in just an outline made from a psolid.

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  • 2 months later...

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