Soft Regions?

[N. Sigismund]

Could somebody explain how to use a soft region in the 3DS Max plugin? I've been messing around with the components for a while, and I can't figure it out.

Ideally, I want to block RT lights from entering a cave, and lowering the amount of light they cast in a building.

[andylegate]

Guess I need to write up a tutorial on this. Let me see if I can't remember off the top of my head:

Create your polygon (box, cylinder, sphere, whatever) around the cave.

Call up the component manager and assign these components:

PageInfo

Then in the component manager click on New > Region > Soft Region
And assign it too.
Then in the component manager click on New > Region > Light Region
And assign it too.
In the roll out for Light Region, click on the button and select the polygon you put around your Cave.

Then, select the RT lights in your cave, and assign the same Light Region component to them. Also, click on New > Render > Light Group
And assign this to all the RT lights in your cave.