How can I light a movable object as a static one?

Development Rendering
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1

I have some BP doors set as movable objects, they open and close, and these objects are not getting proper illumination.

When i set my pointlights as movable i get this:

73289-light03.jpg
73289-light03.jpg1173Ă—841 111 KB

and when i set them as static or stationary i get this:

73290-light02.jpg
73290-light02.jpg1176Ă—840 107 KB

the 2 doors in the picture have the same material, the left one is movable and the right one is static object. how can make the left door has the same aspect as the other and keep it as a BP actor?

2

Hi Marcelo,

While you can use the option for “Light as if Static” in the objects Details panel under the Lighting category.

This can work out fine if you’re not planning on moving the door, but if you plan on the door opening and closing the shadows and light will be baked into not only the object (door) you’re moving but the doors shadows will be baked into any other statically lit objects as well.

The ideal solution for this if you’re using all static lighting and you would want to increase the number of Volume Lighting Samples that are placed. These provide a sample of the Indirect Lighting that are placed around the level to help the movable object be lit by the area they are in. This does not provide lighting like shadows and such, but it does help make them blend in with the area. Depending on the number of samples placed will determine how accurately these can be lit.

This page here covers the basics of it: Indirect Lighting Cache in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.1 Documentation

Some take-aways from this page:

  • Use a Lightmass Importance Volume around your playable area when using static lighting
  • You can visualize your Volume Light Samples by going to Show > Visualize > Volume Lighting Samples
  • In the World Settings > Lightmass category you can lower the value for Volume Lighting Sample Placement to increase the density of placed samples.

I hope this helps.

Tim

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