Proper visualisation plays a key role in interior design, architecture, films, computer games and many other fields. The available tools also offer many possibilities for visualising lighting; unfortunately, these come with certain risks.
The potential of the available lighting visualisation tools is wide and varied. Here are some essential aspects:
Realistic simulation:
Advanced lighting visualisation software, such as for 3D rendering, makes it possible to create very realistic lighting effects. Different types of light such as sunlight, artificial light, reflections, glare, shadows, etc. can be accurately simulated. This allows designers, architects, artists as well as lighting manufacturers to see how lighting affects a space and builds up the atmosphere of an interior.
Project optimisation:
The tools for arranging small-scale lighting allow experimentation with different settings and arrangements of lamps and light sources, in such a way that different solutions are virtually tested. This allows the optimum solution to be selected and tested before being applied in the real environment. This saves time and costs by eliminating the need to physically test different scenarios.
Communication and presentation:
Lighting visualisations can be used to communicate and present design concepts to clients, colleagues and project teams. They help to illustrate ideas and visions in a more convincing way than verbal descriptions alone. Depending on the purpose of the presentation, more photo-realistic visualisations can be used, especially when presenting interior designs. Nowadays, many interior design software programs offer such possibilities. However, to be sure that the presented interior is well lit, it is also worth testing the solution by analysing it in a lighting design program. Then our message regarding the presentation of lighting is not only a beautiful illustration, but also has technical arguments that the implementation will work.
Education and learning:
Lighting visualisation tools are also used for educational and scientific purposes. Students and researchers can explore different lighting techniques, investigating their effects on different materials, colours and textures. Advanced BIM-type programmes not only help to select visual effects, but are above all calibrated to analyse the solution in terms of meeting different lighting standards. In science today, computer simulations are very often used to support the scientific research process.
