Not more than 8 spotlights!

[BoywithMask]

Hello guys,

I recently started a new project and i have to use a lot of spotlights, but my problem is, when i have more than 8 spotlights, the last one (lowest) in my timeline doesn't work. I don't notice anything if I turn it off or on. Please help me.

[P.M.B]

Hi,

I don't know if there's a limit, maybe there is.  I really don;t have much experience using lights in AE...especially more than two or three.

Maybe whatever you're lighting is just as lit up as it can be.  Try making all the lights different colors...that might help you to see if it's working.  If it's working then i would guess you just have more light than you need.  Notice i said light (singular).  It really depends on how you have the lights set up.  Maybe drag some screenshots into a reply with all your settings and how you have lights positioned.

[BoywithMask]

As you can see my last light, doesn't work...

[Dave_LaRonde]

What in the world are you DOING?

[BoywithMask]

It would be very kind of you if you tell me how you would have done it

[Dave_LaRonde]

Sorry, but that 's impossible because I have no Earthly idea what you're trying to accomplish. 

[P.M.B]

I can't see that at all.   Thanks for the pretty pictures though

[BoywithMask]

Better?

[P.M.B]

You need to describe in detail what it is you're trying to do.  It's not at all obvious what's happening in the pictures. 

Like imagine you were writing a step-by-step tutorial of how to do what you've done. 

If it's easier to type on your native language, do.

[BoywithMask]

Ok, I am trying to make a ball that moves in time with the music. And to make it more exiting I want to change the color of the Ball. For the ball and the movement I use a plugin that is called trapcode suite 14 if this is important. And to change the lights i use spotlights. The part with the movement is working well so far, but when I add a 9th Light, there I don't notice anything that changes... I hope this is enough

[Rick Gerard]

You can drive the color of lights with an expression. 3 lights = millions of colors * 3. That's a huge reduction in the processing power required to change the colors. Combine that with position changes and you've got every color in the rainbow coming from any direction.

Color values are from zero to one for each channel. {1, 1, 0, 0] is 100% yellow.

[Mylenium]

Support for lights in OpenGL plug-ins liek Element 3D or Trapcode MIR/ TAO is entirely depoendent on a) their internal limits and b) your graphics hardware's capabilities. This has absolutely nothing to do with AE and no, there is no way to circumvent those restrictions. If you need more complex scene setups, use a real 3D program. openGL cannot have more than 32 lights, anyway, so even if you had the most powerful GPU on this planet, you'd eventually run out.

Mylenium

[Szalam]

Element 3d is limited to the top 8 lights in your composition. It is an Element limitation. If you were in a regular After Effects scene, you could use many more lights than that.

Reminder: you have different ways of creating 3d in AE (including reflective spheres with CC Sphere) that aren't as restricted.

Reminder: you also have a free version of Cinema 4D (Lite) included with AE.

[BoywithMask]

Ok I found a solution, thank you a lot for your helpfulness!!!

[Rameez_Khan]

Do you mind sharing the solution that worked for you?

-Rameez

[default2nem8u8f3vwe · Accepted solution]

All you need to do is switch from advanced 3d to Cinema 4D render. This worked for me as i was stuck in same situation.