Edge Lit Signs

[angusstevenson]

Hi,

I would like to know how to setup a realistic edge lit sign.

In other words a strip of LED's lighting up a water clear perpsex sheet that has been engraved. So - I would like to know how to do this with the correct material and light settings.

Also, for information - I drew the model using Fusion 360 and I am new to Keyshot. Attached are my attempts so far.

The Keyshot file is attached as well - feel free to update/ change it as needed.

Thankyou for your help.

Angus

[mattjgerard]

Can you post an example of what you are going for? A reference image of the effect you want?

[JimmyToTheBe]

Hi angus
Welcome to the forum. Have you checked that you have ticked the Global Illumination option in Light settings. Sometimes even I forget to do this. And make sure you have at least 12 samples for Ray Bounces. Also you may find that using a thin plane instead of spot lights for your geometry, the light material will have an even spread of light.

Let us know how you get on?

[Eric Summers]

Also, if it's engraved, the letters will probably have a bit of a rough, frosty texture to them. You could apply a cloudy plastic to just the surfaces that are the engraved text and that might help. Changing the color of those faces in Fusion will let you apply a different material in KeyShot.

Also, welcome to the forum!

[angusstevenson]

Hi - thanks for the replies, great help.

I've drawn a simple 6mm thick, clear perspex square with an emmissive light source (supposed to be an LED). Easier to test with a simple model. There are 3 different "A's" drawn onto the perspex to see how they affect the light. The first is extruded into the perspex with straight edges, the second has tapered edges and the third has the surface face of the "A" as a cloudy, frosty face.

There is still a lot of settings to play with - going on the replies - but here is an early render. The gobal illumination is on and there are 12 samples of raybounces.

Also - here are some examples of the effect I am after for the edge lit sign.

Attached the Simple LED and Perspex file (Keyshot file) - feel free to play with it.

Thanks again - Angus

[jiyang1018]

You do not need to model the text in your model. Control that with bump map and the positition, depth, and bump height of the map. Attached rendering uses RGB LEDs in R/G/B order. It blends to white pretty well.
I set up a few types of material and light source for you to play with.

[Will Gibbons]

The example images you posted... the very last image green and orange plastic edge glow... those were rendered in KeyShot. Basically, separate the surface you wish to have glowing and apply an emissive material to it. The rest can be solid glass or transparent plastic.