DIALux evo Tutorial-4 Creating a complete project from A to Z with DIALux evo

Even though this tutorial has lots of advanced features of DIALux evo that is useful for many regular users of DIALux, however it is written with  lots of descriptions to make it easy for beginners and people who have little or no previous knowledge about the software, So I hope you will find it as easy as I thought.

Please help me improving this tutorial by adding your comments if you find any of the steps not clear or if you have any idea for improvements.

In this tutorial you will learn the following commands.

1-               Using help lines.

2-               Inserting false ceiling.

3-               Creating niche in the ceiling by using cutout tool..

4-               Inserting furniture, importing 3ds files and m3d files. Creating objects.

5-               Copying along reference lines.

6-               Using copy and arrange tool.

7-               Using colors, textures and importing images.

8-               Modifying textures by move, scale and rotate option.

9-               Applying Reflection and Reflective coating to materials.

10-           Using RGBW wallwashers (colored light e.g. LED) and tiltable spotlight.

11-           Aiming tiltable luminaires “model with joints”

12-           Save Camera View or POV (Point of View).

13-           Managing  light scenes and control groups.

14-           Calculation and rendering.

15-           Preparing the print out report.

For this tutorials you will build up a similar scene to the one below

Creating room

Step-1

Start an empty rectangular room

Step-2

Put the following dimensionsLength 7 m ,with 5 m, Height 4

Tip:

You put the room type if you want to get the recommended lighting levels as per EN12464 in Assessment zone and application.

To have similar view to my following snap shots thought this tutorial click on the question mark ? Icon on the property window to hide deceptive texts.

Creating Dropped Ceiling 

Step-3

Make sure you are on constriction mode

 

Go to reference line tool

Select a line

Select a room cad view NOT STORY and make sure you are in Floorplan view

Draw a reference line in the room form point 1 to 2 and make the offset line to be 1 m in the PARALLELS SPACED APART.

Tip: if the line is outside the room you can rotate along z axis 180 different than your current angle.

Step-4

Go to Ceiling Tool Click inside the room to select the room

Draw new ceiling following points 1,2 (points at the offset reference line) then 3,4 and last right click the mouse and select close polygon.

Make sure to put theClearance height = 3.25ceiling thickness=0.75m0.75m of thickness to make it solid without void because you are going to use the cutout tool as you will see later

Creating a recessed track lighting system

Step-5

From reference lines tool draw help reference grid with distance of x,y as 1,1 m above the dropped ceiling

 

 Step-6

From reference lines draw polygonal reference line in the point shown in the side image.Then right click to close polygon.

You can delete the help reference grid, and now you can see polygonal reference line clearly.

Step-7

This is the position of a track light system.Now create offset lines form the four sides of the polygonal reference line in the same way as you did step-3 with an offset value of 0.035 m so you have the width of a track like the next image

Step-8

go to 3d view

Select cutout toolAnd draw a rectangular cut out in the dropped ceiling

Draw a random cutout in the ceiling

Go to plan view and select the cutout you made, if you can’t select it then go to the Cutout tool and select the cutout.

Move the corner points of the cutout to the corner points of the outer reference lines by mouse.

Go to plan view and select the cutout you made, if you can’t select it then go to the Cutout tool and select the cutout.Move the corner points of the cutout to the corner points of the outer reference lines by mouse.

While selecting the cutoutActivate the Limit Cutting Depthput 0035 m as depthThis is the depth of a the Track

Step-9

Now go to material tool

Step-10

Select a black color and drag it while pushing the shift key of keyboard and apply the color to the inner surface of the niche.

Step-11

Go to plan view and make another ceiling in the corner of the inner reference lines.

Step-12

Put clearance height as 3.25 and ceiling thickness 0.75

Step-13

Go to color and pick the color that you used by selecting the pick material optionsThen apply it to the four sides’ surface of the new ceiling.

-

Now you should be having niche in the ceiling similar to a reassessed track lighting system

Of course you could do the above by many different ways like objects and subtraction, but this way is very useful when you place lighting as DIALux detects ceiling and place the ceiling luminaires right at the ceiling!

Inserting furniture and objects

Step-14

Go to furniture and objects tool and select DIALux evo object catalog

Put  in the search box the word 200×80 a legs Select the object that appears Click apply and close

Step-15

select place individual object and place it somewhere in the roomMake the position at x=3,y=2 mHeight =0.35Rotation @Z=90°

You can always use the mouse tool of modifying objects, which could be very handy if you have a cad background

Step-16

Place a standard cube@position x=3m ,y=4.65 mSize L =0.3 ,W=0.3, H=1.3

Step-17

Repeat the above for another cube with

position x=0.070m, y=2.9 m

size L = 0.140, W=4.2, H= 0.420

Step-18

Insert another cube with

size L = 0.020, W= 0.800, H= 0.4 somewhere in the room, it doesn’t matter where as you are going to use it to create copies of it and delete it later, but make it near the left wall.

Step-19

		Select the last cube and go to copy and arrange tool then select copy along line.If you are not selecting an object you will not see this option as active.
copy and arrange tool icon

Draw the line on the cube near the left wall

Put the following valuesبirst put Quantity 5Then distance 0.825Then apply

Move the green arrow down to center of the cubeTip if you select the triangle then you can move in x,y plane, but if you select the green arrow you will move the object only in y axis.The red arrow will move only in x axis.For this tutorial move only the green arrow.

After creating this object ungroup the parts

Step-20

Delete the object that was created in step-18 (used to creates these parts witch is selected in the next image)

Step-21

Make sure you are in the Copy and Arrange Tool, Select all the objects near the wall, and select center z to make the smaller objects and the center height of the bigger object.

Step-22

create the last object which we use it as a painting on the wall

Place a cube with

position x= 0.025m, y= 2.55m, Z=1m

Size L = 0.050, W= 1.100, H= 1.100

Step-23

Go to floorplan view and while selecting the last object use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste the last object (you can also copy and paste by mouse right click )

The pasted object will be automatically selected, but should be modified to the following values

Size L = 0.030, W= 1.05, H= 1.05

Step-24

Go to front view  If you don’t see front view then click on the small arrowTip: use shift to select another abject and ctrl to deselect an abject

Select the last two objects on the wall go to Copy and Arrange Tool and select Align Right x, Then click center z

Step-25

Finally select subtract, and click on subtract button after you make select the bigger object if not selected.You can swap between objects under the line SUBTRACT FORM WHICH OBJECT?

Now you should be having a view like this one.

Importing 3ds and m3d files to DIALux evo

Step-26

In similar way to Step-3 ,draw 2 reference lines with an offset of 0.35 m form the table.the reference line will be the the edge of the table and the PARALLELS SPACED APART=0.35 outside the table.use rotation if the offset line is inside the table.Draw two lines, one for each sidefor each one like the next image, to place you can use this for imported chair in these locations.

Step-27

Vitra Organic Chair  will be used in this tutorial

Vitra provide 3ds files for most of their products which could be imported easily into DIALux 4 and DIALux evo, however the file size should remain small in size with not too many surfaces, as rule of thumb try not to include a file more than 1 Mb,

This file has 208 KB which should be ok for most computers but if your computer specification is low then try to use lighter file, or use DIALux standard furniture.

The direct link to download the 3ds file for this chair is

http://www.vitra.com/en-lp/home/products/organic-chair/downloads/CAD/3D3DS/OrganicChair-315d90f9381f50d/21001000_Organic_Chair.3ds_0001435D.zip

go to DIALux Furniture and Objects tool and select DIALux object Catalog

Once the catalog opens click on import button which is located at bottom left of the catalog

Now click on add files and browse to the downloaded file of vita organic chair

You Have To Select All Files While Importing 3ds files for version evo1, otherwise  you won’t be able to see the 3ds file

 

Select the 3ds of the downloaded file

Step-28

Go back to the catalog (if the catalog is minimized then maximize it) Select the object in the right window by mouse. click assign click import

Step-29

Now in the search box of the catalog white organic, select the file and then apply, or double click on the object.

Step-30

Make sure the chair appears in the furniture and objects window.Select Draw line arrangment

draw the line arrangement form point 1 to point 2.if you draw it from line 2 to 1 then you have to rotate it later(anti-clockwise)

Put the quantity 2 and distance as 2

Step-31

Repeat the line arrangement for chair for the lower reference line then Put the quantity 2 and distance as 2 for the second line.

Step-32

Move both arrangements to the center of the reference line, by selecting the red arrow

Step-33

If you select one of the chairs you select the arrangement where you can modify that arrangement, if you click another time on the same chair you activate selection of only that chair, then you can modify the object properties.

Now select any chair twice to activate object properties and then select all other chair and modify the height to 0.675 m

If you feel your computer get slow in calculation download a liter chair form vita called Tom Vac, this chair has only 61.1 KB

The direct link is

http://www.vitra.com/en-lp/home/products/tom-vac/downloads/CAD/3D3DS/TomVac-8a637627f8a026f/44000100_Tom_Vac.3ds_000145FC.zip

Step-34

To replace all chair at one command select all chairs and then click on Replace selected objects, and then select the new object. Of course you have to import the new 3ds file first.

Step-35

Go to http://archive3d.net to download flowers, this is a good website that has a lot of 3ds files, some of them could be used in DIALux which has small size and not too surfaces.

The direct link for the selected flowers for this tutorial is

http://archive3d.net/?a=download&id=b3ecc17c

Unlike Vitra 3ds made in meters which is perfect for DIALux, you find a lot of files in this website in different dimensions e.g. (mm, inches and feet)

Step-36

The current version of DIALux evo 1 doesn’t yet have an automatic scaling tool so you can use DIALux 4 to import and scale 3ds file and then save the file in m3d format.Open DIALux 4 and create a room of any size then go to file, import and edit 3d models.

Select the downloaded 3ds flower file (Flower N171208) and then click next and select millimeters.Click next twice and finish.

Step-37

select the object and right click the mouse and select save objectSave object to a convenient location, let’s make it desktop and name it as Flower T4.

Step-38

In a similar way to step-26 go to DIALux evo Furniture and Objects tool and open DIALux furniture catalog and import the files as you did in importing Vitra chair.

After importing write in the search box of the catalog the word Flower T, selected and apply, similar to step-17

Step-39

Go to 3d view and place the flower somewhere on the table, you can do this by dragging the flower by mouse to the table or by using place individual object and then selecting the location.

Step-40

Keep the flowers selected and go to copy and arrange tool, click shift and select the table so you have both objects selected.Click on center x, center y to make the flower vase center on table.

Step-41

let’s place the last object for this tutorial, go to furniture and object and select a sphere and make segments as 24 and diameter as 0.3

Step-42

Place it on the column created earlier

Step-43

Go to plan view and select the corner of the sphere to the corner of the column, this is a very easy way to move objects corners

Step-44

go to front view and move the z arrow of the sphere up to be at top of the column

Now your project should look like the following image

Applying materials and colors

Step-45

Time to color your project so go to Materials tool

Step-46

Select DIALux material catalog

Step-47

	Palisander	Type in the search box the word grey+06 and then select it and click apply (alternately double click on the material)Repeat the same for the three materials Palisander Grass grey+06
	Grass
	grey+06

Step-48

Go back to material and now select Materials tab where you can find your selected materials form the catalog, If you wish to make them favorites then right click the mouse and select favorite.

Step-49

Go to 3d view and Drag and drop theGrey+06 to the floorPalisander to table top and paining on wallGrass to the green color of flowers

Step-50

Make sure you are still in the materials tool and select the top surface of the table and rotate the surface by 90°.You can move scale and rotate the material as you wish.

Step-51

let’s import an image for the paining, this is the selected one for this tutorials.

You can download then to Material tool, click on CREATE TEXTURE MATERIAL and browse to the image you want to import

Step-52

Select apply material and apply it to the front face of the painting object (alternately drag it while holding shift key down)

Step-53

Select the material on the painting and scale it to cover the whole painting.The points marked in red to scale.The point marked in green to rotate.The point marked in blue to move.

Step-54

let’s apply color to the rest of the surfaces by toing to Material Tool and selecting Create Color Material Adjust saturation to left so you can get a white color. Red, green and blue to high values Select Material type to be painted. Put reflection factor as 80%. Note: 80% is very high don’t use this values for walls unless you are really sure as this value affect the calculation drastically The default values in practice is 70% for ceiling, 50% for walls and 20% for floor

Step-55

Apply this color to the ceiling 3 parts, walls, column, sphere and the 6 parts of low cabinet under the paining.
Ceiling part 1	Ceiling part 2	Ceiling part 3	Sphere + column	The 6 parts of low cabinet under the paining.

Step-56

After applying the color to the above object in the upper table and walls, change the color property Material Type :Metallic. Reflection factor=90%. Reflective coating=90 (this is to make the object glossy and have a polish look like a metal similart to the prieview sphere). Apply the above color to the legs of chair and table to give them polish metal look during rendering.

Step-57

Apply similar color  shown in the image to the chair top parts

Step-58

Zoom to flower vase and apply a white color to the flowers, and a dark green to the grey color.

Step-59

Select a white color and apply the following valuesChange the Material type to TransparentMake reflection factor around 40%Degree of transmission around 30%And refractive index as 1.3

your project should look like this

Inserting luminaires

Step-60

All what was done earlier was in the construction mode, now go to light mode

 

The following luminaire will be used for this tutorial
Type	Article Number	Direct link to download ULD data for ERCO website
Downlight	ERCO 37824	http://www.erco.com/37824
RGBW wallwasher	ERCO 37838	http://www.erco.com/37838
Spot light for TrackBeam Narrow Spot	ERCO 75890	http://www.erco.com/75890
Spot light for TrackBeam Spot	ERCO 75870	http://www.erco.com/75870
Spot light for TrackBeam Oval flood	ERCO 75882	http://www.erco.com/75882

Download the above ULD data form the direct link to the desktop

Step-61

After downloading all the files go to file -> import -> luminaire file and import all the 5 ULD data files by selecting the files and clicking open.

Step-62

Go to floorplan view and select 37838, you can type itin the search box, it will appear in the Select, History Tab

Step-63

Draw line form point one to point 2 in the ceiling. the line of light should be close to the offset reference line. You can move this line after you draw it by move action.

Step-64

The quantity of the wallwasher should be 5 and the distance should be 1 m

Step-65

Makesure the light distribution is going to the left wall by activating show light Distribution form the display option in the upper rightUse rotate option if the light distribution not to the wall.

Step-66

Go back to light and select, type 37824 in search box and select this light.Draw Rectangular arrangement inside track location using inner reference lines following points 1,2 and 3 as illustrated below.

You can always modify the Rectangular arrangement by selecting Edit Polygon in the top tool bar

Step-67

Go back to light and select, type 75882 in search box and select this light .in the ploorlan view palace single luminaire in the track location above the flower , you can go to right view and adjust the location to make the luminaire inside the niche(Track)

Step-68

Select 75870 , in the floorplan view palace it in the track facing the paining and rotate the luminaire by 90° around Z axis

Step-69

Go to Copy and Arrange tool in LIGHT MODE, and then select the last luminaire and the painting and CENTER Y.

Step-70

Go back to Luminaire tool and select, type 75890 in the search box

		Place 2 single luminaire somewhere in the room near track location, then modify location as shown.make sure to put – sign  before the rotation for both angles
LocationX=1.975Y=3.686Rotation =-45 @ Z axis	LocationX=1.975Y=3.030Rotation = -135 @ Z axis

Step-71

The last step in luminaire mode before going to calculation is to aim the spot light, the Cantax spot light form ERCO has a rotatable joints as we can see form DIALux icon.If you see the icon heighted in red box this means the luminaire has rotatable parts(model with joints)You can rotate it in the Edit Joints Tool highlighted by orange box

Step-72

Active 3d view ,Go to Edit Joints tool and select the HEAD OF Cantax Spotlight facing the painingThe head should appear in red, don’t select the luminaire arm or luminaire top, and select only the head. Then click on set illumination point in the Edit joints Actions, then click the mouse cursor to middle of the painting as you could see form the green ring in the third image below so you can easily aim the spot light to the painting.

Step-73

 

Aim the other two spot light one for flower and the other for sphere as shown.

Save Camera View or Point of View (POV)

Step-74

	Go to Views Tool and move the project in 3d view to appropriate view and click on Save New View in actions of views to be able to go back any time to the same view.Any time you can restore the view by clicking on show view icon.Try to save similar view of the project to the one shown under.

Light Calculation

Step-75

Time to calculate your project, so go to calculation mode

Step-76

You can start calculation right away but for this tutorial you will learn how to modify control groups and light scenes Go to Light Scene Tool in the CALCULATION MODE

Step-77

DIALux evo create by default each arrangement as control group, but you can change this anyway.Select the first control Group; it will be the RGBW wallwasherIf you canot see the control group click on the arrow heighted in Green box.The orange box shows you how many you have of this luminaire.You can click inside the red box and change the nameYou have four values as this luminaire has four color of RGBW (Red, Green, blue and warm white). You can dim any value from 100% to 0% before or after calculation.

Step-78

Keep this control group as it is and keep the group of 6 downlight as it is as well, but delete all other groups by clicking on the x on top right corner of control group window.

Step-79

Go to Light scenes Actions and select Create new luminaire group and select the new luminaire group which should have 0 luminaire.Select all track spotlights then click on + icon on control group window to add those light to this control group.If you want to remove any of them you can select any spotlight and click on – icon which will be activated only if you select an added luminaire to the group.

Step-80

Name you light scene to be all Light on

Step-81

Duplicate light scene form actions of light scene tool then name the new scene asWall washer Cyan ,50% Downlight

Step-82

Activate Wall washer Cyan, 50% Downlight scene by double clicking on the scene, if you wish activate Generate outputs for this light scene tosee values and results in the output.

Step-83

After selecting Wall washer Cyan ,50% Downlight scene, modify the scene to haveRGBW wallwasher Group Red=0,Green=100,Blue=100,Warm White=0Downlight Group=50%

Now you have 2 light scene, Remember you can modify these values after calculation, however if you would like to generate different results in the output then you have to create the scene you want.

Note: If you want to speed up the calculation time, then keep only one scene as we have furniture with many surfaces.

Step-84

Before you start calculation save the project in another name so you can have a backup file.Go to Calculation tool in the CALCULATION MODE and start calculation

Step-85

You can show the different light scene by clicking on show once calculation finishes or form the top right corner select the required scene form the drop down menu and click on right icon to show it.

Step-86

If the color appearance of the light looks unnatural, go to display options at the right upper corner and select white balance as manual.The white balance The warmer the color you select (values towards 2000) the cooler the appearance of the room you get and vice versa.Many people get confused thinking that 2000 should make the room very warm like the lamp values, that is not true 2000 means you are seeing the room too warm and software will take that factor to make it cooler.For this tutorial select a value of 4000K.

Before adjusting the white balance	After adjusting the white balance to 4000K

Step-87

Go to view and select the saved POV(point of view) and restore it by double clicking on the image, or by selecting the image and clicking the show view button

Step-88

Go to raytracer  tool Adjust the resolution to the required value (1024×768) Start the rendering You can save the rendering after you get the result by save button

Step-89

-Zoom to the painting -Go to Results tool -Click on isoclines button -Select the painting surface to get the values in isoclines -You can adjust the color configuration as you wish -You can create outputs for this calculation surface.

Step-90

Go back to light scene and adjust the light and color as you wish by dimming the value of RGBW Wallwasher or dimming the value of other luminaires

Documentation and printing out the results

Step-91

Go to documentation modeSelect action gives you possibilities selecting predefined output e.g. Single room report.

Step-92

Click on Edit and select what you want to printDouble click on the page and the preview of the page will appear

Step-93

Double click on views pageIn the page settings select tab ALLSelect the views you want to includeClick refresh

There are many setting for each page according to the information needed for print out. Try it out and enjoy!

Please take a minute to participate in the following poll under

http://ezzatbaroudi.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/what-dialux-version-you-like-more-dialux-evo-or-dialux-4/

Here is a link to previous evo tutorials

http://ezzatbaroudi.wordpress.com/dialux-evo-tutorials/

كتابي الجديد المختصر المفيد في تصميم الانارة الداخلية

Best Regards

Ezzat Baroudi

here is a pdf version for download

DIALux evo Tutorials 04_Ezzat_Baroudi

DIALux evo Tutorial 2_How to create a cove light detail

DIALux evo Tutorial-4 Creating a complete project from A to Z with DIALux evo

 

you can download this tutorial as pd f form the following link

DIALux evo Tutorials 02.pdf

 

 

DIALux Tutorial 3 Creating different RGB Color Changing Scenes

DIALux Tutorial 3 Creating different RGB Color Changing Scenes

This third tutorial explains the following:

1. Creating control group

2. Creating light Scenes

3. Put the right value for the RGB

4. Saving and restoring camera view.

5. changing the light scene in cad

To start this tutorial you have to make an RGBW wall washer line arrangement as explained in the second tutorial where it could be found under the following link

http://ezzatbaroudi.blogspot.com/2011/01/dialux-tutorial2-how-to-make-offset-and.html

The wall washer for this tutorial is ERCO 37838, but you also can use any other RGB or RGBW (RGB with white light).

After you place ERCO 37838 for one of the wall as explained in tutorial 2, select this arrangement (all the luminaries )in the project manager left side and right click the mouse to open the context menu and then select add to control group then new control group as could be seen form next image

You can change the name of the control group by selecting it in the project manager (left side of the software) and then changing the name form the property window (The Inspector) as shown below.

Select the control group and right click the mouse and select add to light scene then new light scene.

Select the new light scene form the project manager and rename it to red scene form the property window

Then expand the scene list by the clicking on the + sign near the red scene in the project manager

And select wallwasher group inside this list as could be seen form next image

After that put the dimming values shown in the property window zero for all luminous emittance except for the red luminous remittance as could be seen form next image.

The red luminous emittance for this luminaire is the second one, this luminous emittance should remain 100 % the other should be 0%

You can know the color of luminous emittance of an RGB or RGBW luminaire simply by selecting the luminaire second property which shown after you expand the arrangement by clicking on the + sign and selecting the lower row as could be seen in the next image.

Then from the first tab technical data tab you can select the sub-tab luminous emittance form the first to last sub-tab as you can see form next image.

For ERCO 37838 you can read the following information

The first sub tab the color is warm white with 870 and 15 watt

The second sub tab is red with 100 lumen and 3 Watt

The third sub tab is Green with 269 and 5 watt

The fourth sub-tab is Blue with 101 and 5 watt

Also you can open the second tab which is the light colour and see the color of the luminous emittance

Now select the wallwasher control group and add it to a new light Scene and rename the new Scene to Blue Scene

And put the dimming values for all luminous emittance in this scene zero except the blue one as shown below

You can add as many scene as you wish and change the color to the desired color e.g. you can put 5% white, 70% red , 25% green in one scene.

Now let’s try one more new scene for this tutorial.

Add new scene and rename it to cyan and put the following dimming values

Now show the 3D view form the tool bar

And rotate, zoom, move and roam form the tool bar

Until you have a good view of the wall that is being washed by the wall washer like the one below

Now save this view so you can see it any time by clicking ctrl key and any number between 1-9, alternately by going to cad menu and then save camera view and then choose save position 1

You can save up to 10 different positions and to restore that position simply press alt key and the number of the poison or form the CAD menu and select the position form redo camera view.

Form the color tab, apply the white color to walls by drag and drop option of the mouse so you can see the reflection of the RGBW colours in a better way.

Now start the calculation

You can change scenes by the tool bar buttons and also you can see the dimming values as you can see in the next image.

Also you can change the scene in the project manager by selecting the required scene and then right click the mouse and select the required scene

Use light scene for CAD as shown in the next image.

Previous DIALux Tutorial

1. DIALux Tutorial 01: Cove light

2. DIALux Tutorial 02: Spacing and offset

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Dialux Tutorial_2 How to make an offset and spacing for objects and luminaries

This DIALux Tutorial explains how to

1. Use the help line and help grid

2. Copy along a help line

3. Copy along a line

1. Insert a photometric file(ies, eulumdat or ULD) to DIALux project
2. Use the Vertical planar with editing and changing different properties

This tutorial to explain to make an offset and an equal spacing for objects and luminaries inside DIALux by four different methods

 

I will explain the offset and spacing for wallwashers.

A wallwasher is a luminaire with an asymmetric light distribution placed at an offset from a wall (usually one third of the wall height with a spacing equal to the offset) in the next image you can see a a reseed wallwasher for indoor application.

 

the first three methods explained in this tutorial for placing the wallwasher are applicable for objects and furniture as well.

Tutorial 02

First make a room with dimension of 5×6 and height of 3 meter and don’t forget to click on OK, otherwise you can’t move to the next step.

 

You can select any luminaire for this tutorial I have selected an RGBW LED wallwasher form ERCO website the product reference is ERCO 37838

You can put this number 37838 in the search box in ERCO website www.erco.com as shown in the next image

After that you can click on the article appears in the result the red box in the illustration

Then select the Dialux ULD data (i-drop)

Download the file to the desktop

After downloading the file go to the file after you unzipped it and select the file and right click on the mouse to open the context menu and select inset into dialux project as you can see form next illustration.

Now you should be able to see the product in DIALux, in the project manager the luminaire used

Placing the wallwasher for the upper wall in the room.

Method one.

Place a help line form the tool bar

On the upper wall of the room form point one to point 2 as shown in the illustration

 

While selecting the help line put the offset line Parallels Spaced Apart as 1 meter as shown in the next image

By the way you can create as many offset line as you wish by putting the number in the Number of Parallels in this tutorial keep it one.

If the line goes outside the room you have to put a minus sign before the

number so the direction of the offset will be in the opposite side.

Now you can see an offset line as in the next image

Select a line arrangement form the tool bar

Move the two blue dot of the line arrangement by the mouse to the offset line as you can see form the next image

On the mounting tab (second tab) put 5 in the Quantity and then click on paste button as in the next image

 

 

Click on the 3D light distribution display button on the tool bar to ensure that the light is to the wall side as in the next illustration.

If the light distribution on the wrong side then you can select the line and rotate the luminaire form the rotation tab on the project manager.

Method Two

Delete the line arrangement and keep the offset line

Drag a luminaire by the mouse form the luminaire used in the project manager to somewhere in the room

Activate the 3D light distribution display button and select the luminaire and rotate it to the wall side as in the next image

Right click on the luminaire to open the context menu and select the copy along a help line command

 

Now move the mouse to the offset, When the mouse is above a help line a small hook appears that tells you that this help line can be selected

When the small hook appears click on the help line

After selecting the help line put in distance that appears in the property window in the project manager a value of 1 meter which is the spacing form each luminaire, then click copy button.

 

 

Delete the extra luminaire on the side and the one that is placed earlier in the room (as shown in the next illustration in red color) so you can have only 5 wallwasher with an offset form the wall of 1 meter and a spacing of one meter.

 

Method Three

Delete all the luminaire and the help line as well.

If you see the grid lines then hide it or Deactivate it by clicking on the button show display grid so you can hide the original grid line and you don’t see any grid in the floor plan

Click on the draw help grid form the tool bar as you can see form the next image.

Then click by the mouse on the 3 point shown in the next illustration , make sure it is in the same order, the first point in the right corner

Then the left corner then point 3.

while you are selecting this grid line change the size of it form the window property that appears in the project manager to make the offset 1 meter and the spacing one meter as shown in the next illustration

Drag a luminaire form the luminaire used folder in the project mangare as shown in step one in the next illustration and drop it by the mouse in the point 2 which is in the help grid line and rotate it on the z axis to be in the right direction to the wall.

Select the luminaire and then right click the mouse and select copy along a line as you can see form the next image.

Move the blue dote to the last point as shown in the next illustration and put a value of 4 in the box number of copy in the project manager(the red box in the next image)

Don’t forget to click on the copy button.

Method Four

While the previous methods are applicable for any object and furniture, this method is only for wall washer.

Delete the help grid line and all the Luminaires.

Form the tool bar click on the vertical planner lighting.

Click on the upper wall form the right corner to the left corner as could be seen form the next image.

 

You can change a lot of properties of this line form the project manager, for example you can change the offset form the distance box in the arrangement tab

You can also change the rotation form the rotation tab

 

 

If you want to add more luminaire select the Vertical planar line and then right click the mouse and select edit axes

While you are in the blue line right click again and select add axis

You can add or remove as you want by this way.

Now you have five luminaries

These methods of offset and spacing could be used for indoor or outdoor luminaire or eaven for any object

Previous DIALux Tutorial

1. DIALux Tutorial 01: How to create a cove for indirect lighting.

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Dialux Tutorial_How to create a cove for cove lighting in DIALux

How to create a cove for cove lighting in DIALux

This DIALux Tutorial not only to explain how to make a cove for indirect lighting but also explain how to

1-    Use extrusion volume in different way.

2-    How to use subtract and combine command.

3-    How to use help line with offset for parallel lines.

4-    How to center any object inside a space by one command.

5-    How to use the Align aids tool that make the work much faster.

6-    How to show the align in the tool bar.

7-    How to utilize the 3D light distribution display.

8-    How to find the Iluminace and luminance values from the 3d view.

In this tutorial you will learn how to make a cove similar to the one in the following image

The cove dimension will be 4 meter by 5 meter and the other dimension will be as follows:

First make a room with dimension of 5×6 and height of 3 meter and don’t forget to click on OK, otherwise you can’t move to the next step.

The cove will be divided to two parts as illustrated in the following image:

1. The upper part
2. the Base

First you will learn how to make the base then how to make the upper part and combine them together.

The Base

1-First select the object tab

2-selsct standard elements if not selected.

3- Select the Extrusion volume.

4- put the following dimension

X=5, y=4, H=0.1

5- Click on paste and then Ok.

Don’t forget to click on Ok, otherwise you cannot make any further operation.

After that ensure that the extrusion volume is still selected. And then while selecting the extrusion volume right click the mouse and select align and distribute menu and choose the command centered in place.

This command will ensure that the extrusion volume is placed in the middle of the room

You can see the 3D view by clicking on the relative button as shown on next illustration

Put the color white from the color tab on the object by drag and drop option, just pull the color by the mouse and drop it on the object.

Place another extrusion volume with the following dimension.

4.974×3.974 meter and height of 0.087 meter

This is because the edge of the cove is 13 mm and the we have two edges at each side

2×13=26 mm

After placing the new extrusion volume don’t forget to click on paste then OK.

Select the new extrusion volume form the corner as illustrated in the red square to the other corner of the first extrusion volume.

Select both extrusion volume by the mouse while holding shift key down.

You can also select both of them form the project manager on the right side under the object folder, just make sure you are on the project tab not on any other tab as illustrated by the red square on next image.

While selecting both objects  (extrusion volumes) right click on mouse and select form align and distribute menu the command

Align centrally in x

Then repeat this step again and select in this time.

Align centrally in y

In this step we placed the second object in the meddle of the first one by the help of align command.

By the way you can show the Align menu in the tool bar by  mouse right click and select the align as illustrated in the next image

Select both objects and then click on the align to top button in the tool bar  as shown in the next image

Name the first object as 01 and the second one as 02 by selecting the object in the project manager and putting the name in the name field as shown in the illustration.

 

Select both objects 01 and 02 on the project manager with holding shift key and then open the context menu by right click the mouse and then select subtract as shown on the next image.

Make sure that 01 appears in the object form which should be subtracted, if not 01 then select 01 form the drop down menu. After that click on subtract button as shown in the red box in the illustration

After the subtraction put the white color for the object as done earlier form the color tab.

THE UPPER PART

You will use the help line to make an offset line form the base to create the upper part.

Select draw help line form the tool bar.

The icon will be as shown in the red box shown in the next image.

After selecting the draw help line

Draw it to the upper line of the base as shown in the illustration (red line).

After you draw the line put in the box of parallels spaced apart box a value of 0.2 meter.

This box is in the left side.

If the line is placed outside of the base then make the value -0.2 by putting – minus  sign before 0.2 to make the offset inside the base

You have put the value of the offset 0.2 based on the diminution as shown in the next image.

The distance between the base and the upper part.

Repeat the help line so you have 4 help lines with an offset of 0.2 meter at four sides as in the illustration.

Remember the offset have to be inside the base if not then you have to change the sign to minus  sign(-0.2)

From the object select the extrusion volume and drag it inside the room or click on past

then right click and select form the context menu draw polygon(this step has to be done before clicking on the OK button, otherwise you have to select the object and right click the mouse and select EDIT command )

After that place the line set at the  four corners of the offset lines as shown in the illustration

once the four points are  done,then right click again and choose close to close the polygon as you can see form next illustration

On the height form the project manager on the left side put 0.3 meter which is the height of the upper part

Put the same color white as done earlier form the color tab

Select the base and the upper part by holding down the shift key and right click and select form the context menu the combine command as shown in the side image.

Select the front view form the tool bar.

Move the cove to the ceiling by selection one of the upper dot “corner”

In the plan view select the cove and right click the mouse

Form the context menu select centered in space form the align and distribute menu

Put the white color on the ceiling so you can have the same color of the cove and ceiling.

After completing the cove now is the time to place a luminaire for the cove lighting, you can select form any catalogue any fluorescent batten luminaire, LED or any other source for indirect lighting.

In this exercise, the selection was made form Osram catalogue by selecting 1×35 W and 1×14 W T5 batten luminaire.

After the selection of the luminaire place a line arrangement form the relative icon in the tool bar as shown in the next image

Ensure you are selecting the line arrangement so you can see the property window on the left “in the project manager”

open the general tab

put the following values

in Quantity box  3

in Distance box 1.5 meter

While you are still selecting the line arrangement.

Open Rotations tab

And put rotate the line 180 in Y of the individual luminaire,

In this step you rotated each luminaire to be upside down to illuminate the ceiling not the floor.

You can see the light destruction in the front view or side view to ensure that the light distribution to the ceiling side not to the floor side by activating the 3D light distribution display button in the tool bar

Move the line in to be placed inside the cove in floor plan view.

Also move the line to be inside the cove in the front view

Copy the line arrangement to the other sides of the cove, so you have line arrangements at for sides

You can increase or decrease the number of luminaire at each arrangement by selecting the arrangement and changing the quantity as explained earlier

After putting all the luminaire you can run the calculation by clicking the start calculation button in the tool bar

After the calculation is done you can move the cursor of the mouse and looking at the lower left part of the software where the value of Iluminace and luminance is shown

The location of Iluminace and luminance values are illustrated by the red boxes

To have this DIALux Tutorial in PDF format just click on the following link

DIALux Tutorial_01_ezzatbaroudi

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