Isolines - Concepts
Isolines are lines of equal value (e.g. Illuminance, Exitance, Luminance, etc.) that are used to provide contouring capabilities for calculated grids and polygons. Illuminance Isolines differ from Luminaire Templates and Design Isolines in the following ways:
- Isolines are generated from calculated points (direct and interreflected light), as opposed to the Direct Only contribution of Luminaire Templates and Design Isolines.
- Unlike Templates, calculated values and their derived Isolines are responsive to all environmental conditions - multiple luminaires and surfaces, not just individual luminaires or arrangements.
The Isolines are derived by linearly interpolating the values between adjacent points. If the point density is not fine enough to pick up a low spot or spike, the Isolines will not be able to display that value either. However, increasing your point density is not necessarily required unless you have a very non-uniform lighting design.
When multiple calculation grids or polygons are visible, each grid and/or polygon will have its own Isolines displayed. You may specify the Isoline contour values at any time. However, they will not be displayed until the calculation grid or polygon has been calculated.
Isoline Labels
Each Isoline contour may be labeled with its associated value. The label increment refers to the distance between text labels. Labels are only displayed at the endpoints of Isoline segments (the straight components that comprise an isoline), regardless of the overall length of the Isoline. Consequently, the actual applied increment will vary and will generally be a little longer than the specified increment value.
The user may choose to display the value only, or to display the units (fc or lx) as well.
Isoline Values
AGi32 allows up to 12 Isoline values for each calculation type. You may enter the values in any order (ascending, descending, random). Not all cells need be used. Blank cells are ignored. This allows you to correlate specific values with a particular color (e.g., low values - cool tones; high values - warm tones).
In addition, if the current colors are not to your liking, additional colors are available. Click in a color cell and choose a different color. Your selected colors and values will be maintained for the remainder of the current session and saved with your job file.
Isoline values specified in Template Settings, Isolines Settings, or Design Isolines Settings will be synced with the other dialogs the first time any of them is opened. The exception to this is if dialog settings are NOT reset during start up or with new files, as set in System Settings - Defaults.