Ray-tracing with Radiance

Hello Robert,
Hello all,

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to compare their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room. So far, I have been advised by you for several stages, which really helped me a lot for better understanding of radiance and how it works.

Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance? Is it similar to the way explained through the following attachment? As here, calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or Daysim interface (for geometry modelling and material assignment).

Document: http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/GettingStartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Best regards
Ikrima

···

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Sent: 12 July 2015 20:37
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   1. Git for Windows and starting tutorials (Ikrima Amaireh)

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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2015 20:36:19 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Git for Windows and starting tutorials
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Hi Robert,

Many thanks for your help.

I have installed Git for Windows as you adviced :slight_smile: Now, Before I start with 3 or 5-phase tutorials, I'm thinking to go through "radiance tutorial" (by Axel Jacobs) as a beginner with almost a shallow knowledge/experience of radiance. So, do recommend this (radiance tutorial would be enough to start with 3 or 5-phase methods and understanding of BSDF data approach, etc) or advice another tutorial/source for better understanding of radiance basics (using command prompt)?

Many thanks again :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 15:52:23 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137,
        Issue 8
Message-ID: <D1C542EA.1AE88%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OK so it sounds like you first tried the Windows installer (presumably a NREL-provided one such as this:
https://github.com/NREL/Radiance/releases/download/5.0.a.3/radiance-5.0.a-w
in64.exe), and this most likely worked fine, you just had some issues actually *doing* anything with it. This is normal. =)

I recommend you install Git for windows (https://msysgit.github.io/), as that will add a little BASH emulator in your Windows system. This way you can run most of the commands exactly as they appear in most of the tutorials out there that are written from a UNIX perspective (as you point out). If you run the "Git BASH shell" you will be able to try out all the multi-phase methods, use and generate BSDFs, etc. Once you have Git for Windows installed, head over to Andy McNeil's tutorials for 3- and 5-phase, fire up the Git BASH shell (it'll be in the Git program group in the Windows start menu), and get started!

One thing to keep in mind is that when running any commands that read/write data (e.g. rcontrib), be sure to use ASCII format rather than float. Windows has issues with float data (among many other things).

Good luck!

- Rob

On 7/10/15, 8:08 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Robert,

My PC is running on Windows 7 Enterprise.
Initially, I installed Radiance for Window using its installer but I
found that most of the tutorials are provided for pc with Linux and/or
Linux-like operating systems; So I had to install try learnix (that did
not work) and Ubuntu (also did not work)!
Finally, I tried to use Cygwin to run Radiance on Window OS. I could
install Cygwin (works fine), Xming (not sure if working) and Radiance
(not all its programs are working!).

I'm a bit confused as I'm not sure if running Radiance on windows using
Cygwin will be enough for carrying my work. For example, can I work out
phases methods and generate BSDF data?

I wish if you can help me to do that.

Many thanks
ikrima

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
      <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ikrima,

We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source, or
what)? What happens when you try??

On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 17:34:30 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Modelling CFS
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        <D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9BAF@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

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Hi all,

Thanks Robert and Larrain for your detailed replies, that helped me a lot.

I would summarise here what I got form your appreciated replies, as following:
- Radiance is convenient and best of tools to model daylighting due to its ray-tracing method.
- 3 or 5-phases methods are used to facilitate the calculations.
- Generating BSDF data is also used to facilitate these calculations but it is limited to Klems resolution of some CFS.

Initially, I'm not planning to do annual calculations. It's just for specific hours of the day and the target is to produce a illuminance levels for indoor grid under different CFSs. Hence, according to my understanding from Larrain words, I can use either 2-phase or Ray-tracing methods. My question is how can I draw/define the CFS geometry and Space for these calculations? Is it similar to the way use in Ecotect/Radiance calculations?

Regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 09 July 2015 19:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 8

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When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Radiance-general digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. CFS with Radiance (Ikrima Amaireh)
   2. Could not install Radiance!!! (Ikrima Amaireh)
   3. Re: Could not install Radiance!!! (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   4. Re: CFS with Radiance (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   5. Re: CFS with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:26:29 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9710@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi G. Larrain,

Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).

I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and answering the following:

We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Many thanks for your kind help :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

"Ikrima,

I am going to try to build the puzzle of CFS, Phases, BSDF and calculations.... at least the way I understand it.

*CFS* are those systems that, via interreflection or other light transport phenomena, redirect light (or solar radiation). Thus, in order to get a reliable result you will have to consider all the phenomena involved.
Then, *common
simple performance indexes*, such as the miss-used Shading Coefficient and the Aperture Percentage, *always loose a lot of information, trying to reduce all the complex behavior of a CFS to one single number*. We all know that venetian blinds are more "transparent" from certain viewing directions than from others, but these performance indexes do not tell you that.

Now... Radiance can certainly perform calculations of spaces with CFS using its "common" Ray-tracing. However, this may be slow for some purposes (i.e.
annual simulations and climate-based daylight modelling), and *this is why 2, 3 and 5 phase methods have been developed*. The *BSDF* representation, I would say, goes in the same direction... It allow summarizing all the bounces, reflections, refractions, etc. that occure withing the CFS in a single matrix or tensor.* By using BSDFs*, Radiance itself and other tools (i.e. EnergyPlus) can treat CFS as blackboxes, avoiding all the opcits within the system. A BSDF that uses the Klems Full representation has
21,045 numbers (instead of one, such as the Shading Coefficient).

Being said all that, I would not trust a calculation method unless it can actually deal with the optics of a CFS that is drawn and/or it can use BSDF (or similar) information.

Lets remember that a perforated screen, a venetian blind, a light diffusing device can all have a Shading Coefficient of 50%, but all of them will behave very differently. I made some presentations about this on my previous work (we sold complex Shading Devices), trying to promote the use of BSDF in EnergyPlus calculations... the differences (in solar heat gains) were more than considerable.

I hope that someone else gives us his/her perspective on this topic...
there are a lot of concepts that I might be misunderstanding.

Best!"

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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:38:41 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
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        <D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9719@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

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Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

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------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ikrima,

We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source, or what)? What happens when you try??

On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install radiance
properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nottingham.

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
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------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:29:39 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID: <D1C40477.1ADCA%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Some very quick replies and clarifications within:

On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi G. Larrain,

Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).

I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
answering the following:

We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is a
suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual and/or
climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time becomes a
critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly recommended to
tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not necessarily "quick".
This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics have added confusion to all of this, IMO.

- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?

Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs", relatively quickly, but are beholden to the limitations of the resolution of the BSDF.

- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?

Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and optional for 5-phase.

- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or just
can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in the building model.

Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By 2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is. If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a Radiance "trans". Same for translucent panels.
With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly. Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time step level, so:

Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using a Klems basis BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do two annual simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario, and again as a 3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of different window groups, your simulation space can get large in a hurry. But it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a story you simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest daylight metrics as well.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 15:56:11 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <CAF-iH4LSr=y12F1khTrHh6hnf-kS=EmaFuo8uWKvHqMs=FZL-Q@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

I must say that I agree with Rob, however, a short answer that might help.

For evaluating illuminance levels in a space with different CFS you, strictly speaking, DO NOT HAVE TO do anything. You may choose between different methods that have some pros and cons.

*ray-tracing*

   - Requires ray-tracing for each time-step and each system, which is slow
   (*four systems simulated annualy in an hourly basis --> 4*8760 = 35,040
   simulations*.)
   - As accurate as it gets, if options are defined correctly.

*2 phase method*

   - Do not need the BSDF
   - Requires ray-tracing for each CFS (*4 systems --> 4 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing, annual simulation is fast.

*3-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis, which may be slow to compute,
   unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for example, or such data has
   already been calculated (the idea is to make a database, I think).
   - Does not really work well for specular systems (Klems patches are too
   big)
   - Requires 2 ray-tracing runs, always (*4 systems --> 2 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

*5-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis AND/OR Tensor tree format, which
   may be slow to compute, unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for example,
   or such data has already been calculated (the idea is to make a database, I
   think).
   - Works well for specular systems
   - Requires 4 ray-tracing runs + 1 for each system, always (*4 systems
   --> 4+1 = 5 ray-tracing simulations*)
   - Hard to code...?
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

I would not say there is a recipe. If you have to choose between 1 or 2 CFSs, maybe it is faster to just draw them and use the 2 phase method (or ray-tracing if an annual simulaton is not required). On the contrary, if you are going to test 10 different CFSs, 3 and 5 phases may make sense, since you reduce the expensive ray-tracing calculations... However, this will also depend on weather you have the BSDF data AND/OR if it makes sense to calculate it and store it AND/OR if you intend to simulate a dynamically controlled CFS.

Best!

2015-07-09 14:29 GMT-03:00 Guglielmetti, Robert < [email protected]>:

Some very quick replies and clarifications within:

On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi G. Larrain,
>
>Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
>
>I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
>answering the following:
>
>We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
>a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
>and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
>becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
>recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not necessarily "quick".
This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics
have added confusion to all of this, IMO.

>
>- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
>with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
>illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
>scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?

Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change
the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for
daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing
media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs",
relatively quickly, but are beholden to the limitations of the resolution of the BSDF.

>- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?

Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and
optional for 5-phase.

>- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
>just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS
you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that
in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that
will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want
to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in the building model.

Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a Radiance "trans". Same for translucent panels.
With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time step level, so:

Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are
best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed
up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good
enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem
is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the
blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using
a Klems basis BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do
two annual simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario,
and again as a 3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission
matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of different
window groups, your simulation space can get large in a hurry. But
it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a story you
simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest daylight metrics as well.

_______________________________________________
Radiance-general mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.radiance-online.org/mailman/listinfo/radiance-general

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Ikrima,

Strictly speaking, Radiance always use ray-tracing. Whenever you call
RPICT, RTRACE or RCONTRIB, there will always be a ray-tracing simulation
performed. However, when you want to perform annual simulations, you will
want to do as few ray-tracing simulations as possible since they take time.
RTRACE, for example, is a method used to calculate the illuminance or
luminance of a point (sensor) in a static scene. Doing this for a whole
year would require 8760 or more RTRACE calls, which means 8760 or more
ray-tracing simulations, which is slow.

Accordingly, Daysim (which uses the 2-phase method) runs one ray-tracing
simulation that calculates the Daylight Coefficient matrix (this can be
done in pure radiance by using RCONTRIB). This matrix relates the sensors
(workplane?) in the scene with the sky, mich means that you can modify the
sky and quickly evaluate illuminance in the same points. This allows
performing annual simulations fast (only the sky changes in a static annual
simulation). 3 and 5 phase method are extensions to this that allow also
modifying the CFSs in the scene.

Hope that clarify a little bit.

Best,

Germán

···

2015-08-10 8:51 GMT-03:00 Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>:

Hello Robert,
Hello all,

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to compare
their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room. So far, I have
been advised by you for several stages, which really helped me a lot for
better understanding of radiance and how it works.

Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance? Is
it similar to the way explained through the following attachment? As here,
calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or Daysim interface
(for geometry modelling and material assignment).

Document:
http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/GettingStartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Best regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 12 July 2015 20:37
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 12

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   1. Git for Windows and starting tutorials (Ikrima Amaireh)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2015 20:36:19 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Git for Windows and starting tutorials
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9C4C@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Robert,

Many thanks for your help.

I have installed Git for Windows as you adviced :slight_smile: Now, Before I start
with 3 or 5-phase tutorials, I'm thinking to go through "radiance tutorial"
(by Axel Jacobs) as a beginner with almost a shallow knowledge/experience
of radiance. So, do recommend this (radiance tutorial would be enough to
start with 3 or 5-phase methods and understanding of BSDF data approach,
etc) or advice another tutorial/source for better understanding of radiance
basics (using command prompt)?

Many thanks again :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 15:52:23 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137,
        Issue 8
Message-ID: <D1C542EA.1AE88%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OK so it sounds like you first tried the Windows installer (presumably a
NREL-provided one such as this:
https://github.com/NREL/Radiance/releases/download/5.0.a.3/radiance-5.0.a-w
in64.exe), and this most likely worked fine, you just had some issues
actually *doing* anything with it. This is normal. =)

I recommend you install Git for windows (https://msysgit.github.io/), as
that will add a little BASH emulator in your Windows system. This way you
can run most of the commands exactly as they appear in most of the
tutorials out there that are written from a UNIX perspective (as you point
out). If you run the "Git BASH shell" you will be able to try out all the
multi-phase methods, use and generate BSDFs, etc. Once you have Git for
Windows installed, head over to Andy McNeil's tutorials for 3- and 5-phase,
fire up the Git BASH shell (it'll be in the Git program group in the
Windows start menu), and get started!

One thing to keep in mind is that when running any commands that
read/write data (e.g. rcontrib), be sure to use ASCII format rather than
float. Windows has issues with float data (among many other things).

Good luck!

- Rob

On 7/10/15, 8:08 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi Robert,
>
>My PC is running on Windows 7 Enterprise.
>Initially, I installed Radiance for Window using its installer but I
>found that most of the tutorials are provided for pc with Linux and/or
>Linux-like operating systems; So I had to install try learnix (that did
>not work) and Ubuntu (also did not work)!
>Finally, I tried to use Cygwin to run Radiance on Window OS. I could
>install Cygwin (works fine), Xming (not sure if working) and Radiance
>(not all its programs are working!).
>
>I'm a bit confused as I'm not sure if running Radiance on windows using
>Cygwin will be enough for carrying my work. For example, can I work out
>phases methods and generate BSDF data?
>
>I wish if you can help me to do that.
>
>Many thanks
>ikrima
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
>From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
>To: "[email protected]"
> <[email protected]>
>Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
>Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>Hi Ikrima,
>
>We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
>attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source, or
>what)? What happens when you try??
>
>On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
>>radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>>
>>Regards
>>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Radiance-general mailing list
>[email protected]
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------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 17:34:30 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Modelling CFS
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9BAF@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

Thanks Robert and Larrain for your detailed replies, that helped me a lot.

I would summarise here what I got form your appreciated replies, as
following:
- Radiance is convenient and best of tools to model daylighting due to its
ray-tracing method.
- 3 or 5-phases methods are used to facilitate the calculations.
- Generating BSDF data is also used to facilitate these calculations but
it is limited to Klems resolution of some CFS.

Initially, I'm not planning to do annual calculations. It's just for
specific hours of the day and the target is to produce a illuminance levels
for indoor grid under different CFSs. Hence, according to my understanding
from Larrain words, I can use either 2-phase or Ray-tracing methods. My
question is how can I draw/define the CFS geometry and Space for these
calculations? Is it similar to the way use in Ecotect/Radiance calculations?

Regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 09 July 2015 19:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 8

Send Radiance-general mailing list submissions to
        [email protected]

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
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You can reach the person managing the list at
        [email protected]

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of Radiance-general digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. CFS with Radiance (Ikrima Amaireh)
   2. Could not install Radiance!!! (Ikrima Amaireh)
   3. Re: Could not install Radiance!!! (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   4. Re: CFS with Radiance (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   5. Re: CFS with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:26:29 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9710@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi G. Larrain,

Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).

I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
answering the following:

We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is a
suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual and/or
climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time becomes a critical
factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly recommended to tackle the task
with radiance (using phases methods). However:

- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space with
different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get illumination
levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor scenes), is
Radiance still the most convenient option?
- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or just
can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Many thanks for your kind help :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

"Ikrima,

I am going to try to build the puzzle of CFS, Phases, BSDF and
calculations.... at least the way I understand it.

*CFS* are those systems that, via interreflection or other light transport
phenomena, redirect light (or solar radiation). Thus, in order to get a
reliable result you will have to consider all the phenomena involved.
Then, *common
simple performance indexes*, such as the miss-used Shading Coefficient and
the Aperture Percentage, *always loose a lot of information, trying to
reduce all the complex behavior of a CFS to one single number*. We all know
that venetian blinds are more "transparent" from certain viewing directions
than from others, but these performance indexes do not tell you that.

Now... Radiance can certainly perform calculations of spaces with CFS
using its "common" Ray-tracing. However, this may be slow for some purposes
(i.e.
annual simulations and climate-based daylight modelling), and *this is why
2, 3 and 5 phase methods have been developed*. The *BSDF* representation, I
would say, goes in the same direction... It allow summarizing all the
bounces, reflections, refractions, etc. that occure withing the CFS in a
single matrix or tensor.* By using BSDFs*, Radiance itself and other tools
(i.e. EnergyPlus) can treat CFS as blackboxes, avoiding all the opcits
within the system. A BSDF that uses the Klems Full representation has
21,045 numbers (instead of one, such as the Shading Coefficient).

Being said all that, I would not trust a calculation method unless it can
actually deal with the optics of a CFS that is drawn and/or it can use BSDF
(or similar) information.

Lets remember that a perforated screen, a venetian blind, a light
diffusing device can all have a Shading Coefficient of 50%, but all of them
will behave very differently. I made some presentations about this on my
previous work (we sold complex Shading Devices), trying to promote the use
of BSDF in EnergyPlus calculations... the differences (in solar heat gains)
were more than considerable.

I hope that someone else gives us his/her perspective on this topic...
there are a lot of concepts that I might be misunderstanding.

Best!"

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
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error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
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of Nottingham.

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
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------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:38:41 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9719@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install radiance
properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in
error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University
of Nottingham.

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
permitted by UK legislation.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ikrima,

We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source, or
what)? What happens when you try??

On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install radiance
>properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>
>Regards
>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Radiance-general mailing list
>[email protected]
>http://www.radiance-online.org/mailman/listinfo/radiance-general

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:29:39 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID: <D1C40477.1ADCA%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Some very quick replies and clarifications within:

On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi G. Larrain,
>
>Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
>
>I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
>answering the following:
>
>We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is a
>suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual and/or
>climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time becomes a
>critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly recommended to
>tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to Klems
basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for some CFS. And
the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not necessarily "quick".
This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics
have added confusion to all of this, IMO.

>
>- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
>with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
>illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
>scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?

Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change the
fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for daylight
simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing media and CFS
in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs", relatively quickly,
but are beholden to the limitations of the resolution of the BSDF.

>- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?

Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I would
say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and optional
for 5-phase.

>- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or just
>can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS you
can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that in a 3-
or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based simulation context,
you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that will not be very good
resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want to use the 5-phase method
and stick the actual CFS geometry in the building model.

Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of Radiance
proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By 2-phase method I
mean generating a daylight matrix for your calculation points (or view),
and modeling the window material as-is. If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you
can approximate that with a Radiance "trans". Same for translucent panels.
With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky matrices
at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly. Problem is, we
want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time step level, so:

Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are
best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed up
and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good enough
IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem is when you
have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the blinds-up
condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using a Klems basis
BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do two annual
simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario, and again as a
3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission matrix) for the blinds
down condition. If you have a lot of different window groups, your
simulation space can get large in a hurry. But it's still do-able and you
can get results that tell a story you simply couldn't tell 5 years ago,
informing the newest daylight metrics as well.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 15:56:11 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <CAF-iH4LSr=y12F1khTrHh6hnf-kS=EmaFuo8uWKvHqMs=
[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

I must say that I agree with Rob, however, a short answer that might help.

For evaluating illuminance levels in a space with different CFS you,
strictly speaking, DO NOT HAVE TO do anything. You may choose between
different methods that have some pros and cons.

*ray-tracing*

   - Requires ray-tracing for each time-step and each system, which is slow
   (*four systems simulated annualy in an hourly basis --> 4*8760 = 35,040
   simulations*.)
   - As accurate as it gets, if options are defined correctly.

*2 phase method*

   - Do not need the BSDF
   - Requires ray-tracing for each CFS (*4 systems --> 4 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing, annual simulation is fast.

*3-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis, which may be slow to compute,
   unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for example, or such data has
   already been calculated (the idea is to make a database, I think).
   - Does not really work well for specular systems (Klems patches are too
   big)
   - Requires 2 ray-tracing runs, always (*4 systems --> 2 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

*5-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis AND/OR Tensor tree format, which
   may be slow to compute, unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for
example,
   or such data has already been calculated (the idea is to make a
database, I
   think).
   - Works well for specular systems
   - Requires 4 ray-tracing runs + 1 for each system, always (*4 systems
   --> 4+1 = 5 ray-tracing simulations*)
   - Hard to code...?
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

I would not say there is a recipe. If you have to choose between 1 or 2
CFSs, maybe it is faster to just draw them and use the 2 phase method (or
ray-tracing if an annual simulaton is not required). On the contrary, if
you are going to test 10 different CFSs, 3 and 5 phases may make sense,
since you reduce the expensive ray-tracing calculations... However, this
will also depend on weather you have the BSDF data AND/OR if it makes sense
to calculate it and store it AND/OR if you intend to simulate a dynamically
controlled CFS.

Best!

2015-07-09 14:29 GMT-03:00 Guglielmetti, Robert <
[email protected]>:

> Some very quick replies and clarifications within:
>
> On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Hi G. Larrain,
> >
> >Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
> >
> >I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
> >answering the following:
> >
> >We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
> >a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
> >and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
> >becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
> >recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods).
However:
>
>
> BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
> Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
> some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not
necessarily "quick".
> This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics
> have added confusion to all of this, IMO.
>
>
> >
> >- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
> >with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
> >illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
> >scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
>
>
> Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change
> the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for
> daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing
> media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs",
> relatively quickly, but are beholden to the limitations of the
resolution of the BSDF.
>
>
> >- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
>
>
> Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
> lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
> would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and
> optional for 5-phase.
>
> >- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
> >just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)
>
>
> Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
> available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS
> you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that
> in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
> simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that
> will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want
> to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in the
building model.
>
> Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
> Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
> 2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
> calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
> If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a Radiance
"trans". Same for translucent panels.
> With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
> matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
> Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time
step level, so:
>
> Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are
> best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed
> up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good
> enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem
> is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the
> blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using
> a Klems basis BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do
> two annual simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario,
> and again as a 3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission
> matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of different
> window groups, your simulation space can get large in a hurry. But
> it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a story you
> simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest daylight metrics
as well.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> [email protected]
> http://www.radiance-online.org/mailman/listinfo/radiance-general
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Dear Germ?n,

Many thanks for you. I agree with you totally that all Radiance works need to apply ray-tracing approach as the core principle of it. However, what I meant by using ray-tracing in radiance, was the using of RTRACE directly through stand-alone radiance tool (as you kindly mentioned).

As you clarified, Daysim uses 2-phase method to do annual simulation (2nd phase) fast, based on pre-calculated Daylight Coefficient Matrix (1st phase). Now, if I need to produce the illuminance levels (produced by specific CFS) at the Workplane under static scene, can I still use Daysim for that? Or, shall I stick to RTRACE tool directly through pure Radiance?

And, if I have to stick to using Pure Radiance (RTRACE), is the method detailed in the attached document (hope, you see that: where Geometry and Workplane sensors are built in Ecotect and directly exported to Radiance engine), is it still valid?

Finally, in both cases (using pure Radiance and/or Daysim), shall we replace the Radiance tool (works as engine) by the latest released version (i.e. Version 4.2 or recent?) as the one works with Ecotect-Radiance approach (I'm not sure about Daysim, yet) is old version (2.0; in think!)?

Really, I am grateful to you for your appreciated help and looking to hear from you again :slight_smile:

Regards,

Ikrima

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to compare their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room.

So far, I have been advised by you for several stages, which really helped me a lot for better understanding of radiance and how it works.
Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance? Is it similar to the way explained through the following attachment?
As here, calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or Daysim interface (for geometry modelling and material assignment).
Document: http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/GettingStartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Ikrima,

Strictly speaking, Radiance always use ray-tracing. Whenever you call RPICT, RTRACE or RCONTRIB, there will always be a ray-tracing simulation performed. However, when you want to perform annual simulations, you will want to do as few ray-tracing simulations as possible since they take time.
RTRACE, for example, is a method used to calculate the illuminance or luminance of a point (sensor) in a static scene. Doing this for a whole year would require 8760 or more RTRACE calls, which means 8760 or more ray-tracing simulations, which is slow.

Accordingly, Daysim (which uses the 2-phase method) runs one ray-tracing simulation that calculates the Daylight Coefficient matrix (this can be done in pure radiance by using RCONTRIB). This matrix relates the sensors
(workplane?) in the scene with the sky, mich means that you can modify the sky and quickly evaluate illuminance in the same points. This allows performing annual simulations fast (only the sky changes in a static annual simulation). 3 and 5 phase method are extensions to this that allow also modifying the CFSs in the scene.

Hope that clarify a little bit.

···

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 10 August 2015 14:20
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 138, Issue 12

Send Radiance-general mailing list submissions to
        [email protected]

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Ray-tracing with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 10:19:18 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Ray-tracing with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <CAF-iH4LVHB_V+Vmy-mSiv2EtUE25KDxtTAyJfao5Mi6fzFDU1g@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Ikrima,

Strictly speaking, Radiance always use ray-tracing. Whenever you call RPICT, RTRACE or RCONTRIB, there will always be a ray-tracing simulation performed. However, when you want to perform annual simulations, you will want to do as few ray-tracing simulations as possible since they take time.
RTRACE, for example, is a method used to calculate the illuminance or luminance of a point (sensor) in a static scene. Doing this for a whole year would require 8760 or more RTRACE calls, which means 8760 or more ray-tracing simulations, which is slow.

Accordingly, Daysim (which uses the 2-phase method) runs one ray-tracing simulation that calculates the Daylight Coefficient matrix (this can be done in pure radiance by using RCONTRIB). This matrix relates the sensors
(workplane?) in the scene with the sky, mich means that you can modify the sky and quickly evaluate illuminance in the same points. This allows performing annual simulations fast (only the sky changes in a static annual simulation). 3 and 5 phase method are extensions to this that allow also modifying the CFSs in the scene.

Hope that clarify a little bit.

Best,

Germ?n

2015-08-10 8:51 GMT-03:00 Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>:

Hello Robert,
Hello all,

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to
compare their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room. So
far, I have been advised by you for several stages, which really
helped me a lot for better understanding of radiance and how it works.

Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance?
Is it similar to the way explained through the following attachment?
As here, calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or
Daysim interface (for geometry modelling and material assignment).

Document:
http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/Get
tingStartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Best regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 12 July 2015 20:37
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 12

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        [email protected]

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Today's Topics:

   1. Git for Windows and starting tutorials (Ikrima Amaireh)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2015 20:36:19 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Git for Windows and starting tutorials
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9C4C@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Robert,

Many thanks for your help.

I have installed Git for Windows as you adviced :slight_smile: Now, Before I start
with 3 or 5-phase tutorials, I'm thinking to go through "radiance tutorial"
(by Axel Jacobs) as a beginner with almost a shallow
knowledge/experience of radiance. So, do recommend this (radiance
tutorial would be enough to start with 3 or 5-phase methods and
understanding of BSDF data approach,
etc) or advice another tutorial/source for better understanding of
radiance basics (using command prompt)?

Many thanks again :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 15:52:23 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137,
        Issue 8
Message-ID: <D1C542EA.1AE88%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OK so it sounds like you first tried the Windows installer (presumably
a NREL-provided one such as this:
https://github.com/NREL/Radiance/releases/download/5.0.a.3/radiance-5.
0.a-w in64.exe), and this most likely worked fine, you just had some
issues actually *doing* anything with it. This is normal. =)

I recommend you install Git for windows (https://msysgit.github.io/),
as that will add a little BASH emulator in your Windows system. This
way you can run most of the commands exactly as they appear in most of
the tutorials out there that are written from a UNIX perspective (as
you point out). If you run the "Git BASH shell" you will be able to
try out all the multi-phase methods, use and generate BSDFs, etc. Once
you have Git for Windows installed, head over to Andy McNeil's
tutorials for 3- and 5-phase, fire up the Git BASH shell (it'll be in
the Git program group in the Windows start menu), and get started!

One thing to keep in mind is that when running any commands that
read/write data (e.g. rcontrib), be sure to use ASCII format rather
than float. Windows has issues with float data (among many other things).

Good luck!

- Rob

On 7/10/15, 8:08 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi Robert,
>
>My PC is running on Windows 7 Enterprise.
>Initially, I installed Radiance for Window using its installer but I
>found that most of the tutorials are provided for pc with Linux
>and/or Linux-like operating systems; So I had to install try learnix
>(that did not work) and Ubuntu (also did not work)!
>Finally, I tried to use Cygwin to run Radiance on Window OS. I could
>install Cygwin (works fine), Xming (not sure if working) and Radiance
>(not all its programs are working!).
>
>I'm a bit confused as I'm not sure if running Radiance on windows
>using Cygwin will be enough for carrying my work. For example, can I
>work out phases methods and generate BSDF data?
>
>I wish if you can help me to do that.
>
>Many thanks
>ikrima
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
>From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
>To: "[email protected]"
> <[email protected]>
>Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
>Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>Hi Ikrima,
>
>We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
>attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source,
>or what)? What happens when you try??
>
>On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
>>radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>>
>>Regards
>>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 17:34:30 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Modelling CFS
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9BAF@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

Thanks Robert and Larrain for your detailed replies, that helped me a lot.

I would summarise here what I got form your appreciated replies, as
following:
- Radiance is convenient and best of tools to model daylighting due to
its ray-tracing method.
- 3 or 5-phases methods are used to facilitate the calculations.
- Generating BSDF data is also used to facilitate these calculations
but it is limited to Klems resolution of some CFS.

Initially, I'm not planning to do annual calculations. It's just for
specific hours of the day and the target is to produce a illuminance
levels for indoor grid under different CFSs. Hence, according to my
understanding from Larrain words, I can use either 2-phase or
Ray-tracing methods. My question is how can I draw/define the CFS
geometry and Space for these calculations? Is it similar to the way use in Ecotect/Radiance calculations?

Regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 09 July 2015 19:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 8

Send Radiance-general mailing list submissions to
        [email protected]

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit

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        [email protected]

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
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"Re: Contents of Radiance-general digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. CFS with Radiance (Ikrima Amaireh)
   2. Could not install Radiance!!! (Ikrima Amaireh)
   3. Re: Could not install Radiance!!! (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   4. Re: CFS with Radiance (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   5. Re: CFS with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:26:29 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9710@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi G. Larrain,

Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).

I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
answering the following:

We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Many thanks for your kind help :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

"Ikrima,

I am going to try to build the puzzle of CFS, Phases, BSDF and
calculations.... at least the way I understand it.

*CFS* are those systems that, via interreflection or other light
transport phenomena, redirect light (or solar radiation). Thus, in
order to get a reliable result you will have to consider all the phenomena involved.
Then, *common
simple performance indexes*, such as the miss-used Shading Coefficient
and the Aperture Percentage, *always loose a lot of information,
trying to reduce all the complex behavior of a CFS to one single
number*. We all know that venetian blinds are more "transparent" from
certain viewing directions than from others, but these performance indexes do not tell you that.

Now... Radiance can certainly perform calculations of spaces with CFS
using its "common" Ray-tracing. However, this may be slow for some
purposes (i.e.
annual simulations and climate-based daylight modelling), and *this is
why 2, 3 and 5 phase methods have been developed*. The *BSDF*
representation, I would say, goes in the same direction... It allow
summarizing all the bounces, reflections, refractions, etc. that
occure withing the CFS in a single matrix or tensor.* By using BSDFs*,
Radiance itself and other tools (i.e. EnergyPlus) can treat CFS as
blackboxes, avoiding all the opcits within the system. A BSDF that
uses the Klems Full representation has
21,045 numbers (instead of one, such as the Shading Coefficient).

Being said all that, I would not trust a calculation method unless it
can actually deal with the optics of a CFS that is drawn and/or it can
use BSDF (or similar) information.

Lets remember that a perforated screen, a venetian blind, a light
diffusing device can all have a Shading Coefficient of 50%, but all of
them will behave very differently. I made some presentations about
this on my previous work (we sold complex Shading Devices), trying to
promote the use of BSDF in EnergyPlus calculations... the differences
(in solar heat gains) were more than considerable.

I hope that someone else gives us his/her perspective on this topic...
there are a lot of concepts that I might be misunderstanding.

Best!"

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nottingham.

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
permitted by UK legislation.

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:38:41 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9719@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nottingham.

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
permitted by UK legislation.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ikrima,

We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source,
or what)? What happens when you try??

On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
>radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>
>Regards
>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Radiance-general mailing list
>[email protected]
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------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:29:39 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID: <D1C40477.1ADCA%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Some very quick replies and clarifications within:

On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi G. Larrain,
>
>Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
>
>I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
>answering the following:
>
>We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
>a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
>and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
>becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
>recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods). However:

BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not necessarily "quick".
This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics
have added confusion to all of this, IMO.

>
>- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
>with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
>illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
>scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?

Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change
the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for
daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing
media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs",
relatively quickly, but are beholden to the limitations of the resolution of the BSDF.

>- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?

Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and
optional for 5-phase.

>- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
>just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS
you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that
in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that
will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want
to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in the building model.

Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a Radiance "trans". Same for translucent panels.
With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time step level, so:

Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are
best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed
up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good
enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem
is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the
blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using
a Klems basis BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do
two annual simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario,
and again as a 3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission
matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of different
window groups, your simulation space can get large in a hurry. But
it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a story you
simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest daylight metrics as well.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 15:56:11 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <CAF-iH4LSr=y12F1khTrHh6hnf-kS=EmaFuo8uWKvHqMs=
[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

I must say that I agree with Rob, however, a short answer that might help.

For evaluating illuminance levels in a space with different CFS you,
strictly speaking, DO NOT HAVE TO do anything. You may choose between
different methods that have some pros and cons.

*ray-tracing*

   - Requires ray-tracing for each time-step and each system, which is slow
   (*four systems simulated annualy in an hourly basis --> 4*8760 = 35,040
   simulations*.)
   - As accurate as it gets, if options are defined correctly.

*2 phase method*

   - Do not need the BSDF
   - Requires ray-tracing for each CFS (*4 systems --> 4 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing, annual simulation is fast.

*3-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis, which may be slow to compute,
   unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for example, or such data has
   already been calculated (the idea is to make a database, I think).
   - Does not really work well for specular systems (Klems patches are too
   big)
   - Requires 2 ray-tracing runs, always (*4 systems --> 2 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

*5-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis AND/OR Tensor tree format, which
   may be slow to compute, unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for
example,
   or such data has already been calculated (the idea is to make a
database, I
   think).
   - Works well for specular systems
   - Requires 4 ray-tracing runs + 1 for each system, always (*4 systems
   --> 4+1 = 5 ray-tracing simulations*)
   - Hard to code...?
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

I would not say there is a recipe. If you have to choose between 1 or
2 CFSs, maybe it is faster to just draw them and use the 2 phase
method (or ray-tracing if an annual simulaton is not required). On the
contrary, if you are going to test 10 different CFSs, 3 and 5 phases
may make sense, since you reduce the expensive ray-tracing
calculations... However, this will also depend on weather you have the
BSDF data AND/OR if it makes sense to calculate it and store it AND/OR
if you intend to simulate a dynamically controlled CFS.

Best!

2015-07-09 14:29 GMT-03:00 Guglielmetti, Robert <
[email protected]>:

> Some very quick replies and clarifications within:
>
> On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Hi G. Larrain,
> >
> >Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
> >
> >I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
> >answering the following:
> >
> >We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance
> >is a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
> >and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
> >becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
> >recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods).
However:
>
>
> BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
> Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
> some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not
necessarily "quick".
> This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight
> metrics have added confusion to all of this, IMO.
>
>
> >
> >- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
> >with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
> >illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures
> >nor scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
>
>
> Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not
> change the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm
> option for daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing
> with diffusing media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots
> of "what-ifs", relatively quickly, but are beholden to the
> limitations of the
resolution of the BSDF.
>
>
> >- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
>
>
> Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
> lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
> would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase,
> and optional for 5-phase.
>
> >- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
> >just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)
>
>
> Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
> available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the
> CFS you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use
> that in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
> simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and
> that will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may
> want to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in
> the
building model.
>
> Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
> Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
> 2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
> calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
> If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a
> Radiance
"trans". Same for translucent panels.
> With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
> matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
> Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the
> time
step level, so:
>
> Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver)
> are best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is
> headed up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF
> is good enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method.
> Problem is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to
> simulate the blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly
> transmitting glass). Using a Klems basis BSDF for this is
> sub-optimal. You end up needing to do two annual simulations, one as
> 2-phase for the clear glass scenario, and again as a 3-phase (with a
> blinds BSDF for the transmission
> matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of
> different window groups, your simulation space can get large in a
> hurry. But it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a
> story you simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest
> daylight metrics
as well.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Radiance-general mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://www.radiance-online.org/mailman/listinfo/radiance-general
>
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permitted by UK legislation.

There is a daysim-specific mailing list that may be useful for some of
your questions:

http://www.radiance-online.org/community/mailing-lists/subscribe/radiance-d
aysim

I can tell you that if you're planning to use rcontrib and do 3- or
5-phase type stuff, you definitely should be using a recent version of
Radiance. Either build from latest source, or use one of the NREL
pre-built packages (I recommend v5):

···

On 8/10/15, 9:14 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Germ?n,

Many thanks for you. I agree with you totally that all Radiance works
need to apply ray-tracing approach as the core principle of it. However,
what I meant by using ray-tracing in radiance, was the using of RTRACE
directly through stand-alone radiance tool (as you kindly mentioned).

As you clarified, Daysim uses 2-phase method to do annual simulation (2nd
phase) fast, based on pre-calculated Daylight Coefficient Matrix (1st
phase). Now, if I need to produce the illuminance levels (produced by
specific CFS) at the Workplane under static scene, can I still use Daysim
for that? Or, shall I stick to RTRACE tool directly through pure Radiance?

And, if I have to stick to using Pure Radiance (RTRACE), is the method
detailed in the attached document (hope, you see that: where Geometry and
Workplane sensors are built in Ecotect and directly exported to Radiance
engine), is it still valid?

Finally, in both cases (using pure Radiance and/or Daysim), shall we
replace the Radiance tool (works as engine) by the latest released
version (i.e. Version 4.2 or recent?) as the one works with
Ecotect-Radiance approach (I'm not sure about Daysim, yet) is old version
(2.0; in think!)?

Really, I am grateful to you for your appreciated help and looking to
hear from you again :slight_smile:

Regards,

Ikrima

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to
compare their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room.

So far, I have been advised by you for several stages, which really
helped me a lot for better understanding of radiance and how it works.
Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance? Is
it similar to the way explained through the following attachment?
As here, calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or Daysim
interface (for geometry modelling and material assignment).
Document:
http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/Getting
StartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Ikrima,

Strictly speaking, Radiance always use ray-tracing. Whenever you call
RPICT, RTRACE or RCONTRIB, there will always be a ray-tracing simulation
performed. However, when you want to perform annual simulations, you will
want to do as few ray-tracing simulations as possible since they take
time.
RTRACE, for example, is a method used to calculate the illuminance or
luminance of a point (sensor) in a static scene. Doing this for a whole
year would require 8760 or more RTRACE calls, which means 8760 or more
ray-tracing simulations, which is slow.

Accordingly, Daysim (which uses the 2-phase method) runs one ray-tracing
simulation that calculates the Daylight Coefficient matrix (this can be
done in pure radiance by using RCONTRIB). This matrix relates the sensors
(workplane?) in the scene with the sky, mich means that you can modify
the sky and quickly evaluate illuminance in the same points. This allows
performing annual simulations fast (only the sky changes in a static
annual simulation). 3 and 5 phase method are extensions to this that
allow also modifying the CFSs in the scene.

Hope that clarify a little bit.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 10 August 2015 14:20
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 138, Issue 12

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Today's Topics:

  1. Re: Ray-tracing with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 10:19:18 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Ray-tracing with Radiance
Message-ID:
       
<CAF-iH4LVHB_V+Vmy-mSiv2EtUE25KDxtTAyJfao5Mi6fzFDU1g@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Ikrima,

Strictly speaking, Radiance always use ray-tracing. Whenever you call
RPICT, RTRACE or RCONTRIB, there will always be a ray-tracing simulation
performed. However, when you want to perform annual simulations, you will
want to do as few ray-tracing simulations as possible since they take
time.
RTRACE, for example, is a method used to calculate the illuminance or
luminance of a point (sensor) in a static scene. Doing this for a whole
year would require 8760 or more RTRACE calls, which means 8760 or more
ray-tracing simulations, which is slow.

Accordingly, Daysim (which uses the 2-phase method) runs one ray-tracing
simulation that calculates the Daylight Coefficient matrix (this can be
done in pure radiance by using RCONTRIB). This matrix relates the sensors
(workplane?) in the scene with the sky, mich means that you can modify
the sky and quickly evaluate illuminance in the same points. This allows
performing annual simulations fast (only the sky changes in a static
annual simulation). 3 and 5 phase method are extensions to this that
allow also modifying the CFSs in the scene.

Hope that clarify a little bit.

Best,

Germ?n

2015-08-10 8:51 GMT-03:00 Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>:

Hello Robert,
Hello all,

As some of you may remember, I am trying to model a set of CFS to
compare their effect on indoor horizontal illuminance of a room. So
far, I have been advised by you for several stages, which really
helped me a lot for better understanding of radiance and how it works.

Now, I have a question about how I use ray-tracing method in radiance?
Is it similar to the way explained through the following attachment?
As here, calculations are run using Radiance engine but Ecotect or
Daysim interface (for geometry modelling and material assignment).

Document:
http://web.mit.edu/sustainabledesignlab/projects/TeachingResources/Get
tingStartedwithEcotectRadianceDaysim.pdf

I hope if you can kindly advise me on that asap, please?

Best regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 12 July 2015 20:37
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 12

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        [email protected]

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Today's Topics:

   1. Git for Windows and starting tutorials (Ikrima Amaireh)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2015 20:36:19 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Git for Windows and starting tutorials
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9C4C@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Robert,

Many thanks for your help.

I have installed Git for Windows as you adviced :slight_smile: Now, Before I start
with 3 or 5-phase tutorials, I'm thinking to go through "radiance
tutorial"
(by Axel Jacobs) as a beginner with almost a shallow
knowledge/experience of radiance. So, do recommend this (radiance
tutorial would be enough to start with 3 or 5-phase methods and
understanding of BSDF data approach,
etc) or advice another tutorial/source for better understanding of
radiance basics (using command prompt)?

Many thanks again :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 15:52:23 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137,
        Issue 8
Message-ID: <D1C542EA.1AE88%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OK so it sounds like you first tried the Windows installer (presumably
a NREL-provided one such as this:
https://github.com/NREL/Radiance/releases/download/5.0.a.3/radiance-5.
0.a-w in64.exe), and this most likely worked fine, you just had some
issues actually *doing* anything with it. This is normal. =)

I recommend you install Git for windows (https://msysgit.github.io/),
as that will add a little BASH emulator in your Windows system. This
way you can run most of the commands exactly as they appear in most of
the tutorials out there that are written from a UNIX perspective (as
you point out). If you run the "Git BASH shell" you will be able to
try out all the multi-phase methods, use and generate BSDFs, etc. Once
you have Git for Windows installed, head over to Andy McNeil's
tutorials for 3- and 5-phase, fire up the Git BASH shell (it'll be in
the Git program group in the Windows start menu), and get started!

One thing to keep in mind is that when running any commands that
read/write data (e.g. rcontrib), be sure to use ASCII format rather
than float. Windows has issues with float data (among many other
things).

Good luck!

- Rob

On 7/10/15, 8:08 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi Robert,
>
>My PC is running on Windows 7 Enterprise.
>Initially, I installed Radiance for Window using its installer but I
>found that most of the tutorials are provided for pc with Linux
>and/or Linux-like operating systems; So I had to install try learnix
>(that did not work) and Ubuntu (also did not work)!
>Finally, I tried to use Cygwin to run Radiance on Window OS. I could
>install Cygwin (works fine), Xming (not sure if working) and Radiance
>(not all its programs are working!).
>
>I'm a bit confused as I'm not sure if running Radiance on windows
>using Cygwin will be enough for carrying my work. For example, can I
>work out phases methods and generate BSDF data?
>
>I wish if you can help me to do that.
>
>Many thanks
>ikrima
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
>From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
>To: "[email protected]"
> <[email protected]>
>Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
>Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>Hi Ikrima,
>
>We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
>attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source,
>or what)? What happens when you try??
>
>On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
>>radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>>
>>Regards
>>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Radiance-general mailing list
>[email protected]
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------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 17:34:30 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Modelling CFS
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9BAF@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

Thanks Robert and Larrain for your detailed replies, that helped me a
lot.

I would summarise here what I got form your appreciated replies, as
following:
- Radiance is convenient and best of tools to model daylighting due to
its ray-tracing method.
- 3 or 5-phases methods are used to facilitate the calculations.
- Generating BSDF data is also used to facilitate these calculations
but it is limited to Klems resolution of some CFS.

Initially, I'm not planning to do annual calculations. It's just for
specific hours of the day and the target is to produce a illuminance
levels for indoor grid under different CFSs. Hence, according to my
understanding from Larrain words, I can use either 2-phase or
Ray-tracing methods. My question is how can I draw/define the CFS
geometry and Space for these calculations? Is it similar to the way use
in Ecotect/Radiance calculations?

Regards
Ikrima

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: 09 July 2015 19:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Radiance-general Digest, Vol 137, Issue 8

Send Radiance-general mailing list submissions to
        [email protected]

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit

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When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
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Today's Topics:

   1. CFS with Radiance (Ikrima Amaireh)
   2. Could not install Radiance!!! (Ikrima Amaireh)
   3. Re: Could not install Radiance!!! (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   4. Re: CFS with Radiance (Guglielmetti, Robert)
   5. Re: CFS with Radiance (Germ?n Molina Larrain)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:26:29 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9710@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi G. Larrain,

Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).

I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
answering the following:

We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods).
However:

- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Many thanks for your kind help :slight_smile:

Regards
Ikrima

"Ikrima,

I am going to try to build the puzzle of CFS, Phases, BSDF and
calculations.... at least the way I understand it.

*CFS* are those systems that, via interreflection or other light
transport phenomena, redirect light (or solar radiation). Thus, in
order to get a reliable result you will have to consider all the
phenomena involved.
Then, *common
simple performance indexes*, such as the miss-used Shading Coefficient
and the Aperture Percentage, *always loose a lot of information,
trying to reduce all the complex behavior of a CFS to one single
number*. We all know that venetian blinds are more "transparent" from
certain viewing directions than from others, but these performance
indexes do not tell you that.

Now... Radiance can certainly perform calculations of spaces with CFS
using its "common" Ray-tracing. However, this may be slow for some
purposes (i.e.
annual simulations and climate-based daylight modelling), and *this is
why 2, 3 and 5 phase methods have been developed*. The *BSDF*
representation, I would say, goes in the same direction... It allow
summarizing all the bounces, reflections, refractions, etc. that
occure withing the CFS in a single matrix or tensor.* By using BSDFs*,
Radiance itself and other tools (i.e. EnergyPlus) can treat CFS as
blackboxes, avoiding all the opcits within the system. A BSDF that
uses the Klems Full representation has
21,045 numbers (instead of one, such as the Shading Coefficient).

Being said all that, I would not trust a calculation method unless it
can actually deal with the optics of a CFS that is drawn and/or it can
use BSDF (or similar) information.

Lets remember that a perforated screen, a venetian blind, a light
diffusing device can all have a Shading Coefficient of 50%, but all of
them will behave very differently. I made some presentations about
this on my previous work (we sold complex Shading Devices), trying to
promote the use of BSDF in EnergyPlus calculations... the differences
(in solar heat gains) were more than considerable.

I hope that someone else gives us his/her perspective on this topic...
there are a lot of concepts that I might be misunderstanding.

Best!"

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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:38:41 +0100
From: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Cc: Ikrima Amaireh <[email protected]>
Subject: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID:
        <
D697763F9F216044A99BC674C00561961358CA9719@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.
>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?

Regards
Ikrima

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message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.

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------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 16:44:49 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] Could not install Radiance!!!
Message-ID: <D1C400AC.1ADAC%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ikrima,

We'll need a bit more info, here. What OS are you on? How are you
attempting to install it (using an installer, compiling from source,
or what)? What happens when you try??

On 7/9/15, 10:38 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>After one a few weeks of trying, I could not manage to install
>radiance properly. I am almost disappointed! Please any help?
>
>Regards
>Ikrima
>
>
>
>
>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
>and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
>message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.
>
>Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this
>message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the
>author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the
>University of Nottingham.
>
>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
>attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
>computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
>communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
>permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 17:29:39 +0000
From: "Guglielmetti, Robert" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]"
        <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID: <D1C40477.1ADCA%[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Some very quick replies and clarifications within:

On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi G. Larrain,
>
>Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
>
>I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
>answering the following:
>
>We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance is
>a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
>and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
>becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
>recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods).
However:

BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not
necessarily "quick".
This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight metrics
have added confusion to all of this, IMO.

>
>- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
>with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
>illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures nor
>scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?

Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not change
the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm option for
daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing with diffusing
media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots of "what-ifs",
relatively quickly, but are beholden to the limitations of the
resolution of the BSDF.

>- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?

Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase, and
optional for 5-phase.

>- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
>just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)

Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the CFS
you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use that
in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and that
will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may want
to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in the
building model.

Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a Radiance
"trans". Same for translucent panels.
With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the time
step level, so:

Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver) are
best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is headed
up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF is good
enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method. Problem
is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to simulate the
blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly transmitting glass). Using
a Klems basis BSDF for this is sub-optimal. You end up needing to do
two annual simulations, one as 2-phase for the clear glass scenario,
and again as a 3-phase (with a blinds BSDF for the transmission
matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of different
window groups, your simulation space can get large in a hurry. But
it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a story you
simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest daylight metrics
as well.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 15:56:11 -0300
From: Germ?n Molina Larrain <[email protected]>
To: Radiance general discussion <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Radiance-general] CFS with Radiance
Message-ID:
        <CAF-iH4LSr=y12F1khTrHh6hnf-kS=EmaFuo8uWKvHqMs=
[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

I must say that I agree with Rob, however, a short answer that might
help.

For evaluating illuminance levels in a space with different CFS you,
strictly speaking, DO NOT HAVE TO do anything. You may choose between
different methods that have some pros and cons.

*ray-tracing*

   - Requires ray-tracing for each time-step and each system, which is
slow
   (*four systems simulated annualy in an hourly basis --> 4*8760 =
35,040
   simulations*.)
   - As accurate as it gets, if options are defined correctly.

*2 phase method*

   - Do not need the BSDF
   - Requires ray-tracing for each CFS (*4 systems --> 4 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing, annual simulation is fast.

*3-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis, which may be slow to compute,
   unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for example, or such data has
   already been calculated (the idea is to make a database, I think).
   - Does not really work well for specular systems (Klems patches are
too
   big)
   - Requires 2 ray-tracing runs, always (*4 systems --> 2 ray-tracing
   simulations*)
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

*5-phase method:*

   - Requires BSDF data in KLEMS basis AND/OR Tensor tree format, which
   may be slow to compute, unless it can be exported from WINDOW, for
example,
   or such data has already been calculated (the idea is to make a
database, I
   think).
   - Works well for specular systems
   - Requires 4 ray-tracing runs + 1 for each system, always (*4 systems
   --> 4+1 = 5 ray-tracing simulations*)
   - Hard to code...?
   - After ray-tracing and BSDF calculation, annual simulation is fast

I would not say there is a recipe. If you have to choose between 1 or
2 CFSs, maybe it is faster to just draw them and use the 2 phase
method (or ray-tracing if an annual simulaton is not required). On the
contrary, if you are going to test 10 different CFSs, 3 and 5 phases
may make sense, since you reduce the expensive ray-tracing
calculations... However, this will also depend on weather you have the
BSDF data AND/OR if it makes sense to calculate it and store it AND/OR
if you intend to simulate a dynamically controlled CFS.

Best!

2015-07-09 14:29 GMT-03:00 Guglielmetti, Robert <
[email protected]>:

> Some very quick replies and clarifications within:
>
> On 7/9/15, 10:26 AM, "Ikrima Amaireh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Hi G. Larrain,
> >
> >Thanks for your detailed clarification (below).
> >
> >I wonder if you kindly can help me toward better understanding and
> >answering the following:
> >
> >We agreed that for daylight modelling of spaces with CFS, Radiance
> >is a suitable tool as it applies ray-tracing method. And for annual
> >and/or climate-based daylight calculations, as calculation time
> >becomes a critical factor, using BSDF data for CFS is highly
> >recommended to tackle the task with radiance (using phases methods).
However:
>
>
> BSDF data in an annual simulation context is generally limited to
> Klems basis BSDF data, which may not be high enough resolution for
> some CFS. And the 5-phase method, which can circumvent this, is not
necessarily "quick".
> This is all still very much a quandary and the newest daylight
> metrics have added confusion to all of this, IMO.
>
>
> >
> >- if someone needs to perform daylight calculations for given space
> >with different CFS (different cases for comparison purposes) to get
> >illumination levels for horizontal grid points (and not pictures
> >nor scenes), is Radiance still the most convenient option?
>
>
> Absolutely. The lack of an image-as-output requirement does not
> change the fact that ray tracing is a good/convenient algorithm
> option for daylight simulation problems, especially when dealing
> with diffusing media and CFS in general. BSDFs allow you to do lots
> of "what-ifs", relatively quickly, but are beholden to the
> limitations of the
resolution of the BSDF.
>
>
> >- is it still needed to use any of the phase methods (2, 3 or 5)?
>
>
> Is what still needed? BSDF data? Ray tracing? I don't know of other
> lighting simulation tools that can employ the multiphase methods. I
> would say BSDF data is optional for 2-phase, required for 3-phase,
> and optional for 5-phase.
>
> >- most importantly, is it still needed to get BSDF data for CFS or
> >just can model the detailed CFS in Radiance (and, if yes, how?)
>
>
> Again I'm confused as to what "it" is. A couple of approaches are
> available to you in general. If you have a geometric model of the
> CFS you can use Radiance (genBSDF) to make a BSDF of the CFS and use
> that in a 3- or 5-phase context. However in an annual/climate-based
> simulation context, you will be stuck with a Klems basis BSDF and
> that will not be very good resolution for a lot of CFS; here you may
> want to use the 5-phase method and stick the actual CFS geometry in
> the
building model.
>
> Some things to consider here are the photon map, now a part of
> Radiance proper, or using the 2-phase method where appropriate. By
> 2-phase method I mean generating a daylight matrix for your
> calculation points (or view), and modeling the window material as-is.
> If the "CFS" is a shade cloth, you can approximate that with a
> Radiance
"trans". Same for translucent panels.
> With this single daylight matrix, you can throw a vector of sky
> matrices at it and get an annual climate-based result very quickly.
> Problem is, we want to do stuff to the windows, sometimes at the
> time
step level, so:
>
> Blinds and compact daylight redirection devices (e.g. Lightlouver)
> are best represented as BSDF, and if most of the redirected flux is
> headed up and away from the points of interest, a Klems basis BSDF
> is good enough IMO. In these cases you could use the 3-phase method.
> Problem is when you have a BSDF for blinds, and you also want to
> simulate the blinds-up condition (i.e. clear, specularly
> transmitting glass). Using a Klems basis BSDF for this is
> sub-optimal. You end up needing to do two annual simulations, one as
> 2-phase for the clear glass scenario, and again as a 3-phase (with a
> blinds BSDF for the transmission
> matrix) for the blinds down condition. If you have a lot of
> different window groups, your simulation space can get large in a
> hurry. But it's still do-able and you can get results that tell a
> story you simply couldn't tell 5 years ago, informing the newest
> daylight metrics
as well.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Radiance-general mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://www.radiance-online.org/mailman/listinfo/radiance-general
>
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