Visualization Guide
Visualization Guide
Visualization Guide

Predefined light sources

You can create predefined light sources that you may then select via the Define Light tool. When you have predefined light sources available and you set Mode to Create, in the Define Light tool dialog box, the Name field is replaced with a combo box, whose drop-down list contains all of the predefined lights of that type. When you select a predefined light from the drop-down list, the settings for that light replace the values in the dialog box. You then can adjust these settings as required, prior to placing the light source.

Delivered with MicroStation is a selection of predefined light sources, present in the DGN file “lightlist.dgn.” This DGN file is placed in the Bentley\Workspace\system\cell directory. The location of this, and any other DGN containing predefined lights, is defined by the configuration variable MS_LIGHTLIST, which initially is defined to:

This lets you create your own predefined lights in a DGN file named “lightlist.dgn”, which you then can place in either$(_USTN_SITE)cell/ (typically Bentley\Workspace\standards\cell), or in $(_USTN_PROJECTDATA)cell/ (typically Bentley\Workspace\projects\YourProject\cell). Lights defined in these additional DGN files then would be added to the initial list of predefined lights. Alternatively, you can use any DGN file in any location and simply add the file to the MS_LIGHTLIST configuration variable.

Creating predefined light sources

You can create a list of predefined light sources as follows:

  1. Create a new DGN file.

  2. Use the standard Define Light tool to place any number of lights, with the desired settings, anywhere in the DGN file. For maximum efficiency, it is highly recommended that no other elements are placed in these DGN files (other than the light sources).

When the Define Light tool is used in Create mode, the list of lights that is available consists of the names of all the lights of the appropriate type that are located in any of the models of any of the DGN files pointed to by the configuration variable MS_LIGHTLIST.