The Design Mode panel controls calculation engine parameters. Exhaustive testing has been done to remove the need for an overwhelming number of "sliders". Select the mode that is most applicable to the project type.
Interior Mode and Exterior Mode set a large number of parameters used in surface analysis, initial flux evaluation, radiative transfer analysis, and processing renderings specific to either case. Under normal circumstances, no difference in calculations will be seen.
Sign Lighting Mode expands analysis to provide proper modeling of shadows caused by sign lettering. This mode is much slower than the others and should be chosen judiciously.
The Calculation Mode panel controls whether or not Visual makes calculations of the interreflected component of radiative transfer. Direct and Interreflected calculates both components whereas Direct Only is the direct component only. Direct Only is assigned when a new Exterior Project is created from the File menu and is appropriate for area lighting, roadway, and sports projects.
The Statistics panel controls which statistical calculations are performed and displayed in the Statistics tab of the Sidebar. See The Sidebar and Statistics for more information.
Selection of statistical quantities should be obvious except two used primarily in sports specifications:
Uniformity Gradient - This calculates the local change in lighting quantity (e.g. illuminance) between adjacent points in the grid. The reported value is the highest found in the calculation grid. In summary, the value quantifies how quickly lighting quantity changes and controls "bright and dark spots".
Coefficient of Variance - This is an advanced statistical calculation defined as the standard deviation divided by the mean (average) of all points. In brief, as applied to sports lighting, this is the average difference from the average, and thus measures the concept that one low illuminance should not overly impact the overall acceptability of a design, depending on how low that minimum may be.
The Luminaire Blocking panel controls if Visual considers Luminaires to be light blockers or not. The implication of the two choices is as indicated in their titles. This option does not make the Luminaires reflect light in the radiative transfer system.
Console Mode tells Visual to open a Windows command-prompt window and display the calculation process and minimal feedback information in a step-by-step process. This setting is for advanced users only.
Settings made in subgroups indicated with a "*" and shown in dark red will not take effect until a recalculation is performed.
