Sunpath Node

The VI-Suite Sunpath node creates a 3D sun path diagram, sun lamp and sun mesh within Blender. The node also enables real-time control of sun position and colour based on day-of-year and hour-of-day settings. These controls also modify the Hosek/Wilkie sky orientation for realistic sky control within Blender’s Cycles rendering engine. The short video below details the operation of the node.

VI-Suite Sunpath Node from Ryan Southall on Vimeo.

4 thoughts on “Sunpath Node

  1. Hi,
    Thanks for this amazing work. Is there a way to do North offset so that we don’t have to rotate the building? This feature is available in similar addons.

    Sal

  2. Thanks for this greatly useful work. Can we have a north offset setting so that we wont have to rotate the building? Then this addon can be integrated in the design workflow throughout.

    • Hi.
      Thanks for you comments.
      The whole VI-Suite uses +Y as North so although I could put an offset on the sun path node this would break with that consistency. Creating an offset option for the whole VI-Suite would be a considerable amount of work as it would effect HDR sky mappings, wind rose projection, Radiance and EnergyPlus geometry co-ordinate export etc. In short it isn’t a priority for me at the moment, but it is something I will keep in mind for the future.
      Regards
      Ryan

  3. Thanks for your reply Ryan. I understand that it will take considerable effort and can’t be on priority. For anyone who might want to contribute I will make a case here for this feature.

    In a small-time architectural practice in a developing country, the vi-suite can be a tool used throughout the design process. (Even where compliance is not asked for) Design requirements can change from the client side anytime. A minor change like say the size of a window can occur after the design is well developed. Then it is disconcerting to copy a detailed model to another layer and rotate it for analysis. The North-offset will make the capabilities of vi-suite readily available at all times.

    I am hoping to be able to contribute sooner or later as I am trying to use this tool in my everyday practice.

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