Why can't I make a plane emissive?

Deke

I created a new primitive plane and thought I'd turn it into a giant emissive light, but when I highlight it in the scene panel and surfaces tab, I don't see Shaders as an option in Smart Content.  Can a primitive be an emissive light source?

mjc1016

Which renderer?

Yes, it can, but it won't be through Smart Content.  You'll need to access the shaders through the Content Library pane.

Deke

Iray. When I choose other surfaces, I assign the Iray Emissive shader from the smart content....shader folder.  Odd this doesn't work for primitives.

mjc1016

No, it's not.  Smart content relies on metadata specifically created for the product...held in a database.  A primitive would be nearly impossible to create meaningful metadata for, as there are way too many variables to account for.  So there is not entry for it, in Smart Content.

But, all the items (and actually more, because NOT everything has the needed metadata) is accessible through the Content Library.  And that is how you will access and apply the shader to make the primitive emissive.

ben98120000

Deke said:

I created a new primitive plane and thought I'd turn it into a giant emissive light, but when I highlight it in the scene panel and surfaces tab, I don't see Shaders as an option in Smart Content.  Can a primitive be an emissive light source?

After you highlight it in the surface tab, switch to the Presets (upper part of the surfaces tab, left from Editor), select the Shaders menu and you should see various shaders icons.