This page provides information about the properties of the Sun light in Enscape for Archicad.
Overview
The sun can have a dramatic effect on your project’s look and feel. Additionally to being able to quickly adjust the sun directly in the Enscape window, Enscape can also interpret the Geolocation and Time of Year settings from Archicad for the sun to be positioned correctly. You can quickly adjust the sun settings in Enscape by using various key combinations:
| Controls | Action | |
|---|---|---|
Time of day
|
| Press U or I to adjust the time of day. |
| You can also use Shift + Right Mouse Button while dragging the mouse right or left. | |
| Solar angle |
| Press Shift + U or I to adjust the Solar angle. |
| Solar rotation |
| Press Ctrl + U or I to adjust the Solar rotation. |
| Reset Sun Position |
| Press the Home key to reset modifications made to the sun position. |
Generally speaking, the Sun Settings and Geolocation are adjusted in Archicad, and the Geolocation affects the position of the Sun when adjusting the time of year. You can choose a location under the Project Location option in Archicad and adjust the time of day by selecting the 3D Projection Settings. You can also adjust the time of day in the Enscape window and save those settings for each view.
Sun Settings in ArchiCAD
You can set the initial Time of Day for a View by right-clicking on the view in the View Map panel and selecting the 3D Projection Settings option in the menu.
ArchiCAD View Map Panel
Once clicked, the Perspective Setting window opens. You can set the Sun Position by Date and Time or by setting it to Custom, which allows you to adjust the Altitude and Azimuth of the Sun.
Once you click OK, the project updates and you can see these changes in the Enscape window.
It is then possible to further adjust the time of day within Enscape using the Right Mouse button + Shift + left/right mouse drag. These changes, however, are not saved to the view that is listed in the ArchiCAD View Map panel, and the settings made in the Perspective Settings are retained.
ArchiCAD Perspective Settings Window
Save Enscape Sun Position
While you are adjusting the time of day in Enscape. You can save the Enscape Sun Position by going into the View Management tab and selecting the view you would like to save the sun position of.
Manage Views
In the Edit View, you can see a section for Sun Position, there, enable the Enscape Sun Position option.
Sun Position Section
You will now have 2 options to control the Sun Position:
Azimuth – Rotation of the sun around the building
Altitude – Rotation above and below the horizon line
By adjusting these sliders, you can see the time of day change to the desired result.
*If you need to undo the changes at any time, click the Undo button.
Once you are happy with the adjustments, click the Save button at the bottom of the window.
Azimuth and Altitude Settings
Now, each time you go back to this view, the sun settings stay the same.
* You can see if a view has the sun settings changed by the little sun icon under the view's name
Updated Sun Position