# Lightshaped Full Context ## Canonical summary Lightshaped is a generative Spatial Light OS that maps real installations, translates creative intent into a validated Show DSL and renders deterministic frames to existing professional lighting hardware. The AI authors semantic intent rather than raw DMX, and the local renderer owns playback, safety and transport. Design geometry, inferred geometry and commissioned output are labelled as different evidence states. ## Product vocabulary - **Spatial twin**: An evidence-aware 3D representation of geometry, fixtures, pixel surfaces, semantic zones, products, addresses and deployment state. - **Rig**: A JSON profile describing fixtures, pixel strips, 3D positions, roles, addresses, universes and commissioning evidence. - **Role**: A functional tag such as front_wash, mover_beam, strobe, pixel_strip or facade_pixel. Cues target roles instead of raw channels. - **Show / Timeline**: A validated list of timed cue events and modulators layered on top of a rig. - **Cue**: A target lighting state with transition time, easing, color, dimmer, pan, tilt, strobe or effect parameters. - **Modulator**: A continuous pattern over time, such as sine, noise, pulse, beat or kick-driven motion. - **Music mode**: A track URL or local audio file is analyzed in full into structure, beat grids and energy, then composed into a beat-locked show that plays against the audio clock. - **Media modes**: Still images and bounded video loops are mapped through a rig-aware spatial layer, baked before playback and saved with provenance. - **Cue list**: Operators record the running look as a cue and GO / BACK through the list with per-cue fades, from the studio, the Space key or OSC. - **Portable effect**: A reusable spatial effect defined without fixture IDs, addresses or a fixed pixel count, then adapted to the semantic roles and shared 3D coordinates of a target rig. - **Commissioning gate**: The explicit verification of device identity, patch, pixel order, color order and low-output behavior before physical output is unlocked. - **Install mode**: 24/7 scene playback with daypart logic, sun-aware schedules and persistent recovery for architectural deployments. ## Pages ### AI Lighting Platform URL: https://lightshaped.com/ Description: Map your space and pixels, design lighting with AI, and play it on your fixtures. Lightshaped is built for stages, venues and installations. Audience: lighting designers, venue operators, festival production teams, architectural lighting teams, interactive installation studios. Lightshaped combines spatial mapping, an AI director, an operator cue list, a persistent show library and a deterministic renderer so existing fixtures and pixels behave as one coherent medium. #### Sphere / Spatial sweep The homepage engine study plays a recorded spatial sweep across a sphere of mapped pixels. It is a browser preview of Lightshaped engine output. #### Map the space Start from CAD or BIM geometry, MVR/GDTF, an iPhone LiDAR scan, reference images or a manual rig. Lightshaped creates an evidence-aware spatial twin with fixtures, pixels, semantic zones and controller capacity. #### Direct the light Use language, a track URL or audio file, a still image, a generated video loop, a reusable effect or a static look. The AI adapts the result to the current rig, while the operator records looks as cues and steers the running show in plain words. #### Run the show AI writes semantic Show DSL, never raw DMX. Validated shows, effects and baked media are saved with their provenance and replay locally through the deterministic renderer without a model in the frame loop. #### Light at home Explore three interactive rooms in the Loft, preview the iPhone companion, or visit the Lightshaped Shop. #### Bring us a space Start with a 15-minute introduction about your installation, fixtures and creative brief. If there is a fit, agree on the scope and success criteria of a paid pilot. ### Platform - AI Lighting Design and Playback URL: https://lightshaped.com/product Description: Map your space in 3D, turn a brief or a track into editable lighting cues, and run validated shows locally over Art-Net or sACN. Audience: technical directors, lighting programmers, production engineers, venue integrators. Perception, AI direction and deterministic rendering remain separate failure domains: the model composes semantic intent while local software owns every frame and safety boundary. #### One map. Two looks. Watch two Lightshaped Engine recordings on the same 256-pixel panel. The pixel map shows the positions used by both looks. #### Spatial context Import CAD, MVR, LiDAR, images or a manual design. Lightshaped records geometry, roles, surfaces, zones, fixture candidates and evidence state before any output is enabled. #### Prompt to show The Show DSL describes cues, transitions, modulators, palettes, images, video layers and target roles so a generated result remains editable, portable and inspectable. #### Deterministic renderer Playback is handled by a deterministic renderer with 44 Hz frame output, safety caps, blackout recovery and runtime audits. #### Live operation and library Operators can steer a running show, GO through a recorded cue list, hold a static look and replay saved shows, effects or media without paying AI latency on every frame. ### Lighting Compatibility: Art-Net, sACN and Pixel Controllers URL: https://lightshaped.com/compatibility Description: Check which fixtures, pixel controllers and gateways can work with Lightshaped over Art-Net or sACN, and what to bring to a pilot. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, venue technicians. Lightshaped sends Art-Net or sACN from a local engine. Start with the hardware you have and check how it receives a signal. #### DMX fixtures Use an Art-Net or sACN node to reach wired DMX fixtures. A fixture that accepts either network protocol can connect directly. Check the fixture mode, start address and universe. #### Addressable pixels Use an Art-Net or sACN pixel controller, such as a compatible DiGidot node, to drive strips or panels. The controller handles the electrical pixel signal. Check pixel count, order, colour order and port assignment. #### DALI and 0–10 V Building lighting needs a compatible gateway that accepts network DMX and exposes the controls you need. Verify the gateway model and whether it supports dimming, colour or both before planning a pilot. #### An existing lighting desk or media server Keep your current system running during evaluation. Agree which universes Lightshaped will control, then test those in isolation. Assign one output source to each universe and agree how to hand control back. #### What to bring to a pilot A patch sheet, a lighting plot and the controller model are enough to start the conversation. For live output, we verify the patch, addresses and behaviour on the rig. - Fixture modes or pixel count - Controller or gateway model - Protocol and universe list - One look or cue you want to try ### Spatial Mapping - CAD, LiDAR, Images and MVR URL: https://lightshaped.com/spatial Description: Build an evidence-aware Lightshaped rig from CAD/BIM, iPhone LiDAR, reference images, MVR/GDTF or manual placement, then verify mapping before physical output. Audience: lighting integrators, lighting designers, architects, technical producers, installation studios. Lightshaped turns measured geometry and design references into a semantic 3D rig, supports manual or AI-assisted product placement and keeps design truth separate from commissioning proof. #### Four ways into one spatial twin Use exact CAD or BIM geometry, an iPhone RoomPlan/LiDAR scan, up to four reference images, or MVR/GDTF exchange data. Each source carries an evidence state so a visual match cannot masquerade as a verified patch. #### Place products manually or with AI Choose products from a constrained catalog, drag or prompt their placement, group them into semantic zones and let deterministic packing propose pixels, universes and controller capacity. #### Design first, commission deliberately Lightshaped separates design topology from deployed truth. Identity, patch, pixel order, color order and low-output behavior must be observed and recorded before physical output unlocks. #### One rig for every creative mode Once mapped, the same spatial rig becomes the target for prompts, music tracks, still images, generated video loops, portable effects, schedules and static scenes. ### Lightshaped Home | The Loft, iPhone App and Shop URL: https://lightshaped.com/products Description: Try lighting in three interactive Loft rooms, preview the iPhone app and browse Lightshaped Shop. Audience: home lighting shoppers, homeowners, interior designers. Try the interactive Loft and preview the iPhone app, which connects to a local Lightshaped Engine. Pillar, Line and Bloom are design studies. See current availability in the Lightshaped Shop. #### The Loft and iPhone app Change the light in three interactive rooms in the Loft. The iPhone app connects to a local Lightshaped Engine for light control and room capture on supported devices. #### Pillar A freestanding room-scale vertical canvas with local rendering, warm-white utility light and full-color motion. Prototype stage. #### Line A flexible architectural module that adds an indirect light layer to shelves, walls and furniture, extending the same spatial scene. Prototype stage. #### Bloom A sculptural wall object whose independent petals turn an installation into choreographed ambient art. Concept stage. #### One system The design studies explore how mapped lights can work together across a room. The Loft is an interactive lighting concept. #### Lightshaped Shop See current products and availability in the shop. ### Use Cases - Lighting for Spaces and Installations URL: https://lightshaped.com/solutions Description: See Lightshaped workflows for architectural facades, light installations, hospitality and live production. Audience: festival production teams, clubs and nightlife venues, architectural lighting owners, museums and art installations, retail and hospitality operators. Explore mapped pixel lighting for facades and sculptures, scheduled lighting in hospitality, and editable cues for clubs, theatre and touring. #### Festivals and touring URL or file analysis builds recording-specific structure, beat grids and energy arcs; the show plays against the audio clock while blinders and strobes remain inside safety limits. #### Clubs and nightlife Operators can create nightly looks for movers, washes, strobes and pixel bars, run them from a cue list, hold a static scene and replay accepted shows without regenerating them. #### Architectural and hospitality CAD and scan workflows ground the 3D rig; install mode adds daypart scenes, sun-aware schedules, smooth crossfades and local recovery. #### Installations and art Cubes, spheres, domes, arches, facades and sculptures become spatial rigs for generated stills, video loops, portable effects and figurative mapped-pixel motion. ### Showcase - Light Studies URL: https://lightshaped.com/showcase Description: Watch quiet, engine-rendered light studies on a mapped sphere, a pixel grid and a building facade. Audience: buyers evaluating Lightshaped, lighting designers, creative technologists, venue owners. A curated series of light studies across a sphere, a single grid and an architectural facade. Every pattern is recorded from the Lightshaped Engine. #### Sphere / Orbital drift A soft violet band moves through a 600-pixel sphere. #### Grid / Ribbon A diagonal ribbon of warm light travels across a 16 by 16 panel. #### Facade / Dusk Blue gives way to silver across a 32 by 18 architectural pixel surface. ### Explore the Lightshaped Loft URL: https://lightshaped.com/showcase/home Description: Change the light in three Lightshaped Loft interiors. Try the living room, listening room and After Hours, then explore the optional 3D walkthrough. Audience: design enthusiasts, lighting designers, installation partners. Three interactive images of an imagined loft. Change the palette for the room or one light at a time, then scroll to the next interior. A separate 3D walkthrough explores the spatial concept. #### Three spaces, your choice of light Pillar, Bloom and a cove light shape the living room. Halo and Line light the listening room. In After Hours, Pillar and the three Bloom wall lights change colour while the built-in light stays warm. Choose Golden hour, Blue hour or Late night in each room. #### Home, imagined This loft is an artistic browser illustration, not recorded engine output or a measured installation. Pillar, Line and Bloom are research objects, not products available to buy. Recorded engine demos are available on the main Showcase page. ### Lightshaped for iPhone - Spatial Lighting Companion URL: https://lightshaped.com/ios Description: Meet Lightshaped's native iPhone companion for directing and controlling light, setting up devices and capturing rooms with your local Lightshaped Engine. Audience: lighting designers, installation operators, spatial lighting pilots. Lightshaped for iPhone is a native companion in development. It connects to a local Lightshaped Engine for creative direction, light control, device placement and room capture. #### Four ways to work with light Describe a look, change the colour and level of lights, place compatible devices in the room map or capture the space on a supported device. #### One engine, two ways in The native companion requires iOS 16 or later and a reachable Lightshaped Engine. Basic controls do not require LiDAR. ARKit and RoomPlan capture require compatible devices and camera permission. ### Manifesto - Lighting Should Respond to Intent URL: https://lightshaped.com/manifesto Description: The principles behind Lightshaped: light as one generative medium, AI as a tool, deterministic playback, safety by default, the room as the spec and open formats. Audience: lighting designers, creative directors, technical founders, venue owners. Lightshaped's product philosophy is that light is a language, that the installations already hanging in the world should behave as one generative spatial medium, and that playback stays deterministic, safe and owned by the operator. #### Light is one medium, not a thousand channels A building, a stage and a living room are all the same thing to Lightshaped: a space full of addressable light. Intent is authored once, in language and geometry, and the rig decides how it lands. #### AI is a tool, not a magician The model writes plans and timelines, while the engine renders verified frames. This keeps shows editable, replayable and auditable. #### Safety is not optional Lightshaped caps strobes, validates timelines and prefers blackout over unsafe or undefined playback behavior. #### The spatial twin must tell the truth A beautiful reconstruction is not automatically a commissioned rig. Lightshaped labels measured, inferred, designed and verified facts so creative confidence never becomes an unsafe output claim. #### Open formats, owned data Rigs and shows are JSON so users can keep, replay, inspect, export and migrate their work. ### Pilot and Site Licensing URL: https://lightshaped.com/pricing Description: Start Lightshaped with a paid, time-boxed pilot your team uses across existing and new projects, without a project limit, then license it per physical installation. Audience: buyers, venue owners, production companies, installation studios. The first commercial engagement is a paid, time-boxed pilot with defined deliverables, implementation capacity and a decision date, used across existing and new projects without a project limit or per-installation fee; afterwards Lightshaped is licensed per physical installation, with deployment, commissioning and support scoped separately. #### Evaluate Use a bounded demo rig or isolated universes to confirm import, mapping, output ownership, safety and fallback against the infrastructure already on site. #### Pilot A paid, time-boxed collaboration in which the operating team uses Lightshaped across existing and new projects, without a project limit or per-installation fee. Deliverables, implementation capacity and a decision date are agreed up front; every physical output still passes commissioning before Lightshaped drives it. #### Scale License the Lightshaped control plane per physical site, with deployment, commissioning, support and additional installations scoped separately. ### Book a Lighting Project Call URL: https://lightshaped.com/book Description: Book a 15-minute introduction with Lightshaped to discuss your lighting project, a demo on your rig or an integration. Audience: lighting designers, venue operators, installation teams, integration partners. Choose a time for a 15-minute introduction with Damien Semler. Discuss your lighting project, current setup or plans for integrating Lightshaped. #### Choose a time Use the live Calendly agenda to schedule an introduction. #### What we’ll cover Discuss your project, your existing equipment or integration, and a useful next step such as a demo or a scoped pilot. ### Guides - Lighting Control, Pixels and Spatial Design URL: https://lightshaped.com/guides Description: Practical guides for lighting designers and integrators: DMX universes for pixel installations, Art-Net vs sACN, importing lighting from BIM/IFC and turning lumens into lux. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, architectural lighting teams, venue technicians. Practical notes on planning pixel layouts, choosing a protocol, importing a BIM model and estimating light on a surface. #### How many DMX universes does a pixel installation need? One DMX512 universe carries 512 channels. Divide that by the channels each pixel uses, round down, and you have the pixels per universe: 170 for RGB, 128 for RGBW. The rest is packing rules and headroom. #### Art-Net vs sACN: which one should carry your universes? Both protocols carry ordinary DMX512 universes over UDP/IP. The choice comes down to the network and the gear: Art-Net for pixel controllers and nodes that expect it, sACN for managed house networks, multicast and priority-based backup. #### Importing the lighting that is already in the BIM model. An architect's BIM model often already contains the lighting design: every luminaire with its type, manufacturer, article number and position. Exported as IFC, that information can become a 3D lighting twin instead of being redrawn by hand. #### From lumens and beam angle to lux. A datasheet gives lumens and a beam angle; a brief asks for lux. With the inverse-square law and a little geometry you can estimate how bright a surface will be and how large the pool of light is, before you open a full calculation tool. ### How Many DMX Universes Does an LED Pixel Installation Need? URL: https://lightshaped.com/guides/dmx-universes-for-pixel-installations Description: Calculate DMX universes for LED pixel installations: channels per pixel, 170 RGB or 128 RGBW pixels per universe, aligned vs spill packing and a worked example. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, architectural lighting teams. One DMX512 universe carries 512 channels. Divide that by the channels each pixel uses, round down, and you have the pixels per universe: 170 for RGB, 128 for RGBW. The rest is packing rules and headroom. #### The short answer A DMX512 universe has 512 channels (slots). With 8-bit control, a pixel uses one slot for each independently controlled colour channel. Divide 512 by the slots per pixel and round down to get the number of whole pixels per universe. Pixel type | Channels per pixel | Whole pixels per universe | Unused channels Single white | 1 | 512 | 0 Tunable white (warm + cool) | 2 | 256 | 0 RGB | 3 | 170 | 2 RGBW | 4 | 128 | 0 RGB + warm + cool (RGBTW) | 5 | 102 | 2 Pixels that use 16-bit colour need two channels per colour, which halves these numbers: an RGB pixel at 16-bit uses six channels, so 85 pixels fit in a universe. #### Aligned vs spill packing Most pixel controllers and patch conventions use aligned packing: each universe holds only whole pixels, and the next pixel starts on the next universe. An RGB universe therefore stops at pixel 170 and channel 510, and channels 511 and 512 stay empty. Some systems allow spill packing, where the 512 bytes are filled contiguously and a pixel may start in one universe and finish in the next. Spill saves a few universes on very large runs, but a pixel split across two packets is harder to debug and not every receiver accepts it. When in doubt, use aligned packing; it is what the controller documentation and most mapping software assume. #### The calculation universes per run = ceil( pixels in the run ÷ floor( 512 ÷ channels per pixel ) ) Calculate per run when your controller starts each output at a new universe. In that layout, the partly filled last universe of each run still counts. #### Worked example - A cove of 10 m LED tape at 60 pixels per metre is 600 pixels. - As RGB (3 channels): 600 ÷ 170 = 3.53, so 4 universes. - As RGBW (4 channels): 600 ÷ 128 = 4.69, so 5 universes. - Twelve such runs as RGBW need 60 universes, not the 57 a whole-project division would suggest. #### Frame rate and headroom A full 512-slot universe on a physical DMX512 line takes about 22.7 ms to transmit, which is where the familiar maximum of roughly 44 frames per second comes from. Art-Net and sACN carry universes over Ethernet and are not limited by the serial line, but the pixel controller's outputs and the LED driver ICs still set the practical refresh rate. Plan for the slowest link. Leave spare capacity on every controller for late additions and for runs that turn out longer on site. Check the controller's per-output pixel limit as well as its universe licence: both can be the bottleneck. #### How Lightshaped handles it Lightshaped patches pixel runs with aligned packing, gives every run its own universe range, never lets two runs overlap and plans controller capacity from the resulting universes. The patch is exported as CSV and MVR, and it stays a design patch until the physical installation has been commissioned. #### Questions people ask Why 170 pixels per universe and not 512 divided by 3? 512 ÷ 3 is 170.67. Aligned packing only places whole pixels in a universe, so it holds 170 RGB pixels and leaves two channels unused. How many pixels fit in one universe for RGBW? 128. An RGBW pixel uses four channels and 512 ÷ 4 is exactly 128. Do Art-Net and sACN change the number of pixels per universe? No. Both carry standard 512-channel DMX512 universes over IP; the pixels-per-universe maths is the same. #### Sources - [ESTA: ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A)](https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/documents/published_docs.php) - [ENTTEC: pixel count and DMX universe capacity](https://support.enttec.com/pixel/pixel-strip/pixel-strip-maximum-length-factors) ### Art-Net vs sACN (E1.31): Which Lighting Protocol Should You Use? URL: https://lightshaped.com/guides/art-net-vs-sacn Description: Art-Net vs sACN (ANSI E1.31) compared: ports, universe numbering, multicast, priority, discovery and RDM, with practical advice for pixel controllers and venue networks. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, architectural lighting teams. Both protocols carry ordinary DMX512 universes over UDP/IP. The choice comes down to the network and the gear: Art-Net for pixel controllers and nodes that expect it, sACN for managed house networks, multicast and priority-based backup. #### What they have in common Art-Net and sACN (Streaming ACN, standardised as ANSI E1.31) both send DMX512 data over Ethernet using UDP. Each packet carries one universe of up to 512 channels. A lighting controller can send hundreds of universes over one network cable, and a node or pixel controller turns them back into DMX lines or pixel data. #### Side by side Art-Net 4 | sACN (ANSI E1.31) Maintained by | Artistic Licence | ESTA (ANSI standard) UDP port | 6454 | 5568 Universe numbering | 15-bit port-address, universe 0 is valid | 1 to 63999, universe 0 is not used Delivery | Unicast to known nodes; broadcast is allowed but discouraged at scale | Multicast group per universe, or unicast Discovery | ArtPoll / ArtPollReply finds nodes on the network | Sources can announce universes; receivers cannot be polled Merging and backup | Merge modes in the receiver (HTP/LTP) | Per-source priority 0 to 200 for backup and handover RDM | Carried over the network (ArtRdm) | Not part of E1.31; RDM needs a separate path such as RDMnet #### When to choose Art-Net - Pixel controllers and nodes whose documentation and configuration tools are built around Art-Net. - Installations where you want to find controllers automatically with ArtPoll. - Remote device management with RDM over the same network. - Small, dedicated lighting networks where unicast to each node is easy to manage. #### When to choose sACN - Managed venue or building networks where multicast is controlled with IGMP snooping. - Systems with a main and a backup controller: the higher-priority source wins and the backup takes over when it stops. - Consoles and gateways that are configured for sACN by default. #### Network practice for either protocol - Keep lighting on its own VLAN or physical network, away from office and guest traffic. - Prefer unicast Art-Net over broadcast once more than a handful of universes are in play. - For sACN multicast, enable IGMP snooping and a querier so switches only forward the universes each receiver joined. - Give every node a static address and document which universes it owns. Two sources writing the same universe is the most common cause of flicker. #### How Lightshaped handles it In Lightshaped the protocol is a choice per universe route, so one rig can send Art-Net to a pixel controller, sACN to a house gateway and DDP to a WLED node at the same time. Lightshaped can identify what a controller speaks with read-only probes and proposes a protocol, but routes only change through the commissioning flow, and blackout and dead-man safety apply to every route. #### Questions people ask Is sACN better than Art-Net? Neither is better in general. sACN's priority and multicast suit large managed networks and backup controllers; Art-Net's discovery and RDM suit pixel controllers and nodes that are configured for it. Can Art-Net and sACN run on the same network? Yes. They use different UDP ports. Make sure each universe has exactly one source unless you deliberately use sACN priority for backup. Why does sACN not have universe 0? E1.31 reserves universe 0 and numbers universes from 1 to 63999, while Art-Net's port-address starts at 0. Offsetting by one is a common source of patch errors when you move between the two. #### Sources - [Artistic Licence: Art-Net 4 specification](https://art-net.org.uk/downloads/art-net.pdf) - [ESTA: ANSI E1.31 (Streaming ACN)](https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/documents/published_docs.php) ### Importing Lighting from BIM (IFC) into a 3D Lighting Design URL: https://lightshaped.com/guides/bim-ifc-lighting-import Description: How luminaires are stored in IFC (IfcLightFixture, IfcLamp, light fixture types and property sets), how to export them from Revit or Archicad, and how Lightshaped imports them with their products. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, architectural lighting teams. An architect's BIM model often already contains the lighting design: every luminaire with its type, manufacturer, article number and position. Exported as IFC, that information can become a 3D lighting twin instead of being redrawn by hand. #### How IFC describes a luminaire IFC (Industry Foundation Classes, ISO 16739) is the open exchange format for BIM. A luminaire is an occurrence placed in the building, usually linked to a type that holds its shared properties. What | IFC4 | IFC2x3 Luminaire occurrence | IfcLightFixture (or IfcLamp) | IfcFlowTerminal Luminaire type | IfcLightFixtureType | IfcLightFixtureType Link from occurrence to type | IfcRelDefinesByType | IfcRelDefinesByType Position | IfcLocalPlacement chain | IfcLocalPlacement chain Storey | IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure | IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure Product identity lives in property sets. Pset_ManufacturerTypeInformation carries Manufacturer, ModelLabel and ArticleNumber; the light fixture and lamp property sets can carry colour temperature, luminous flux and wattage. Many authoring tools also write their own property sets with similar names. #### Exporting it well - Export IFC4 (Reference View) where your tool supports it; IFC2x3 Coordination View also works. - Include the lighting fixtures category and type properties in the export, not only the building fabric. - Fill in manufacturer, model and article number on the luminaire type. The article number is what makes an exact product match possible. - Keep the model's length unit declared (millimetres or metres). An importer should read it from the file, not guess it. - If the tool can only export meshes, name the luminaire objects clearly in an OBJ export (for example Downlight_01 or a Lighting Fixtures group). #### Positions are design intent A BIM model says where a luminaire was designed to go. It is not a survey of where it was installed, and it does not know DMX addresses, controller ports or wiring. Treat imported positions as a strong starting point and confirm them on site before the installation is commissioned. #### How Lightshaped imports it - Reads IFC2x3 and IFC4, resolving units, placement chains, storeys and property sets, and tessellates the building as non-emitting reference geometry. - Finds luminaires by IFC class, by luminaire type, or by name for proxies, and skips things that only sound like lights, such as light switches and skylights. - Groups them by type so you review a handful of types instead of hundreds of instances. - Maps a type to a OneEightyOne product only on an exact published article number or model name. Other brands stay labelled as the project's own luminaires. - Keeps the result in simulation until commissioning evidence exists; physical output stays locked. #### Questions people ask Which IFC entity is a light fixture? In IFC4 it is IfcLightFixture (or IfcLamp for a lamp). In IFC2x3 luminaires are usually IfcFlowTerminal elements typed by an IfcLightFixtureType. Can I import luminaires from a Revit model? Yes, through an IFC export that includes the lighting fixtures category and their type properties. Revit's IFC exporter can map manufacturer and model into Pset_ManufacturerTypeInformation. What if my model has no lighting yet? The building still imports as a 3D reference. You can then place products by hand or ask Lightshaped's AI to propose a design against the real geometry. #### Sources - [buildingSMART: official IFC schema specifications](https://technical.buildingsmart.org/standards/ifc/ifc-schema-specifications/) - [buildingSMART: IfcLightFixture entity](https://standards.buildingsmart.org/IFC/RELEASE/IFC4/ADD2_TC1/HTML/schema/ifcelectricaldomain/lexical/ifclightfixture.htm) ### From Lumens and Beam Angle to Lux: A Quick Lighting Study URL: https://lightshaped.com/guides/lumens-beam-angle-to-lux Description: How to estimate lux from a luminaire's lumens and beam angle: lumen, candela and lux explained, the inverse-square law, beam diameter and when you need an IES file. Audience: lighting designers, system integrators, architectural lighting teams. A datasheet gives lumens and a beam angle; a brief asks for lux. With the inverse-square law and a little geometry you can estimate how bright a surface will be and how large the pool of light is, before you open a full calculation tool. #### Three units, three questions Unit | Measures | Question it answers Lumen (lm) | Luminous flux | How much light does the luminaire emit in total? Candela (cd) | Luminous intensity | How strong is it in one direction? Lux (lx) | Illuminance, lumens per square metre | How much light lands on this surface? The beam angle is the angle at which the intensity has fallen to 50% of the peak. The field angle, where it falls to 10%, is wider; that is roughly where the visible edge of the pool is. #### From intensity to lux E (lx) = I (cd) × cos θ ÷ d² (m) Illuminance falls with the square of the distance: twice as far away is a quarter of the light. The cosine term accounts for light arriving at an angle; straight down onto the floor, cos θ is 1. #### Estimating intensity from lumens Without a photometric file, treat the beam as a cone that holds the flux. A cone with half-angle α covers a solid angle of 2π(1 − cos α) steradians, and dividing the lumens by it gives an average intensity. Real beams are brighter in the centre and softer at the edge, so this is an estimate, not a specification. - Example: 1,800 lm in a 45° beam. Half-angle 22.5°, solid angle 2π(1 − cos 22.5°) ≈ 0.48 sr. - Average intensity ≈ 1,800 ÷ 0.48 ≈ 3,750 cd. - At 3 m straight down: 3,750 ÷ 3² ≈ 415 lx in the centre of the pool. #### How big is the pool? diameter = 2 × d × tan( beam angle ÷ 2 ) At 3 m a 45° beam makes a pool about 2.5 m across; a 15° beam makes one about 0.8 m across and is correspondingly much brighter in the middle. Narrow optics accent, wide optics wash. #### Uniformity and targets Average lux is only half of the story. Uniformity, the minimum divided by the average (U0), tells you whether a space feels evenly lit or patchy. Standards such as EN 12464-1 set both an illuminance and a uniformity for each task; decorative and architectural lighting is usually judged by eye against the brief. #### When an estimate is not enough For sign-off, use the manufacturer's IES (LM-63) or EULUMDAT file in a calculation tool such as DIALux or Relux, which also accounts for reflections from walls and ceiling. The estimate above omits reflected light and assumes uniform intensity inside the beam. Use the manufacturer’s photometric distribution for the actual shape and intensity of the beam. #### How Lightshaped does it Lightshaped's light study uses the best source it has for each fixture: an attached IES file, datasheet lumens and beam angle, the product's published delivered lumens and optic, or a clearly labelled estimate. It computes direct illuminance on the floor or a work plane with object shadows, and the 3D preview draws its pools of light from the same numbers. It is a design aid and says so; it is not a compliance calculation. #### Questions people ask How do I convert lumens to lux? Divide the lumens that reach a surface by its area in square metres. For a spotlight, estimate the intensity from lumens and beam angle, then divide by the distance squared. What is the difference between beam angle and field angle? The beam angle is where intensity drops to 50% of the peak; the field angle is where it drops to 10%. The field angle is wider and closer to the visible edge of the light. Why is my measured lux higher than the calculation? Simple calculations count only direct light. Light reflected from walls, ceiling and floor adds to what a meter measures in a real room. #### Sources - [Illuminating Engineering Society: inverse-square law](https://ies.org/definitions/inverse-square-law/) - [Illuminating Engineering Society: luminous intensity](https://www.ies.org/definitions/luminous-intensity/) ## Contact Email: contact@lightshaped.com