Avoid NURBS CUBEs for any part of the 2nd lamp.
Be careful to NOT place Spot Light OUTSIDE the Cone.

  1. I did the base of this lamp with a NURBS CUBE. It can be done, but I recommend that you do NOT use a NURBS Cube.
  2. NURBS Cubes make the process of building the 2nd lamp quite a bit more challenging. The POLYGONAL Cube for the LAMP base, or a NURBS Sphere is much, much simpler.
  3. The problem with the NURBS CUBE: It is a group of six sides and is NOT treated as a single object. When you try to select the CUBE, you get one side of the CUBE instead of the CUBE.

Beware of this problem with the Spot Light inside of the NURBS or POLYGONAL Cone structure

  1. The Spot Light has been accidently placed OUTSIDE of the Cone. You see the wireframe of the spotlight here, as it is selected. The Cone Angle has been adjusted so it stays outside the NURBS Cone.
  2. The first and second image below here are renderings with the Cone Angle at the default 40 degrees for the Spot Light.
    1. The first image has shadowing turned off, the default. Since shadows are turned off, the light actually goes right through the Cone. We have no clue that the Cone is actually blocking the light source!
    2. The 2nd image is exactly the same as the first, except the Light has been set to "Use Depth Map Shadows" on. Since Shadows are on, the light is blocked from actually shining on anything. You can barely see a speck of light where it hits the back tip of the NURBS Cone that it is so very close to.
  3. The 3rd image is exactly the same settings as the 2nd image, except the Cone Angle of the Spot Light has been increased by 17 degrees, from 40 degrees to 57 degrees. The Cone Angle is wide enough now that it goes AROUND the Object, around the NURBS Cone that is blocking it.
  4. The last image has Cone Angle 57. It is the same settings as the 3rd image, except "Use Depth Map Shadows" has been turned OFF again. So the Spot Light travels right through the Cone and casts now shadows.
  5. Moral of this story: Be sure your Spot Light is inside of your Cone when you make the Lamp!