Used to select rooms to include in the daylighting calculation, to define the calculation method and the calculation grid, and to create view points for rendering the calculation results.

Setting	Description
Rooms Selection	Contains tools used to select the thermal zones containing the rooms you want to include in daylighting calculations. Zones drop list - Contains a list of all existing zones to select from. When a zone is selected, the rooms it contains are listed in the rooms list panel. Select All - Selects all the rooms in the selected zone. Select None - Deselects all selected rooms. ... (Options) - Drop menu contains options for displaying rooms with divisions (virtual walls). Rooms Only - Sets rooms panel to display only room objects. Show Divisions - Sets rooms panel to display only room division objects. Show Divisions with Room - Sets rooms panel to display both room and room division objects. Rooms panel - Lists rooms and divisions based on selections made with the Room Selection tools.
Name	Used to enter a name for the simulation, and to select existing simulations.
Description	Used to enter a description for the simulation.
Time and Date	Time - Used to enter the date to simulate with Day/Month format. A pop up calendar is available for selecting a date. Date - Used to enter the time of day to simulate with Hour/Minute format. Up/Down arrows are available to modify the hour and/or minute.
Calculation Mode	Sky - Sets the sky conditions for the simulation. available choices are: Sunny with sun - The sky distribution corresponds to the standard CIE clear sky condition with additional direct illumination from the sun included. Expect very bright patches due to direct illumination from the sun with relatively dark areas where direct sunlight does not fall. Sunny without sun - The standard CIE clear sky distribution without direct illumination from the sun. Intermediate with sun - Sky with intermediate conditions between the overcast and clear skies with direct illuminance from the sun included. Intermediate no sun - The CIE standard intermediate sky with illuminance distribution conditions between the overcast and clear skies. Direct illuminance from the sun is not included. Overcast sky - The CIE Standard Overcast Sky, originally known as the Moon and Spencer Sky, was devised to represent the luminance distribution observed for overcast skies. Adopted as a standard by the CIE in 1955, this description is the one most frequently used for illuminance modelling. In this model, the sky brightness increases gradually with altitude from the horizon to the zenith, but it does not vary with azimuth. Uniform sky - where the sky illumination is completely uniform. Daylight factors Include all rooms in shading - When on, all rooms are considered in the daylighting calculation. When off, only the selected rooms are considered in the daylighting calculation.
Calculation Grid	Working plane height - Used to enter the height of the working plane above floor level for each zone in the daylight simulation. The working plane height is normally set at the average height of the top surface of the desks above the floor. A typical value will be in the range 0.7-0.8 meters. Horizontal spacing - Used to divide up the working plane horizontally when calculating illuminance. Larger values will speed up calculations but give lower resolution in daylighting outputs. You should consider the size and number of zones in the building when entering values. Fine horizontal spacing causes the daylighting calculations to take a longer to complete. However, coarse horizontal spacing in a small zone may not give a good enough distribution. Vertical spacing - Used to divide up the working plane vertically when calculating illuminance. Larger values will speed up calculations but give lower resolution in daylighting outputs. You should consider the size and number of zones in the building when entering values. Fine vertical spacing causes the daylighting calculations to take a longer to complete. However, coarse vertical spacing in a small zone may not give a good enough distribution. Note: To maintain a uniform grid across the working plane set the Horizontal spacing size the same value as the Vertical spacing size.
Views	Contains controls used to manage daylighting view points to rooms in the model. Enable - When on (button highlighted), selected view points are included in the daylighting calculation. Add - Used to add a view point. Clicking Add temporarily hides the Daylighting dialog, and prompts you to: Select room - Select a room in the model. Select view point - Identifies the location of the view point with a data point. Select target point - identifies the direction and target of the view point with another data point. A graphical vector symbol is created to represent the view point. After the target point is selected, the Daylighting dialog is restored, and the new view point appears on the list (within the selected room hierarchy). You can add as many view points as you want. Delete - Removes selected view points from the list. Edit - Used to modify existing view points. Clicking Edit opens the Edit View Point dialog which contains controls to modify the view point details. Note: Can also be opened by double clicking view points in the Views table. View point: X Y Z - Used to manually edit the coordinates of the view point you established using the Add tool. View target: X Y Z - Used to manually edit the coordinates of the view target you established using the Add tool. View direction: X Y Z - Used to manually edit the coordinates of the view point direction you established using the Add tool. OK - Saves all changes, closes the dialog, and applies them to the view point. Cancel - Discards all changes, and closes the dialog. Show View Points - When on (button highlighted), selected view points are displayed in the model. Views table - Lists existing view points. The view points are arranged by room. View Point - Displays the XYZ coordinates of the View Point. Target Point - Displays the XYZ coordinates of the Target Point. Direction - Displays the XYZ coordinates of the Direction vector.
Options	Opens Daylighting Options dialog which is used to set rendering and calculation options. Rendering Options tab - Contains controls used to define aspects of both image and contour renderings. Model Detail - Sets the level of visual detail, and is used to determining image sampling rate for rendered images. Lighting - Specifies how much light varies over the surfaces. and is used to determine what level of sampling is needed in the indirect calculation. Image Quality - Sets the overall quality of rendered images. Diffuse Level - Indicates how many diffuse reflections are important in the general lighting of the zone. Generate penumbras - When on, penumbras (soft shadows) are applied to rendered images. When off, no penumbras are applied resulting in sharp shadows. Contour Image Rendering - Displays several contour rendering options. Reset - Returns all tab settings to defaults. Calculation Options tab - Contains controls used to define calculation output and accuracy options. Illuminance - When on (default), sets calculation to produce illuminance values. Luminance - When on, sets calculation to produce illuminance values. Bounces - When on (default), sets the maximum number of diffuse bounces computed by the indirect calculation. Resolution - When on (default), sets the maximum density of ambient values used in interpolation. Accuracy - When on (default), approximates the error from indirect illuminance interpolation. Divisions - When on (default), the error in the Monte Carlo calculation of indirect illuminance is inversely proportional to the square root of the entered value. Super-samples - When on (default), super-samples are applied onlt to the ambient divisions which show a significant change. Specular sampling - When on, sets the degree to which the highlights are sampled for rough specular materials. Specular sampling threshold - When on, sets the maximum fraction of reflection or transmission, under which no specular sampling is performed. Jittering - When on, sets the level of sampling points distribution. Sampling ratio - When on (default), a light source is divided until the width of each sample area divided by the distance to the illuminated point is below the ratio entered here. Threshold - When on, shadow testing is stopped when the potential contribution of at least the next and at most all remaining light sources is less than the entered value of the accumulated value. Certainty - When on, a value of 1 guarantees the absolute accuracy of the direct calculation is equal or better than the threshold value. A value of 0 only insures all shadow lines resulting in a contrast change greater than the threshold value are calculated. Reset - Returns all tab settings to defaults. Integrated Help - Help is provided in the field at the bottom of the dialog. Position the pointer over the settings to enable help. OK - Saves changes, applies them to the daylighting calculation, and closes the dialog. Cancel - Discards changes, and closes the dialog.
Start	Starts the calculation. Note: Notifications panel displays simulation status.