How to generate lightmaps?

General Discussion
1

For example:

I have a big scene. Houses, roads, trees and etc. It’s really big so dynamic shadows and lights is a bad idea. So I’ve chosen lightmaps.

Now, I have to:

Create shadows(easy)

Make a lightmap-camera(no idea)

Collect all data about shadows&lights(my mind starts to overheat)

Delete all nodes from the render tree but make the lights&shadow on their place(I am feeling like beeing fried)

Capture this at twice the resolution of the scene(my body blows up spreading every atom to the unvierse)

Add the picture on the ground(pretty hacky, but possible)

First I thought it will be fun to do it. But I stopped at the lightmap camera and never found out how to do it.

Maybe you could help me.

2

lightmaps are usualy created in your modelling-software.

most of them allow to add a 2nd UV-layer + textures which can be used to “bake” lightmaps.
blender , maya and i think max can do that quite easily.
there are other, more hacky ways to get lightmaps into panda.
creating lightmaps inside panda might be quite tricky to set up. i have no really good idea for an easy way to do it.

3

If your modeling program cannot handle it, I recommend:
frecle.net/index.php?show=giles.about

4

4Tomas:
I still don’t create my own models, so I didn’t know that. Thx.

btw UV layers are seriously supported? WOW!
2Rsoft:
Amazing! I have no words!