Has anybody been able to figure out why the "reflected" image of a model does not properly handle lighting? In addition to the 'normal' lighting for rendering purposes, I added a spot pointing at a part of the model that could only be seen in the reflection. The "reflected" image in the "mirror" prop did NOT get lighted.

Go to the light's properties page and check the "include in ray tracing" check box.

Danke Schoen. DankuVell. Efkharisto! Toda Raba! Gracias. Grazie, Merci Beaucoup. and even thank you... And that's BEFORE I even try it out!

I'm sorry if I seem dense, but could you explain a bit more about that lighting tip, neilp?. None of my LIGHTS have anything on their properties list that implies "include in ray tracing". On the other hand all of my figures and props have a property called "VISIBLE in ray tracing". So, am I missing a special type of light that can NOT be seen in raytracing, because all of mine are by default? I might also suggest an alternative explaination to what might be happening - of course, this is just speculation without seeing the picture in question. Here's what I think is happening. Most commonly available light sets are designed to cast light primarily from the FRONT, and do NOT illuminate the backsides of the objects the way they appear from the front. Remember, in a reflection, you are seeing the side of the prop or figure that you can NOT see from the camera position. If you orbit your camera around the figure by 180 degrees, you might see that from the BACK, there is little or no light, so you need to add a light that shines from the back toward the camera. It won't change the lighting on the front, but it may brighten the ground a little, so you have to balance that. Also note that reflections do NOT reflect the light itself, only things that are illuminated by a regular light. Be sure to orbit your camera back to the front before rendering :-)

The light I set to "reflect" the target in the mirror was set on that side of the figure that showed up in the reflection. If I rotate the camera, it shows clearly. And, as you said and as I expect, when I go back to the desired camera position, the effect of the light is not visible. But the REFLECTION in the mirror in front of the fiture shows the same area of the figure that was properly lighted when I rotated the camera. I'll now check my lights and see if I can find the suggested box to click to get the lights used in reflections. If not, the problem remains unsolved. If it IS a problem, I would think that the folks at Curious had better relook at the way they use lights in the scene.

If you have the backside of your figure illuminated, then the problem must be with your reflection setup. Be sure that the reflect node is plugged into the reflect channed of the Poser Surface. Make sure that the diffuse color is BLACK. Make sure that reflection value is 1.00 and that reflect color is white, and UNCHECK Reflect_Lite_Mult AND Reflect_Kd_Mult. That should give you a mirror with full reflections which is unaffected by the lighting. I have done extensive work with reflections is P5 and I can assure you that they work fine. Of course, in render options you must have raytracing on.

Thanx ron... I thought I had done all that, but I'll check again..