The room is bright, (using chipps Interior Pak atmosphere) but I want to give a mood to the detective who
wears a fedora so I want the hat to cast a shadow across the face.

What do the experts here think is the best way to do that?

I'm not an expert but if you want realism, you can't have an overall bright room and a shadow at the same time. Lighting consistency is very important to achieve realism. So, if you want a shadow you have to dim the ambient light of the room and have the light source somewhere above the detective's head, IMO.

If you are using the Ambient only model of InteriorPak, then you know it doesn't cast shadows.

You can add a spotlight and if you have Vue Infinite allow it to only affect your detective. Next turn down the ambient settings for all the detective's materials so they aren't affected much by the room ambience and only by the spotlight.

You'll want to make sure the spotlight isn't calculated in the pre-radiosity render settings, so be sure and turn turn on the button "Exclude from radiosity" (light bulb icon next to the cloud icon in the settings panel for the light.

Artur is correct, you may have to dim the ambient lighting to get the proper contrast.

HTH, Chipp

Chipp,

Am I correct in assuming your Interior Pack works in Vue 7 as well as in Vue 6?

 No. It does not Mari-Anne. I am working on a new version for Vue 7 as we speak ;-)

I hope to have it out in December.

best,
Chipp

Quote -  No. It does not Mari-Anne. I am working on a new version for Vue 7 as we speak ;-)

I hope to have it out in December.

best,
Chipp

I'll bet your new pak will "populate" many a stocking just in time for Christmas.....