I started on 2012, and got used to using Dimension 3D's "Render Firefly" script to correct the IDL lighting/effect being too strong.  It seems better, but still too strong...  But I'm far from an expert.  What are you guys experiencing?

It's frustrating, getting lighting in scenes finally figured out, then having to go through it all over again.

Short answer : NO.

Long answer:
IDL is the light we see in real life. It is what makes it possible for us to see things. If there would be no IDL in real life, the world would be like in space; Black or white.

IDL is not a switch you can click ON or OFF.

IDL "adds" light, diffused by the objects in the scene to the scene.

If you load a scene that was made with NO IDL and you click IDL to ON, you will have a way to bright scene. =>  You have to compensate older scenes by reducing the number of lights or reducing the intensity of the lights.

For outdoor scenes:
Always use BB's sphere (with a picture on it) and a single Infinite light set at intensity 65%. That is ALL you will ever need for an outside scene. There is only ONE sun out there (and that is our single Infinite light). All the other light comes from the IDL and the sphere.

For indoor scenes:
"Be" light, 'think" light. Where is the actual light source? Or where are the actual light sources? And work with reduced intensity's on the light bulbs.

Last: Do yourself a favor.
When you choose In Direct Light (as you should to simulate real world conditions) Stay away from Image Based Lights. That is the old school style to fake IDL.

Using the real IDL and IBL combined, you are using the fake PLUS the real thing.
See where I am going? Too bright. Unless you compensate.

You have the "real thing" now: In Direct Light.

Combining IBL and IDL should only be used for special effects and artistic purposes.

I have not had to make any adjustments going for PP12 to PP14. Lighting appears to still work the same, so yes, I keep using the script to turn IDL down.

Read this thread:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2860523

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Quote - Read this thread:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2860523

As Basicwiz posted in a separate thread, links are not working correctly right now.  Use copy & paste.

Good explanation Vilters.

I still sometimes use image based lighting simply because it is faster, and because I still get blotches in the corners when I use IDL. But not the two together.

Here is the thread from last year on IDL intensity.  The consensus is that the default intensity of 1 is much too high, but no agreement was made as to what intensity was 'correct'; it's in the eye of the beholder...

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=4017784

intensity of .6 works well for me, anything higher than that causes problems. I would say .7 is the highest you should go.

I usually go somewhere between 0.4 and 0.6 depending on the scene at the moment... but just going by eye. I say "at the moment"... I just managed to make my first render in months over the weekend. But in render that I used an IDL intensity of 0.5.

I guess the main point is just to turn it down enough to avoid the overloading that leads to glowing effects, etc...

...unless you want those, for some sort of effect ;-)

BTB = Back to basics.

Go out on a completely cloudy overcast day. = NO sunlight visible.
What light would you put in such outdoor scene in Poser?

If you answered "none" you are correct.

On a completely cloudy overcast day all you see in real life is In Direct Light, and in Poser all "light" should come from the BB's envysphere.

For a cloudy overcast day render, you do not need to add a single light in your Poser scene, but you will need a "pose light"  that does NOT render at render time to compose your scene.

Don't forget that photographers often use all kind of additional light for photoshoots, outside and inside to compensate for weather conditions and to get a more even light.

There is a difference between what the naked eye sees and what a camera sees.

Anyway, here is a quick IDL render in PP-2014:

One infinite sunlight. 65% intensity. 1.000 % Shadow. Shadow blur = 1.2

IDL is set at 98% as the scene is my own "Screen-O-Rama" prop that uses standard panorama pics and not HDRI's.

My own chrome and car paint shaders.

Render time 4 minutes on my i5 laptop.

I should add that for outdoor scenes I normally just use a single infinite sunlight and a "blank" IBL with no image attached.

Maybe the IBL with a hint of blue tint and the sun with a very light warm yellow tint.

It usually gets the job done and renders in a fraction of the time the IDL takes.

Here I combined IDL and a blank IBL.

The IDL was reduced to 0.2, but still creates good ground shadows.

The IBL reduces problems with low quality (=fast) IDL settings.

It's faster than the pure IDL render but still adds IDL realism.

I did some mildly scientific measurements and have settled on .65 as being about right, but it's a rendering engine and you can manipulate things basically to avoid postwork and get a look you want - in which case absolute slavish physics/realism is not entirely justified.

Quote -
Here I combined IDL and a blank IBL.

The IDL was reduced to 0.2, but still creates good ground shadows.

The IBL reduces problems with low quality (=fast) IDL settings.

It's faster than the pure IDL render but still adds IDL realism.

Hey, ebots are back! 

It doesn't matter much in this particular scene, but to improve the realism, one should  add AO to the materials.  This is not needed using IDL...

Quote - I did some mildly scientific measurements and have settled on .65 as being about right, but it's a rendering engine and you can manipulate things basically to avoid postwork and get a look you want - in which case absolute slavish physics/realism is not entirely justified.

Thanks BagginsBill!

Life stuff kept me away for a bit and I forgot about this thread until now.  It sounds similar to PP2012, IIRC you recommended the same or .6.

At full value, I did notice glowing areas like the glowing pits you mentioned, or (very) pink teeth were still here in 2014.  :sad:

Quote - Short answer : NO.

Long answer:
IDL is the light we see in real life. It is what makes it possible for us to see things. If there would be no IDL in real life, the world would be like in space; Black or white.

IDL is not a switch you can click ON or OFF.

IDL "adds" light, diffused by the objects in the scene to the scene.

If you load a scene that was made with NO IDL and you click IDL to ON, you will have a way to bright scene. =>  You have to compensate older scenes by reducing the number of lights or reducing the intensity of the lights.

For outdoor scenes:
Always use BB's sphere (with a picture on it) and a single Infinite light set at intensity 65%. That is ALL you will ever need for an outside scene. There is only ONE sun out there (and that is our single Infinite light). All the other light comes from the IDL and the sphere.

For indoor scenes:
"Be" light, 'think" light. Where is the actual light source? Or where are the actual light sources? And work with reduced intensity's on the light bulbs.

Last: Do yourself a favor.
When you choose In Direct Light (as you should to simulate real world conditions) Stay away from Image Based Lights. That is the old school style to fake IDL.

Using the real IDL and IBL combined, you are using the fake PLUS the real thing.
See where I am going? Too bright. Unless you compensate.

You have the "real thing" now: In Direct Light.

Combining IBL and IDL should only be used for special effects and artistic purposes.

 

Thanks.  I'm still learning Poser (do we ever stop learning?) and recall you and others mentioning that IBL was the old school way.

And what you mentioned is exactly what I'm doing - I'm basing my lighting off of where light should be coming from, and tweaking from there. 

For example, what I just purchased was TruForm's loft apartment.  For daytime with the very large windows, most light would be daylight through those windows, with only fill lighting from other lights.  So the fill lights get a low intensity, then IDL to take care of the rest.  And the tweaking to get it 'right'...

@ Gator762 : That is indeed the way to go.

And as BB stated in another post, do not be afraid to cranck the IDL up on the sphere.
It has to be high, as the light comes from the outside through the windows.

@Joepublic.

While your renders are nice, and I like them, remember :

On an overcast day with NO direct sunlight, Chrome does not do its bling-bling thing, and slowly fades to grey.
It still reflects, but the flashy "bling-bling" is gone on a dark overcast day.

Light? ?
Ha-yes, a never ending story, but the Poser IDL calculations seem about right.