As a general bit of advice, I want to point out also that you should pay attention to "exposure". In Poser we don't have the equivalent of a camera exposure control (even though the parameters make it look like we do.) So to increase your exposure, you have to manipulate your light intensities. All of them. So the fewer light sources you have, the easier this is.

And - use my light meter. It's free. It's easy to use. It does not interfere with render speed.

I used it here to find that a good intensity for my PBL, as measured from inside the enclosure, is about 900%.

Thanks for the additional renders, BB.

Yeah, that's the problem: Local shadows.

In my "Beach Scene", there are no buildings, Just the sand and the background/sky.

I can add "local shadows" easily by creating an additional "shadow catcher" ground layer to darken ground shadows, thus creating the illusion of IDL without actually using it.

But in a "fully furnished" scene like the backyard scene I've shown, there are simply too many nooks and crannies and dark corners going on to get a truly convincing "IDL-free" result.

I'm all for faster render times and I'm constantly trying to refine the light sets I use, but so far it was always the shadows that gave any shortcuts away that I tried.

My simple beach scene. Basically a 360° cyclorama with a transmapped ground.

No HDRI pics anywhere. The background and sky are just a jpg set to 1.0 ambient value.

The ground is set up in the "normal" way with a procedural texture and a transmap to blend with the background.

First with a simple (yellow) infinite sun and a blue IBL.

The shadows under the car are very light.

 

Now I added a second ground layer acting as a shadow catcher to double the ground shadows. Looks better and perhaps "good enuff" for everyday use.

Finally the IDL render. (IBL switched off. Infinite sun stayed the same)

The ground shadows are even better and also the interior shadows have been slightly darkened. Even the insides of the rear lights look better.

Overall the most realistic.

Attached Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZxDMfL44Q

Even better realtime photorealism demo:

(NUDITY)

Some addendum:

I've given up on using AO a long time ago as I simply don't like its "look". Reminds me when back in the 80's it was en vogue to give scale models a simple "wash" of highly thinned black or dark brown paint to add "depth" and "realism". It does work to a certain extent, but it is easily overdone and then looks fake.

I think it just doesn't work well with the "normal" shadows and it takes too much time to be set up properly. (= per material)

In any case, I never was happy with the results I've got.

The deeper "corner" shadows of IDL are of course also a result of bouncing light. Less light bouncing around in dark corners/tight spaces = deeper shadows.

But unlike the AO the "IDL-shadows" blend much better with the regular shadows.

I'm not saying every render needs IDL. On the contrary: 90% of my renders are made without it.

I'm just saying I haven't found a better (faster) method yet to give me similar results.

At least not in "fully furnished" realistic scenes.

 

Aaaand there is even another problem:

Some light sets look absolutely fantastic with architecture. But the moment you place a figure in that scene, the skin shader looks horrible.

The skin shader I use is still about 95% EZSkin so I guess there isn't too much wrong with it, so if a certain light setup doesn't give me good results with it, I cannot use it.

The problem gets worse the lighter the skin texture is, btw.

The average "dark orange sunkissed" DAZ skins are a lot more resilent than the "lily-white" textures I mostly prefer.

But IMO a good lightning setup should be neutral and work with all types of skin shaders.

No more words ;)

I love this discussion, but I have one question. I have Poser Pro 2012 and will still be using it for the foreseable future because I can't afford yet to yet PP2014. How do you use IBL with an Environment sphere? Whenever I've tried it, it seems that the sphere is blocking the IBL light. Is there something I'm not doing, or is this a quirk of PP2012 that you can't use an IBL light with an Environment sphere (yeah and add a touch of IDL as well). I like IBL because I can adjust contrast. I can't adust contrast with Envsphere and IDL. Or if there is a way to adjust contrast with that combo, I don't know how to do it.

Who's sphere are you using? Who's shader on the sphere are you using?

Anybody's sphere can be made to behave, but I'm wondering if you have mine, because mine comes properly set up.

If you're using my sphere and my shaders, not only can you adjust contrast, but you can do quite dramatic effects. Have you looked here?

https://sites.google.com/site/bagginsbill/free-stuff/environment-sphere/environment-sphere-effects

Yes, I am using your sphere, BB. I did not check out the section on Effects. I was just wondering if in PP2012 a sphere blocks the IBL light. If it does, then how the heck would you using IBL n a closed room under PP2012???

To use an IBL for lighting and an EnvSphere for reflections with or without IDL, you should have the EnvSphere Properties Visible On, Casts shadows Off, Light Emitter Off, Visible in Raytracing On.

To switch from IBL as lighting to IDL+EnvSphere as lighting, enable IDL, then EnvSphere Property Light Emitter to On.

If IDL is turned off, nothing you do will make the EnvSphere cast the light - it will come from IBL.

The most important thing is that the EnvSphere should not cast a shadow. That makes it block light from infinite lights.

 

 

Okay, so I do mostly demos for characters. For another project I will be doing outdoor renders of a Post Apocalytpic nature. But in general right now I'm doing character demos for sale either at Rendo or Hivewire, which means the render has to look good right out of Poser with no post work (the way I like to operate most of the time). So, I have a white back drop, I have the floor turned on, and your Environment sphere. I have tried a to combine IBL with the Sphere AND some IDL for my renders, but it seems that I can't get that to combine. I have found that turning of Light Emitting on the sphere LOOKs like it lets me use the IBL, but I've never been sure. Could I get some help with this sort of set up????

So here's my EnvSphere screenshot. Right now this is IDL rendering only. I use mostly interior LDRs on my Sphere.

My render settings.

And the render. I would love to improve on this look if I can. And if I can add IBL to it as well for good effect.