Believable3D opened this issue on Aug 15, 2014 · 5 posts
aRtBee posted Sat, 16 August 2014 at 2:01 AM
essentially, Ambient Occlusion is meant for IBL lights only.
It should not be in the materials any more, it should not be on infinite / point / spot-lights, and it should not be around in IDL environments.
But of course, one can find some artistic needs for AO, for instance when switching off light emitter to take the surface out of the IDL process.
In my opinion, IBL/IDL are good in soft lighting but tend to ruin the shadows and shades that give depth to the scene and shape to the objects (and translucency to scatter). Direct lights do the opposite. High GC exaggerates the workings of IDL and reduces the workings of Direct Light, low GC does the opposite. So the art is in the balancing of those elements, like photographers are balancing natural light and additional flash.
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Usually I'm wrong. But to be effective and efficient, I don't need to be correct or accurate.
visit www.aRtBeeWeb.nl (works) or Missing Manuals (tutorials & reviews) - both need an update though