Hey guys,

can anyone please answer a few questions:

1. If I click the Add Reflection button, the render mode automatically switches from Superfly to Firefly
2. It adds an invalid sphere map - what's the point of a Wacro that creates and invalid connection
3. How DO I use sphere maps now?
4. Why is the displayed image not generating a reflection? It makes no difference if I use spheres or HDRI images

I tried adding a specular or blinn node to the alt specular, massively ramping the reflectance, increasing the superfly glossy render quality, etc, and I could get a very weak reflection, but given that it's reflecting the adjacent cube, and the background is not even previewing in the reflection node (although it did when I first connected it), I feel that I must be making some kind of silly mistake. As always, your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

The sphere map node is a vestigial leftover from the days when Firefly needed cheats.

If you want a mirror ball, and you're using P12 and rendering in Superfly, I'd use the PhysicalSurface root.

But, the PoserSurface root will do. Try killing the Diffuse and Specular (set value to zero, set color to black). See what happens. Do you have the mirror ball in an environment, such as the construct? That enclosed environment will give the camera something to see in reflection. If I remember correctly, your Lincoln memorial image map would only show where there is no environment to be reflected.

seachnasaigh posted at 8:47AM Thu, 25 March 2021 - #4415577

The sphere map node is a vestigial leftover from the days when Firefly needed cheats.

If you want a mirror ball, and you're using P12 and rendering in Superfly, I'd use the PhysicalSurface root.

But, the PoserSurface root will do. Try killing the Diffuse and Specular (set value to zero, set color to black). See what happens. Do you have the mirror ball in an environment, such as the construct? That enclosed environment will give the camera something to see in reflection. If I remember correctly, your Lincoln memorial image map would only show where there is no environment to be reflected.

Thank you so much for your response. I have no problem using the Physicalsurface node but I was preparing for a tutorial on the PoserSurface inputs and realised that I could not get a Superfly reflection from the reflection node. If I leave exactly the same wiring, it performs as expected, using my image map plugged into the background map which shows that the background node is working to create a reflection without the need for an environment dome. To be clear, I'm not trying to create a mirror ball - I'm try to create a reflection on a normally coloured but relective surface so if I turn the diffuse to black, it would defeat the object. Regarding the sphere node, how do I tell poser that I am using a spherical projection rather than a rectangular one then?

In fact, I seem

The Cycles EnvironmentTexture node allows you to specify equirectangular, but I don't see that sky map even if I make the construct invisible.

seachnasaigh posted at 10:40AM Thu, 25 March 2021 - #4415583

The Cycles EnvironmentTexture node allows you to specify equirectangular, but I don't see that sky map even if I make the construct invisible.

No, it's not designed as a sky map but as a REFLECTION map. Render that image in Firefly to see how it's supposed to work.

AcePyx posted at 3:25PM Thu, 25 March 2021 - #4415588

seachnasaigh posted at 10:40AM Thu, 25 March 2021 - #4415583

The Cycles EnvironmentTexture node allows you to specify equirectangular, but I don't see that sky map even if I make the construct invisible.

No, it's not designed as a sky map but as a REFLECTION map. Render that image in Firefly to see how it's supposed to work.

You don't need a reflection map. This is a hangover from that cheat mentioned above: In the bad old days Poser had no reflection node, and a reflection map run through that sphere map was used to give an illusion of reflection. If you've been at this long enough you may still be able to find materials that include them:

From Maclean's Home One. This really only worked for small items; if you wanted to show a figure reflected in a mirror you had to do it in postwork on a rendered image. In version umpty-mumble the reflection node appeared, and actual genuine reflections became possible, and there was great rejoicing, and you didn't need those maps any longer. In fact they may be part of what's messing you up.

Now what this did was to blend the reflecting object's diffuse color and the reflection map, and it appears to still be at it, which is why setting the diffuse color to black may help if you're looking for a "mirror-like" reflected image.

jimmy1 posted at 3:48PM Thu, 25 March 2021 - #4415605

You don't need a reflection map. This is a hangover from that cheat mentioned above: In the bad old days Poser had no reflection node, and a reflection map run through that sphere map was used to give an illusion of reflection. If you've been at this long enough you may still be able to find materials that include them:

From Maclean's Home One. This really only worked for small items; if you wanted to show a figure reflected in a mirror you had to do it in postwork on a rendered image. In version umpty-mumble the reflection node appeared, and actual genuine reflections became possible, and there was great rejoicing, and you didn't need those maps any longer. In fact they may be part of what's messing you up.

Now what this did was to blend the reflecting object's diffuse color and the reflection map, and it appears to still be at it, which is why setting the diffuse color to black may help if you're looking for a "mirror-like" reflected image.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I have lots of products that use simulated reflection maps Jimmy. So are you saying that the reflection input's only purpose is legacy support for old pre-reflection firefly content? So I should simply plug in a glossy node (for instance) to alt specular, then reflect an actual environment dome more or less as seachnasaigh is indicating?

Yes, exactly.

" So are you saying that the reflection input's only purpose is legacy support for old pre-reflection firefly content?" No that's going too far. There's a proper way to use that input but SphereMap is not it.