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.