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?