Does this only happen with a sketch render? Did you already try rendering the same scenes with FF/SF?

No need to use Terminal, there's a much easier way:-

Open a Finder window, hit Command+J (Show View Options), and tick the option: Show Library Folder.

The Poser 11 preferences file is in your user Application Support folder:-

Users / {username} / Library / Application Support / Poser (or Poser Pro) / 11 / Poser Prefs

It should be there for earlier versions too.

Note that the Library folder might be hidden, depending on your version of OS X. I have unhidden mine.

[ravenous]

If the question is directed towards me, then it was bagginsbill who gave me that idea.

Yes, it was directed to you - sorry. He was answering your original post, in which you talked about reflecting an image on an IBL light. Firefly reflection doesn't react to lights, and Superfly completely ignores IBL lights.

But after some googling and research I came to the conclusion that there doesn't seem to exist a native Poser object that can function as a skydome/envirosphere.

Not until Poser 11, which does have the 'Construct' object already loaded in the default scene.

But why doesn't reflections simply work with the already existing background?

Because the Poser 'Background' is not an object (with geometry) in the scene. (See bagginsbill's first reply above).

Wot?

If you have a skydome / envirosphere / background plane etc. with an HDR image on it (or any kind of image for that matter), it will be reflected by a Poser reflection node.

Where did you get the idea that Poser doesn't do this?

There are some responses to this in the Smith Micro Poser forum.

By the way, to show backslashes in your text on this site, type two backslashes together.

I would not let either of these concerns prevent you from posting to the gallery with the good intention of seeking critique and developing your skills.

Regarding 'decency' - yes, there are well-intentioned limits on this site. It's not a cultural thing - nor is it directly related to eroticism. There are other sites with fewer restrictions, or in some cases (it seems) none at all, where some of the fantasised acts openly portrayed would be considered abhorrent in any culture. Taken together, it's all rather arbitrary and unprincipled - that is, until it comes to legislation concerning such things as pornographic images portraying children.

So for progressive work that would challenge the limits of this site, I think you'd be wise to find another place where it is acceptable, rather than waste your time and raise your blood pressure campaigning for it to be permitted here.

Anthony Appleyard posted at 10:03PM Wed, 08 June 2016 - #4271778

But does the sharpness of those shadows vary with how near the shadowing object is to the surface receiving the shadow?

Yes. I posted this example in the other thread too.

Edit: by the way, this example shows a very 'grainy' shadow - this is what happens when you blur them. To improve the quality, increase the number of Shadow Samples.

My bet is that MarianneR is on the right track. Can you categorically confirm that in the Poser screenshot you selected the Downloads library, and not the main Poser library?

If so, try hitting the 'up one level' button, then closing and re-opening Poser.

Edit: also, check (in Windows Explorer) what folders are present in the path: ... \ Poser 7 \ runtime \ libraries \ character

Anthony Appleyard posted at 9:34PM Tue, 07 June 2016 - #4271711

He may mean that the nearer the shading object is to the ground, the sharper is the shadow, because the real sun is not a point source but half a degree wide. Does Poser 11's shadowing system allow for this?

This is a different matter, but yes, it does. Let's assume that by "Poser 11's shadowing system" you mean Firefly, not Superfly (since you are using Firefly, and were asking about Firefly in your other thread). As in previous versions, you can still control shadow sharpness in Firefly using a light's "Shadow Blur Radius" parameter.

Nothing to worry about. But if it changes to white writing on a blue background... wake up. Pronto.

By the way, there may be some unexpected significance in what is missing from that string of numbers. Maybe your dream was telling you that your keyboard was going to start playing up.

Hope you feel better soon Sam.

lack of occlusion: as well as a ground shadow plane, we need an invisible plane or surface, parented to object or character X, which would prevent Poser from rendering those parts of X which are on the wrong side of the plane.

I think you may be misinterpreting what hborre meant by occlusion. All the parts of X should still be visible (they would only be invisible if buried in the 'ground'), but I think hborre meant there there should be some extra depth of shadow where X's feet are close to or touching the ground, for added 'believability'. (I'm not sure AO would do that on a shadow-catch only surface - I'd have to try it).

One thing you have to take care about is the position of the scene light that creates your ground shadows - it should more or less match the position of the light in the background image.

In your photo, the sun is high and coming from front right (notice the shadow of the boat's prow on the right, and the balcony railings on the far left). But the scene light is set low (and further back on the right), so the submarine's shadow is long and the ground underneath it is fully illuminated. That shadow doesn't fit with the background.

In Firefly, use Shadow Blur Radius:-

Another thing: the Specular_Color looks like black, but it might not be quite black. There should be no specular reflections on the background, so I would set the Specular_Value to zero to make sure of that. You can also delete the lower Color_Texture node.