I posted two pictures today. Same model, different lighting. I got helpfull comments - one of them was to soften the shadows, by switching from ray traced to depth mapped shadows. I tried that - but the result was much different than I expected. The shadows looked different, especially in the face. I did further test renders, from which the included picture was composed.

Since the picture contains bare breasts, I only post the comparison here, so I do not have to flag it. But the full pictures can be found on my site, links are included here.

poser.maredias.de/Shadows/Depthmap1024.jpg
poser.maredias.de/Shadows/Depthmap4096.jpg
poser.maredias.de/Shadows/Raytracednoblur.jpg
poser.maredias.de/Shadows/raytracedblur10.jpg
poser.maredias.de/Shadows/raytracedblur20.jpg

So, which kind of shadows do you use, and why?

Do you compare the looks in a test render?

A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.
Sail out to sea and do new things.
-"Amazing Grace" Hopper

Avatar image of me done by Chidori. 

I did a whole bunch of tests recently. here is a link to what I was finding
http://www.contentparadise.com/forums/contentparadise/index.php?showtopic=3670

I like Raytracing but found mapped shadows still a favorite for speed. 

The lights I came up with of both types I included with Apollo Maximus' free download.

-Anton, creator of Apollo Maximus
"Conviction without truth is denial; Denial in the face of truth is concealment."

Over 100,000 Downloads....

Thanks bantha, very informative post. 

Gallery

Thank you, Anton. I had not seen your post on contentparadise earlier. Very helpfull.

A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.
Sail out to sea and do new things.
-"Amazing Grace" Hopper

Avatar image of me done by Chidori.