When I render an image in Poser Pro 2014 using light sets I set up in Poser 6 it does not render shadows.  The light sets worked fine in Poser 6.  I've tried deleting all the lights and reapplying the light set but it didn't help and I've confirmed that all the light and render settings are the same.  Can anyone help?

From Poser 6 to PP2014 is a HUGE step upwards in the Lights and render areas.

No wonder Poser 6 lights can give you trouble if you do not adapt them to the newer render options.

Using the same light setup, and rendering with all PP2014 options, as IDL and SSS set to ON, will wash out all your shadows.

That is why we advice to : never buy lights. They only work in the Poser version they where build for.

Carefully evaluate all render options, certainly when using newer options as IDL and SSS.

To be fair, it has been years that I rendered with more then one infinite light in a scene, all the rest coming from the IDL and bb's sphere.
Adding a light, WOULD wash out shadows.

In real life, there is only ONE sun, all the rest of our "real life" light is IDL light.

In general, you can reduce the strenght of all lights by 50% or more when rendering with IDL.

Thank you for your reply... I recreated the light set in Poser Pro 2014 and it seems to work, but I'm still fumbling around with its new features.

Definitely you will need to unlearn and relearn everything transitioning from P6 to PP2014.  Best of luck to you.

Quote - Thank you for your reply... I recreated the light set in Poser Pro 2014 and it seems to work, but I'm still fumbling around with its new features.

Here is my very best advice to anyone in your shoes:

1. A great many issues that you think are lighting are not lighting. They are shader node issues. Get Snarleygribley's EZSkin2 and Scene Fixer at: http://snarlygribbly.org/3d/forum/index.php They are free. They take care of fixing all that is wrong with your old content to make it ready for the new system. You need to run Scenefixer with all the top set of options selected and "Whole Scene" checked. Then run EZSkin and take the defaults. (You'll learn about the many options later.)

2. If you are rendering outside scenes, get BB's Envosphere at: https://sites.google.com/site/bagginsbill/free-stuff/environment-sphere. This free tool makes the new lighting system work right when there are no walls to bounce against.

3. Realize that lighting has changed in a fundimental way. Place your lights where lights would actually BE in your scenes. As a rule, you no longer go with the old "Key", "Fill", "Back" scheme we all knew and hated. This means:

      - All lights... make sure you have "Raytace Shadows" selected in the light properties screen. Depth mapped shadows are the source of many, many "why the heck did THAT happen" issues.

      - Outside. The dome itself will light your scene. Place a single (infinity) light where the sun would be. Set it at about 50% brightness. Your scene is now lit. Use the "Render Firefly" script to actually do the renders. This is located under Scripts>Partners>Dimension3D. Make cure "Gamma Correction" is checked. Check the "Enable Indirect Light" box. Set the Intensity at about 63%. Set the "Precalculation Scale" at about 50%. Click "Render Background."

      - Inside. Place point lights wherever you would have a light source... like at a lamp, or lighting fixture. Set them all at about 20% for starters. Go to the "Render Firefly" script above.

This doesn't make things perfect, but if you start with simple scenes you are going to learn what things do and where the controls are very fast.

Good luck!

Quote - 3. Realize that lighting has changed in a fundimental way. Place your lights where lights would actually BE in your scenes. As a rule, you no longer go with the old "Key", "Fill", "Back" scheme we all knew and hated.

Unless you actually want Key, Fill and Rim lighting! which is a very common photographic lighting setup :)

**In short, In PP2014 :
**

• always render inside BB's sphere
• always render with IDL ON
• always render with GC at 2.2

You will see that you will need only half the light, or less, then before.
Half being the sum of all lights strenghts in the scene.

Unless for artistic purposes. LOL.