The color of the shadow is too dark. What can I do to get a light shadow?

What kind of lights are you using?

Under the Parameters tab in the Parameters panel for the light there is a 'Shadow' dial.  By default, that value is set to 1.000 (100%).  Shadow values should never be set to 1.  Try reducing that value until you achieve a more realistic render.

RedPhantom posted at 8:25 AM Sat, 18 May 2024 - #4484938

What kind of lights are you using?

Under the Parameters tab in the Parameters panel for the light there is a 'Shadow' dial.  By default, that value is set to 1.000 (100%).  Shadow values should never be set to 1.  Try reducing that value until you achieve a more realistic render.

To be honest, the Sun intensity value is too high.  If you are using Superfly rendering and relying on HDRI illumination as well as an infinite light, I would reduce the sun intensity value.  Whenever I create an outdoor scene with a combination of HDRI and physical lights, the intensity value of the lights are decreased tremendously.  I have used values of 50% or lower, depending on how much of an influence I want the HDRI to impact the scene.

Using Poser 13's default "Mondello Beach", you  don't need any light- The default scene has one default light that has no effect on the render, as the scene is lit by the HDRi picture.

Example:

The said preview light has its Diffuse and Specular values set to black:

To be honest, the Sun intensity value is too high.  If you are using Superfly rendering and relying on HDRI illumination as well as an infinite light, I would reduce the sun intensity value.  Whenever I create an outdoor scene with a combination of HDRI and physical lights, the intensity value of the lights are decreased tremendously.  I have used values of 50% or lower, depending on how much of an influence I want the HDRI to impact the scene.

That shouldn't be. The HDRI should give plenty of light to the scene. Are there any other things in the scene that we can't see that might be affecting the light?

Can you show us screenshots of the shaders for the light and the background?

I quickly set up a similar scene to determine what is happening with the renders.  My first observation is that the shaders on the figure and clothing are not optimized for Superfly and are responding to the 'Sun' light source.  That is why the figure darkens as the light intensity value is decreased.  My second observation is that the shadow on the shadow-catching ground plane is responding to HDRI illumination, not the 'Sun' light source.  That explains why varying the 'sun' intensity has no effect on the shadow density.  

Check if the 'sun' light source has Shadows unchecked in the Properties Tab.  My suspicion is that it is unchecked, otherwise, you should have 2 shadows on the ground plane.  The solution to lighten the shadow is to place a low intensity, non-shadow area light or spotlight pointing toward the shadow behind the figure.  This is a hack but it will make the render more acceptable.

Y-Phil posted at 11:14 AM Sat, 18 May 2024 - #4484957

Using Poser 13's default "Mondello Beach", you  don't need any light- The default scene has one default light that has no effect on the render, as the scene is lit by the HDRi picture.

Example:

The said preview light has its Diffuse and Specular values set to black:

RedPhantom posted at 12:13 PM Sat, 18 May 2024 - #4484970

That shouldn't be. The HDRI should give plenty of light to the scene. Are there any other things in the scene that we can't see that might be affecting the light?

Can you show us screenshots of the shaders for the light and the background?

hborre posted at 12:42 PM Sat, 18 May 2024 - #4484972

I quickly set up a similar scene to determine what is happening with the renders.  My first observation is that the shaders on the figure and clothing are not optimized for Superfly and are responding to the 'Sun' light source.  That is why the figure darkens as the light intensity value is decreased.  My second observation is that the shadow on the shadow-catching ground plane is responding to HDRI illumination, not the 'Sun' light source.  That explains why varying the 'sun' intensity has no effect on the shadow density.  

Check if the 'sun' light source has Shadows unchecked in the Properties Tab.  My suspicion is that it is unchecked, otherwise, you should have 2 shadows on the ground plane.  The solution to lighten the shadow is to place a low intensity, non-shadow area light or spotlight pointing toward the shadow behind the figure.  This is a hack but it will make the render more acceptable.

You are right. The clothing are not optimized for Superfly because I just used a base color map.

I noticed a gray color chip on the Light material room node (Sun), change that to white.  That might be the cause of gray effect when you turn down the intensity of the illumination.  Turn off Shadows on that same light, decrease the intensity, and render your scene.  You should see some improvement in the skin texture with your render.  We'll address using the PhysicalSurface root node later.  I will be away from my computer most of the day until this evening.

I noticed a gray color chip on the Light material room node (Sun), change that to white.  That might be the cause of gray effect when you turn down the intensity of the illumination.  Turn off Shadows on that same light, decrease the intensity, and render your scene.  You should see some improvement in the skin texture with your render.  We'll address using the PhysicalSurface root node later.  I will be away from my computer most of the day until this evening.

Y-Phil posted at 11:14 AM Sat, 18 May 2024 - #4484957

Using Poser 13's default "Mondello Beach", you  don't need any light- The default scene has one default light that has no effect on the render, as the scene is lit by the HDRi picture.

Example:

The said preview light has its Diffuse and Specular values set to black:

@ Y-Phil   

I'm so curious that I'm asking you.

How did you manage to lighten the shadow on this link(https://www.renderosity.com/forums/threads/2954843/poser-12-renders?page=9)?

I tried Poser's default round ground plane HR like you said, but it didn't work in P13.

mini70 posted at 11:30 PM Tue, 21 May 2024 - #4485137

I've done a few tests and indeed: at the time of  Poser12, it looks like the shadow seemed influenced by the environment lighting, and it's clearly not the case any more in Poser13.

As a side node, we've been waiting for a true shadow catcher for Superfly since the its beginning. The only other solution is by using Snarly's shadow catcher, but it's not obvious. I've kept a video in which Snarly explains how to use it, among other things.

In the present case, using Poser13 and the round groundplane as shadow catcher: the color of the PoserSurface Node's Diffuse color influences the color of shadows, as well as the other objects' color.
To make the shadows lighter, I see the use of the PoserSurface node's transparency. But use it with caution as the background disappears also. It appears in my scene as I'm not using any 3D ground, other than the shadow catcher.

Here's an example: the same scene, with just the skins and hairs material updated. I'm using Pure White for the shadow catcher's Diffuse color.

Transparency=0:

Transparency=0.2:

But honestly,  don't find it really convincing. 

Here I tried to add an infinite light without shadow, vertically, at 10%:

Detailed view to compare:

Poser uses the HDRI lighting that is part of Cycles. And yes the shadows are not ideal. Being a PBR, Cycles isn't good at non-physical renders. Shadow catchers are definitely not part of this reality.

nerd posted at 9:38 AM Thu, 23 May 2024 - #4485192

Poser uses the HDRI lighting that is part of Cycles. And yes the shadows are not ideal. Being a PBR, Cycles isn't good at non-physical renders. Shadow catchers are definitely not part of this reality.

mini70 posted at 11:30 PM Tue, 21 May 2024 - #4485137

I've done a few tests and indeed: at the time of  Poser12, it looks like the shadow seemed influenced by the environment lighting, and it's clearly not the case any more in Poser13.

As a side node, we've been waiting for a true shadow catcher for Superfly since the its beginning. The only other solution is by using Snarly's shadow catcher, but it's not obvious. I've kept a video in which Snarly explains how to use it, among other things.

In the present case, using Poser13 and the round groundplane as shadow catcher: the color of the PoserSurface Node's Diffuse color influences the color of shadows, as well as the other objects' color.
To make the shadows lighter, I see the use of the PoserSurface node's transparency. But use it with caution as the background disappears also. It appears in my scene as I'm not using any 3D ground, other than the shadow catcher.

Here's an example: the same scene, with just the skins and hairs material updated. I'm using Pure White for the shadow catcher's Diffuse color.

Transparency=0:

Transparency=0.2:

But honestly,  don't find it really convincing. 

Here I tried to add an infinite light without shadow, vertically, at 10%:

Detailed view to compare:

Poser uses the HDRI lighting that is part of Cycles. And yes the shadows are not ideal. Being a PBR, Cycles isn't good at non-physical renders. Shadow catchers are definitely not part of this reality.

mini70 posted at 7:32 AM Sun, 26 May 2024 - #4485306

I got it, thank you very much for the detailed explanation.