Very cool images the upper image makes me think that there is something going on and she must be careful, while the bottom one is more carefree and secure

Nice light work!

Mmmmmm! I prefer the top one as well.. Mind you, its the 'Dark' look isn't it mate lol Bottom one seems a bit too bright? Or is it me? Picture is excellent by the way, I like!!! Hi there, I arrived back safe lol Will mail soon.. Hope your well and keeping good! Rob

I prefer the top too, soft and beautifully red. But I know nothing about Daz :D

Unfortunately one have to redo all the lights to have them worked well with Reality, the same as with some materials, it is as if using another software, things always turn out differently and especially the lights. The images are very small so imagine how it will last with bigger images ;-) Nice work and trial my friend !

I agree to you Ian,I prefer the top one,It looks much more artistically then the other one!Bottom one is looks like get drowned in the strong light,is this "Reality"?? how can be define "reality"??Light conditions are very variable, accordingly to weather,night or day,fog,rain,snow!I don't think the reality depend on brightness!By the way the pose,expression and POV is very good as always!!:-)))

Yep, count me in with the ones that prefer the top image! To me the lighting is so much better, more atmosphere. Excellent work.

Brilliant artwork!

wonderful image!! I like the top one. It's very intense and the atmo is gripping, in the bottom one she looks sunbathing.

the daz one looks indeed better and considering the wait not for me.

I prefer the top one too - I just love that pose though!

Love the top one..nice job!!

Cool renders - I also prefer the top one!

I will agree, that while the top image does look superior to the second, you have to remember that you're comparing apples and oranges between Daz (3Delight) rendering and Reality (Lux). Luxrender (Reality) is a physical based, non-biased render engine ... therefore, light is going to behave differently than with Daz because it's going to behave far .. far more true to life than Daz lights. In order to get the most out of Reality (and Lux), one has to think like a photographer because light becomes a far more intricate part of your scene. Spot lights in Lux behave, well, like spot lights. The light is very focused. Hence, shadows are much sharper and deeper. The reason the red hue didn't show up in the second image is because the spotlight blew all the color out of it. I would suggest using mesh lights when using color ... you'll find the lighting far more amiable than with a spot. But if spots are your thing, there are some wonderful products available ... check out the Real Creativity line of gels for Reality. they're amazingly helpful. Reality/Lux is an amazing tool for Daz users. It does have a bit of a learning curve, but it is entirely worth the effort. I would also suggest taking a little time to poke around Paolo's website, preta3d.com. He has some wonderful tutorial videos available and there are lots of tips/tricks available on the forums. Anyway ... good luck and nice renders. The POV is excellent.

Reality? Why are you messing around in reality Ian? Lol. Seriously, I'm with everyone else - the top one is better.

Excellent comparative examples here, Ian, so glad you uploaded these images~ I have used the free LuxRender program for DAZ3 & DAZ4 renders, also not fully understanding how to approach tweaking the various parameters, and if you've been reading some of the entries on my artwork, you'll see that I'm getting a little OCD with lighting myself using UE2 in D|S4. Did you use UE2 base plus lights in your DAZ image or just lights themselves? I like the DAZ render better, also. I got over-exposure using LuxRender for the first time; I cannot remember how I toned it down~ I think it was the gamma settings, but really not sure~ You can see the results in my image, "Without"~ here's the link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2278663&user_id=669583&np&np @the_architect, thanks for your comment as well, tipped me off to a few things I didn't know about Lux~ The info is much appreciated! Very nice POV, great pose & expression, too~ Thanks for sharing this =) Top work!

Agree with the above. Daz lighting only simulates what a light would look mlike on a target. Reality takes into account all surfaces in the scene and calculates bounce and scatter. Think of it this way. If you show light coming through a window in Daz, the olny light in the scene would be the pools of light on the floor/wall, and your subject, if not in that light, would be lost in darkness. Reality would handle a light just as if it were sun light coming in through a window at home. The bounce/scatter/reflection would light the entire room, just not as strongly as the direct light. Also, once you send to Lux, if you go to linear instead of Reinhart/non-linear, you can adjust firl responce, shutter and f-stop to get it closer to what you originally had in mind. You can make Daz lights work in Reality but it's a bunch easier to relight with Realities own light.

Splendid pose and perspective friend, lovely lighting on both versions! Well done!

Wonderful shadows and mood with the top one, it would be my pick. Daz isn't my thing so can't comment more than that.

I like the top lighting the best!

Others have explained the lights better. Reality/Lux shows the regular Daz lights as very powerful. It goes a little better with a mesh light from the Reality install. That said, I like the pose and camera angle in this.

Yep the difference is as the difference between night and day.. Was thinking about getting the Reality lighting but after seeing this and hearing about the time it takes to render (and from others some taking 19-24 hrs) I don't think I would bother. Can't wait that long to have it render and then having to redo it cause I see something wrong or don't like the finished effect (like you here) I often render a scene 18 -20 times till I am happy with it, plus I am too old to get my brain around something that doesn't work "straight out of the box" so to speak now days. I find I don't have the time to.. I would like to learn Bryce properly but tried importing a character into a scene there and had no clothes or skin textures and couldn't work out how to get it sorted so have given up on it lol.. May try again one day.. Love the top one my friend

What I take away from this is that Lux renders in a similar way as Vue, using more realistic lightrays and scattered light effect. If I use too bright of a spot in Vue it can cancel out the sunlight, just like you'd get with a real camera setup. However, I do like the top render more and it is obviously much more your style. I would bet that if you adjusted your lights as the architect suggested you could equate the colors and shadows of the first image. I don't know what the end result would be, but some of the Lux renders I've seen look very realistic. Time vs. quality is the big dilemma in the render world. I still prefer rendering in Vue, despite the long render times, even though I've gotten nice detailed renders in Poser. I just think the Vue lighting looks more real and Poser lighting looks like, well...a studio. Which is fine in many instances. Both renders look good for their final result.

Fantastic images, nice work!

Wonderful images, i like the top one, love the red color and lighting...superb done.

Wonderful renders. I prefer the top one!!!

I like both renders and lighting. Depending i guess more on what the artist wants. The Daz plain or the first I like for the dark, mysterious atmosphere, what I think was wanted. The Daz Reality seems way brighter, removing the mysteriousness of the scene, reminds me of using true ambiance in the rendering which increases the rendering time drastically. I would hazard a guess not to use spot lights with reality and see what happens, though this would cause the character not to be highlighted, otherwise like them both for different reasons, outstanding work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool conzept, great job!

I like the one in top :)

Well Ian, I do not know how long you have Reality, but I do know you used 3Delight for years. The 3Delight render shows your expertise on setting up a light scene for that engine. The Reality / Luxrender is overexposed in the middle. Did you use a Daz spotlight in Reality? When you had used a very small meshlight the shadow-harshness could have been 'controlled'. As you might know I only use Reality / Luxrender these days. When I was invited for beta-testing Reality my first image looked far wors than yours now. One of the things I had to do was 'unlearn' the way I used to set up lights for a 3Delight render and start to think like a real life camera. (Which is different from the way human eyes work btw) Since a few days there is a forum-thread for Reality users here on Rosity. Before there was also a thread on Daz (2100 pages with posts where Reality users shared knowledge, tips and tricks in a very, very friendly setting) If you are willing to put in a different lighting-mindset and some effort, you are going to LOVE Reality / Luxrender, I can promise you that! :)