Adding shadows to IBL/HDRI renders

[dersutton]

I'm still new to HDRI/IBL so I'm not sure of all the tricks available.    I have been able to render out nice images but I can't figure out how to ad shadows to the scene.    That is to say, with Image Based Lighting, can shadows be achieved without creating a light source?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.


Thank you.

Derek

[mspeer]

Hi!

For IBL the image is a light source.

What renderer and render settings do you use?

[djonesuk]

As long as Cast Shadows is turned on in the aiSkydomeLight you will get shadows.

[dersutton]

Hello

Currently I'm using Mental Ray and I have default lights turned off.  As for the rest of the settings, I have them at default only because I'm not too sure which ones I want to utilize.

[dersutton]

Can you direct me to where "aiSkydomeLigh" can be found please?   I may have overlooked it somewhere. 

Thank you.

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

There are no ai... nodes for Mental Ray, "ai"-nodes are Arnold nodes

In the mentalrayiblShape node you need to enable Light Emission -> Emit Light

[dersutton]

Thanks for pointing out the Arnold issue.  I was sitting here trying to find that. 

You mentioned activating the "emit light" feature.  I did find that so thank you again.   

One last thought.   Is just using HDMI images enough or can additional lights i.e.  directional/point lights be added to enhance the scene?    As I stated earlier I'm still getting acquainted with IBL so I'm trying out various techniques.  For example, I have some very nice HDMI images with clouds and sun light but that image alone doesn't seem to light up the scene.  It remains washed out.    Is there anything else you can suggest that will illuminate the scene properly or am I on the right track with what I just wrote?

Thank you again.

[mspeer]

Hi!

"Is just using HDMI images enough or can additional lights i.e.  directional/point lights be added to enhance the scene?"

Depends on your HDRI image and your likes, but yes you can add more lights. Feel free do do whatever makes you scene look better.

[dersutton]

Thanks so much for your help.  It was greatly appreciated.

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

It seems i forgot to attach a screenshot, so i do this here:

[dersutton]

Thanks again.   I'm going to make a copy and store this on file for future reference.