sky dome in vray

[rachelC]

could someone tell me if rendering in vray with a sky dome is ok? if yes could you tell me what properties do i apply to the dome for it not to be catching the light. (I already played with the dome properties but no result i am afraid!)

any idea?

PS: i not not want to use HDRI or evironment in this case.

 

many thanks

[notamondayfan]

i some times use a skydome with vray and get ok results. i just use a massive sphere, and place all lights inside it. then apply your sky map, and i sometimes add self illumination to get better reflections in windows.

 

tends to work best when im modeling large buildings with large areas of glass.

[Christopher Nichols]

could someone tell me if rendering in vray with a sky dome is ok? if yes could you tell me what properties do i apply to the dome for it not to be catching the light. (I already played with the dome properties but no result i am afraid!)

any idea?

PS: i not not want to use HDRI or evironment in this case.

 

many thanks

 

Just to make sure we are all on the same page... what version of Vray are you using... different ones have different domelights. Domes are also fine, but it depends on your goals. Tell me more about what yu want to acomplish.... type of scene, type of lighting you are looking for etc...

[rachelC]

Hello Christopher,

I managed to get the dome working. I am looking to get a sky into my image which I like. I would normally use HDRI or simply add an image in photoshop but I really like this sky and thought it would great with this scene.

Since you are online, could you tell me how I can achieve a very good sinusoidal concrete. As you can see mine look a bit pale. Also, the image I have attached is a very draftees image but any comments to achieve a good image with such flat building would be very much appreciated...

kind regards,

[FlytE]

I have often wondered about skydomes.... I used a vray dome light on one occasion to light one of my models but found that it almost doubled the render time for very little difference. Is this a normal thing?

[Craig Ramsay]

I think Rachel is talking about a sky texture mapped onto a dome, not a dome light.

[rachelC]

thanks Craig - you always know what I mean!!!

sorry, that is right, i am talking about texture dome.

[Christopher Nichols]

Oh you mean and enviroment light? Like and skylight or IBL? Yes... it is critical to good GI lighting. Use it at all times.

[Craig Ramsay]

I think the question was more about how to have a sky mapped onto a dome in the scene without the dome blocking the lights that are lighting the model... in that case you just need to make sure 'receive shaddows' and 'cast shaddows' are unchecked in the dome objects properties.

[rachelC]

thank you craig. i manage to get it to work - it looks fine! jules use to use this method alot but in FR. i think it look really good and definitly will use it in the future.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

if i am using a standard dome in vray with a sky texture mapped to it, i make sure that none of the lights in the scene effect it, then i assign the sky to it using a vray light material with a multiplier around 1.5. this gives it enough illumination to look convincing, it doesn't effect the scene lighting much, and it provides a decent reflection for the windows.

 

if this were the case i would then light the scene using a vray dome light, and a IES sun. i set both very low so i don' have to use logarithmic exposure control.

 

...or you bypass all of this, and use a HDRI.