HDRi and Gamma...why does VrayHDRI gamma setting affect shadows so much?

[danb4026]

When lighting a scene with Dome light and an HDRi, I find that i can really increase the intensity of my shadows by adjusting the gamma of my hdri down. At a gamma of 1, hardly any shadows, at at gamma of .35, nice shadows....all with no changes to the multipliers.

 

This has just led me to be a bit confused as to what gamma an hdri should be when brought into max. I am using the VrayHDRi map and there is no option to change the gamma until image is inside the map itself.

 

I also use 2.2 workflow but with bitmap input and output gamma of 1.0. Any ideas?

Edited April 13, 2011 by danb4026
change

[Dave Buckley]

Dan

 

Not sure if you've read through this.

 

Might clear up a few things http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/2010/02/27/on-hdr-lighting/

[danb4026]

Dave,

 

Thanks! That pretty much says it all. I'm smarter than I thought!