SS Sun Node

nonesuch00

I am using the iRay Sun+Sky SS Sun Node. 

1) Created a DAZ Sphere Primitive Scale 20%

    a) Tramsmitted Color (1, 1, 1), Chromatic, SSS Color (1, 1, 0)

    b) Emission Color (1, 1, 1), Emission Temperature (6500), Two-Sided Light, Luminance 1000 kcd/m^2

2) Translate (X,Y,Z) (-3000, 0, -11000)

3) SS Sun Node sun...

   a) the DAZ Sphere Primitive I created above

   b) SS Sun Disk Intensity 1, SS Sun Disk Scale 3.9, SS Sun Glow Intensity 2, SS physically Scaled Sun On, SS Haze 2, SS Blue-Red Tint 0.025, SS Saturation 1, SS Horizon Height 0, SS Horizon Blur 0.10

So It looks OK except the sky above gradient to grey instead of sky-blue or night-blue.

Is there a reference page to say what each of those does?

Richard Haseltine

The SunNode, I thought, is just a pointer to show the sun which way to shine (rather than setting time and location), so I'm not sure what you are trying to do here.

nonesuch00

OK, I made a fake sun using DAZ primitive sphere and noticed as I move it up in the horizon, down in the horizon and so on it is changing the light from yellow-orange to blue. Also the higher on the horizon it becomes invisble except the lighter sky that gives away it's location. The amount of light is lacking I will turn off the emissives on the DAZ sphere & that it will act only like a pointer as you say and see how it behaves as I move it around. Thanks.

Fishtales

I'm not sure if this might confuse you more or not. It is for setting up the physical sun settings in mental ray but the parameters work in Iray, these are the ones I have my sun set to use.

http://download.autodesk.com/us/maya/2011help/mr/shaders/architectural/arch_sunsky.html

SimonJM

If you've made a dummy sun I am not sure why you need to use the Sun and Sky option, nor to link the priiive sphere sun to the SS sun node.  If I use teh SS sun node what I do is use a distant light and use that as a dummy camera in the viewport and get teh sun lined up as I want it (or close enough, then adjust slightly in Iray previw mode).  If you want a visible sun in the sky (I am ot sure if Iray does that .. I think it does), I'd craete the distant light, parent the sphere to it (and move the sphere away in line with the direction of the light), then use the distant light to get teh right light set up - you may need to adjust the colour of the sphere to match the time of day/height above the horizon.

nonesuch00

Yes, thanks both for your tips.  I use the dummy sun to supplement Sun-Sky but I probably should dork around with Sun-Sky settings till I get a similar sun to be visible with Sun-Sky. I will try the MentalRay settings first.

I've made a dummy sun because sunrise & sunsets in Sun-Sky aren't quite how I like and there are specific scenes I want to make that need a sunrise and sunset.. 

SimonJM

Don't forget that if you have your dummy sun lined up with the Sun of the Sun and Sky environment (and even if you don't!), it WILL cast a shadow, which you likely don't want.

nonesuch00

SimonJM said:

Don't forget that if you have your dummy sun lined up with the Sun of the Sun and Sky environment (and even if you don't!), it WILL cast a shadow, which you likely don't want.

I positioned it beyond the model so it doesn't cast a shadow.

Richard Haseltine

nonesuch00 said:

SimonJM said:

Don't forget that if you have your dummy sun lined up with the Sun of the Sun and Sky environment (and even if you don't!), it WILL cast a shadow, which you likely don't want.

I positioned it beyond the model so it doesn't cast a shadow.

It can't be beyond the sun, since that is "at infinity", and if it's lined up with the sun position then it is going to shadow towards the scene, though the shadow will probably be pretty soft if it's well distant (you don't say how big the sphere is).

nonesuch00

Richard Haseltine said:

nonesuch00 said:

SimonJM said:

Don't forget that if you have your dummy sun lined up with the Sun of the Sun and Sky environment (and even if you don't!), it WILL cast a shadow, which you likely don't want.

I positioned it beyond the model so it doesn't cast a shadow.

It can't be beyond the sun, since that is "at infinity", and if it's lined up with the sun position then it is going to shadow towards the scene, though the shadow will probably be pretty soft if it's well distant (you don't say how big the sphere is).

Thanks. No, I cast my fake DAZ primitive sphere beyond the rest of the scene. The problem it does make though is a very bright light on the land near the sphere. That'd be OK if it were water but I think not for land so I will follow the instructions for fishtales link he gave. I am not using the SS Sun Node currently. The sphere is pretty huge, maybe the size of a 4 story apartment block.

Fishtales

For sun in a render, if I feel it needs it, I use a Distant Light set to between 2750 to 6500 temperature and between 5000 and 10000 Lumen, depending on what I think looks right :)

nonesuch00

Fishtales said:

For sun in a render, if I feel it needs it, I use a Distant Light set to between 2750 to 6500 temperature and between 5000 and 10000 Lumen, depending on what I think looks right :)

Yes, I read the page you linked but what it illustrated with the sun visble in the render isn't really possible that I've been ever able to do in DAZ Studio. I will try again, I just remember I forgot to rotate the dome.