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Solved! Trying to light a mirror scene

Fae3DFae3D Posts: 2,632
edited April 2021 in The Commons

Ok, so I've got a little bit of a conundrum.  I'm working on a render, and it's got Genesis 8 Male looking in a mirror.  But no matter how I light the scene, the mirror image is pretty dark.  It's an interior scene, primarily lit by a portrait HDRI.  The ceiling has been removed to let in more light.  I have tried adding a ghostlight behind him, to both sides of him, and on top of him, and I still get mirror image that's too dark.  Does anyone know where I need to put a light to get a nice, well lit mirror image?  

 

Edit:

Solved!  So apparently the base color needs to be set to PURE WHITE or the mirror image will be too dark.  Good to know!  Thanks to everyone who replied!

Post edited by Fae3D on

Comments

  • magog_a4eb71abmagog_a4eb71ab Posts: 769

    Faeofthe3rdDimension said:

    Ok, so I've got a little bit of a conundrum.  I'm working on a render, and it's got Genesis 8 Male looking in a mirror.  But no matter how I light the scene, the mirror image is pretty dark.  It's an interior scene, primarily lit by a portrait HDRI.  The ceiling has been removed to let in more light.  I have tried adding a ghostlight behind him, to both sides of him, and on top of him, and I still get mirror image that's too dark.  Does anyone know where I need to put a light to get a nice, well lit mirror image?  

    If you're using the newer version of Daz(I think I'm still on 4.8 or something like that) I'm not sure, but I do know from my experience that if you're using one of the metal shaders(nickle?) on the mirror's surface, make sure you change the Base Color to 1.00 1.00 1.00 (255 255 255 RGB) because its usually set to a light gray color(i.e. 220 220 220) which will darken the reflections. Also, make sure Glossy Reflectivity is set to 1.00 and Glossy Color set to 1.00 1.00 1.00 (255 255 255 RGB). Give it a try and see how it works.

  • Sven DullahSven Dullah Posts: 7,621

    Faeofthe3rdDimension said:

    Ok, so I've got a little bit of a conundrum.  I'm working on a render, and it's got Genesis 8 Male looking in a mirror.  But no matter how I light the scene, the mirror image is pretty dark.  It's an interior scene, primarily lit by a portrait HDRI.  The ceiling has been removed to let in more light.  I have tried adding a ghostlight behind him, to both sides of him, and on top of him, and I still get mirror image that's too dark.  Does anyone know where I need to put a light to get a nice, well lit mirror image?  

    Did you try enabling the caustics sampler, so the light from behind actually reflects into his face?

  • HylasHylas Posts: 5,070

    With the right settings the mirror image is supposed to be an exact replica. Metallicity 1, Base Color 1.0 - 1.0 - 1.0, Glossy Color 1.0 - 1.0 - 1.0, all other settigs on default.

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited April 2021

    I seem to remember that Ghost Lights are not reflected (or is it just that the mesh is not reflected but the light is?). I often have trouble with Photometric Lights showing up in reflections (windows and other glass surfaces) so I have to move them out of the reflected view. Sometimes I get around that by using Ghost lights but the lighting effects are not the same (I don't see skin gloss reflected using ghost lights, for example).

    Post edited by marble on
  • Fae3DFae3D Posts: 2,632

    Changing the base color to pure white did the trick!  Thank you all very much for your help, I very well may never have figured that out on my own.

    Thanks!

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