DAZ Studio produces black renders when a dome is introduced
contedesfees
Posts: 277
DAZ Studio produces entirely black renders when I included a dome in the scene (Flink's Cloudy Sky). I have scaled the dome 1000 per cent, positionied the camera no more than a few feet from the subject's face, to no avail. The scene renders only when I turn off the dome's visibilty. Has any one any idea what I'm doing wrong? Thank you very much.
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Yeah. You're sitting in a dark room without a light. What do you see?
No, Ascania, I had enough sense to add a light. A distance light, which I adjusted to shine on the subject. I always add at least one camera and at least one light. And, as I noted, the scene renders (a little too brightly) when I turn off the dome's visibility.
Which "Environment Mode" have you set?
A distance light is probably 'outside' the dome. Even if the icon for that light is inside the dome, a distance light -- which represents a remote lightsource like the sun or the moon -- is treated as if it were some very large distance away, and so will be blocked by the dome. Consider using a spotlight or a point light instead.
From reading the product information on Flink's Cloudy sky, I believe those sky dome maps aren't HDR files, but merely .JPGs . JPGs don't have any light information and therefore cannot produce the appropriate lighting in your Iray dome. Switch to a proper HDRi file (with HDR extendion). There are some free ones availabe at polyhaven.com.
The dome blocks the light. Your whole scene is in the shadows.
Here are a few threads which might help:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/61704/tutorial-using-iray-with-3delight-skydomes
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/63014/yet-another-iray-skydome-technique
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/56724/iray-and-skydomes
A distance light is an infinite distance away. The dome is not.
@JVRenderer - Thanks for your reply. You might have something there, but Flink's Cloudy Skies are .pp2 files. I haven't tried rendering with Flink's .jpg sky domes. Of course, HDRI would be best.
@bytescapes - Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the effort.
@PerttiA - Thanks very much. As you'll see below, it's not that the light is outside the dome; rather, Iray doesn't like .pp2 sky domes.
@Leana - Thank you very much indeed. You've taken a lot of effort and I appreciate it a great deal. Your links did make the point. Rendering in 3Delight produced the image with the troublesome dome. The quality left a lot to be desired, but there was no black-as-night-sky render.
@Ascania - Thanks for your reply. It seems, however, that it is not that the light is outside the dome. It really does appear that DAZ Studio's NVIDIA Iray render engine isn't compatible with .pp2 sky domes (and perhaps .jpg sky domes as well). If you're satisfied with the quality of 3Delight renders, the scene set-up - distance light, dome, and all - works just fine. Check the links that Leana was good enough to provide.
Leana, It worked like a charm, as seen below. Select the .jpg as an environment map, then select it in Diffuse Strength, Opacity Strength, and Normal Map. and NVIDIA Iray renders just fine. I can't thank you enough. Admittedly, it was a lot of work for a little corner of blue sky, but it was certainly worth the effort. DAZ-zling! Cheers, and stay safe until it's over.
Mind. Needing to make notes to use DAZ Studio is a bit of a surprise.
Why would DS be compatible with Poser, files especially lighting.
That's not a question I can answer even in general, but DAZ Studio does have a content library for Poser Formats. Admittedly, items installed there may not work as smoothly as they do in Poser. I haven't even tried to install Poser lights in DAZ Studio; I assume lt2 files simply won't work in DAZ Studio. mc6 and pp2 Poser files do.
...a little late to the party here but...
This works with the Iray Sun/Sky mode.
https://www.daz3d.com/iray-sky-pro.
There is also a set of sky only (without ground scenery) HDRIs.
https://www.daz3d.com/ibl-skies-perfect-skies-bundle
@kyoto kid - It's appreciated. Mind. the HDRIs are costly to an old man on a fixed income. But thanks for taking the time.
...in he same boat here in both departments as well. I was fortunate to get the bundle on sale and use my PC coupon to knock a little more off. You also don't necessarily need the whole bundle. but just the ones you feel you may need. Individual ones are 7.48$ right now.
Also Iray Sky Pro is also on sale for 9.98$ (probably until Daz "Zero Hour" tonight). Works really nice as you use the more accurate Iray Sun/Sky setting.
@kyoto kid - The bundle will last a lifetime. Thanks again. Much appreciated.
...ah you got it, great. At 29$ it is quite a bargain.
In the pre-Iray days I used to use Dreamlight's Light Dome Pro2 and the Azure skies expansion as I just wanted skies that looked real. I was very dismayed that for Iray everything which came out was full HDRs which included ground scenery. I just needed the skies as I doe everything else with geometry and at the time the Iray Sun/Sky only had a clear sky. . These HDR domes remind me very much of old LDP2 as like that plugin, they have multiple sun elevations from on the horizon to straight overhead at 5° increments and can be rotated as needed.
Between this set and Iray Sky Pro, the Cloudscape Creator Bundle, and Ireal Animated Clouds I have a wide variety of sky effects to use in scenes.
I am getting the same problem as the OP just about. DAZ Studio Pro & Public Beta both. Latest 4.15.0.30. Dome & Scene or Sun & Sky both. 3.00 PM, 6:00, or 7:00. Draw Dome radio button pressed on. But the sky itself when rendering is pitch black. iRay CPU rendering. No 3DL style sky or sea or space domes are in use. All the models in the scene use iRay materials. No HDRI environment maps.
???
@nonesuch00 Does the scene render in 3Delight? If it does, take a look at the links Leana was good enough to provide above. They helped me solve the problem.