Dome VS Plane Light Portal

V-Ray V-Ray for 3ds Max V-Ray for 3ds Max :: Issues
1

So which technique is the latest to get this done fastest and prettiest?

Are we sticking the VRaySky in a Domelight, or still just using VRayPlane lights in Skylight Portal mode in front of windows?

I’m on the latest nightly

2

Skylight portal mode isn’t that great. You will get a lot more detail in your shadows using planes in regular mode.

3

If you are using the VRaySky, then leave it as an environment map and use portals. There is not much point to use a dome light for the VRaySky texture - it makes much more sense for HDRIs.

Best regards,
Vlado

4

Hi Guys,
I’ve just noticed that in 3.4 the dome light has now the option for the skylight portal mode. Could you please help me understanding in which scenario you’d need it?
Thanks!

Peo

6

Hi Recon,
thank you very much for the explanation.
I see the point now, of course if it works :wink:
Thanks again

Peo

7

Well, we can make it take the environment map if skylight portal is enabled. Should be fairly easy too…

Best regards,
Vlado

9

I must admit I like the vray sky in a dome light option purely so I can use a light select for sky and a separate one for the sun and fiddle in post.

10

For Interiors, a test this week showed that (dome with vraysky), or (dome with vraysky AND skylight portal), still doesn’t come close to plane lights in portal mode, like Vlado also mentioned a bit further up the page

11

Is this in any way related to the matte problems described elsewhere? Sorry for the confusion, but that is a thing that is still bothering me.

12

No, but there are a few changes related to that in SP5: a) dome lights will work right away, no need to override the GI environment with black and b) a button on the toolbar to turn the currently selected object into a shadow catcher with all the right settings. So, basically, producing a shadow catcher will be just one mouse click.

Best regards,
Vlado

13

Glad to hear! Thanks, looking forward to try that out.

14

OK, so with VRaySun and VRaySky with the latest SP etc, for interiors, are we using domelight with VRaySky plugged into it, or still the plane lights in portal mode?

15

It is a similar question.

At V-Ray Next, should VRaySky be set to Dome Light to use Adaptive Dome sampling?

Or if use VRaySkey Enviroment, is Adaptive Dome sample unnecessary?