CGTalk - finalRender basics?

Cozmo

06-07-2005, 08:26 PM

Hi all,

I don't fully understand the options in the render dialog of finalRender
When I go to the Global Illumination menu, what does sky light mean, and what does global illumination mean?

I read the help, I know that when I use the sky light only I get slower renderings and bad results plus some color that's specified there gets added to the lightning of the scene, if there is no lightning in the scene it's the only light source.
When I select both sky light and global-illumination I get better results, why is that?
and one more thing, what happens when I use only the global-illumination feature and the sky light is off? I experimented several times and found out that no sky color was added but my scene still received light although there were no light sources in it. Where does that light come from, from the objects themselves? Or is the default light on when the sky light is off and GI is on? Is this used for interior lightning?When should I use the GI option only?

thanks in advance

-Vormav-

06-07-2005, 11:05 PM

Global illumination makes it so that light bounces around in your scene to make for a more realistic lighting solution. This isn't only for skylights. Any light in your scene can emit GI photons. But GI adds a lot of time to your rendering.
GI should be used mostly for interior scenes, though some of the forms of GI that finalRender offers are also good for outdoor scenes. Skylights are nothing more than a quick and easy way to setup an outdoor lighting solution - it would be a waste to use it in an interior scene.

If believe finalRender comes with a training DVD (the educational version does, anyway), which has videos covering all forms of GI that finalRender includes. It's the best way to be introduced to finalRender's GI.

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