clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>
> No, I mean, literally, NEVER EVER set radiosity brightness below 1.0 (if
> you want realistic renders).
[snip]

I had to give this info (and Alain's comments) some deep thought-- because until
now, I've always varied radiosity's brightness to 'balance' the scene lighting
and look. I've always 'tweaked' it -- reduced it --just to get the scene to have
the contrast I want. Keeping the rad brightness at 1.0 is a new paradigm shift
for me(!)

I now understand the 'technical' need to do so, although it initially gave me
some worries about the many(?) changes I might have to make to my non-HDR scenes
that use a light_source. But there's a simple and easy workaround: I can use TWO
identical image_mapped sky domes or spheres (a trick that has probably been
mentioned in the newsgroups) along with rad brightness 1.0:

1)  the sphere for RADIOSITY lighting only:
       no_shadow
       no_image
       no_reflection
       finish{ emission *my choice*}  // to get the contrast I want

2) the sphere for the VISIBLE sky image (and for reflections in objects):
      no_shadow
      no_radiosity
      finish{emission 1.0} // for an accurate reproduction of the image_map, as
     // seen in the render

This probably still amounts to 'tweaking'-- but unless there's a remaining
technical problem, it works for me.

And THANKS for correcting my long-held misconceptions.

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