Hi Hugo. I place the area_lights according to how the sunlight falls. I 
first place the sunlight, then I see where the brightest lit patch is. I 
put the second area_light right near that lit patch and try to 
approximate the width/breadth of it. I make this light about 1/2 to 
3/4ths as bright as the original sunlight, usually. I also add a little 
of the lit patch's color to the light. Next, if it's an outdoor scene( 
on Earth), I make a blue area_light and place it in such a way as to 
give the impression blue light could only come from that direction. In 
this scene I made it look like the sky could only shine effectively from 
direction <1,1,1>. If I would have placed a reflective sphere in the 
center of the image, you would see blue sky directly behind, and that 
would ruin the effect.

Hugo wrote:

> Maybe I should ask, how do you position those point lights to
> give such realism?  Do you exploit the fact that it's sunraise / sundown?
> Could you make it work in "daylight" without radiosity?


-- 
Samuel Benge

sbe### [at] caltelcom

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