Iray lighting question, what lights work nicely with hdri lights

mahhen

Ok, i like hdr lights, i use them every time i can when rendering in iray, but when scene need something more i'm not sure what would be the best choice. I have tried spot lights, but i don't think they are best for iray and they make character looking little dry looking. (ghost lights are also little dry, and not best for skin)

I would like some lights that can't be seen in scene, only the light they bring

So any recommendations what should i get

DoctorJellybean

You could try any of the Ghost Light Kits, or the Light Probe Kit.

Takeo.Kensei

I think you don"t know that you have some options with the lights in DS. Either Distant, Spot or Point lights have options so that they are not seen when rendering

In the Light Parameter put "Render Emitter" to OFF for that

Also, if you want to get something realistic, put some dimension to your light : I often change the "light geometry" to rectangle and adjust the height and width. The bigger the shape, the softer the light

You have to adjust the light power accordingly when doing that

If you want more realism, you can also use IES profiles : download some IES Profiles and attach them to your light

Also when you create your scene you can try to use some photograph tricks, like putting some planes at strategic places so that the light is reflected

Illidanstorm

I like to use these with a hdri https://www.daz3d.com/render-studio-20--volumetric-plus Mostly using the rim lights and also the fill lights if two characters are facing each other.

mahhen

DoctorJellybean i have ghost lights and adding Light Probe Kit in my fish list, new one must have missed it.

and Takeo.Kensei i know spot lights can be made to not seen in render, but in my experiment they give nice lumen but also dry look in the skin, ghost lights do this also. So i was thinking abouth something like light shaders kind of lights something that would blend nicely with hdr and give that natural look, but if i haven't misunderstand how light shaders work, they must be visible in rendering camera to work, so i cant hide them in render.

i looked those ies profiles, and found this one http://download.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/59132/ies-profiles looks nice, those are going to be very useful.

that plane trick i haven't tryed yet

Illidanstorm definitely getting those also, volometric lights sounds long render times, but i'm game :) have done over 24 hour renders couple of times.

And thanks for your help everyone

RobotHeadArt

What do you mean by dry look on skin?  That is usually a result of surface settings or the angle/direction of the light, not the type of light itself.

AlmightyQUEST

Ghost lights aren't visible in the scene, so they won't reflect off of surfaces. They are good for boosting existing lights, but if you only or mostly have ghost lights, it will look odd and flat. That may be at least part of the "dry" look you are taking about?

Odaa

Ghost lights do not include specular light, only diffuse light, hence the lack of skin sheen (simulation of the skin's oil content) under ghost lights. Their main purpose is to even out lighting in scenes that would be too dark or too grainy under "realistic" lighting conditions. I agree with those recommending spotlights for more sheen and definition-you may want to keep the ghost lights around to even out the dark spots, but you would want them to be less bright.

mahhen

I mean the areas (shadowy areas) where hdr gives too little light so i need something extra, in my test renders spot light won't bring skin clossines out like that hdr brings, that area looks little dry. Ghost lights i won't even try for this kind of purpose, for my understanding they are architectural lights and excellent for that. 

Is there a way to adjust what kind of light spot light gives, these ies profiles were only the shape of the light not what kind of light it is (can i copy settings from another light, like light shaders or even better, give that spot light same setting than that hdr has what i'm using) or is there that kind of products in store, i know there is hdr lights where you can adjust amount of skin clossines

I should add that my characters have always skin settings adjusted so they are ready to render and it's not that i can render them normally using just hdr or light shaders. When using light shaders i won't get this problem, all light comes from shaders and it is always same light and if i need more light i just add more light shader lights. 

It is also possible that i don't have no idea what i'm doing and just going all in for noobiness :)