Why are mirrors so dark in Daz3D?

joelmarklee

Why are mirrors so dark when I render in Daz3D?  My basic problem is that I have to intensely light my objects in order for them to be reflected in mirrors.  So much so, that the lighting completely washes the object out when observed directly.  The result is that if I crank up the lights enough, I'll get a good reflection in the mirror, but parts of the object observed directly will be very white / washed out.  I don't want to have to make it look like my objects are in a bright spot light just to be seen in mirrors!

I hope that makes sense.  Are there any settings for the mirror that I should look at?  I am currently using the settings recommended by Miss B in this thread:

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/38595/reflections-in-a-mirror-solved

Thanks!

evilded777

Iray or 3Delight?

We won't get anywhere without knowing what you are really trying to do.

joelmarklee

Iray.  I'm just trying to get a mirror...any mirror...to work as expected.  When I use mirrors, I find that objects in the mirror are not visible (or appear very dark) unless intensely lighted.

joelmarklee

Ah... it does seem to be a problem with Iray.  With 3Delight, the mirror surfaces seem to work as expected.  In an Iray render, the mirror looks very dark (blackish) and figures do not show up in the mirror unless intensely lit.  The reflection is also blurry in Iray, vs. crisp in 3Delight.

Is there something I can do to fix mirrors in my Iray renders?

joelmarklee

Found my answer:

https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/207530543-Getting-reflections-in-mirrors-in-iray

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the render engine.

 

BeeMKay

The settings MissB gave are for 3Delight mirrors. That's why it worked in 3DL, but not in Iray. If you aresearching for settings in the forum, be careful about the posting date. Anything before 2015 is most likely 3Delight. Iray only entered the picture in 2015. 

frank0314

Whenever rendering mirrors you need to have the proper lighting.