Sky texture problems....
 

Today the snow inspired me and i decided to make a snowy scene. I used bump mapping for the snow and paint effects for the tree and now im stuck on the sky. I placed a plane with an image on it but in my point of view it looks un-natrual. Can anyone help? :confused:

Goto Display Render Settings window > mental ray > Physical Sun & sky.

U will see a directional light appearing in the scene.

Render ur scene to see the effect.

Notice that, for different angle the light makes with the default grid, can simulate different day time...like, if the light makes 90 degree with the grid then it will be mid day, if is is 20-30 degree then it is dawn or evening...

You can also use IBL(above the physical sun & sky), just google for some good images...

Both of them are pretty easy to use.Any simple tutorial will be enough to understand them completely.

Dont forget to turn on FG and GI.Play with them.This is the best way to get a grab them.

You can also try using Irradiance Particles.Though, I dont have a good knowledge about them.

Achieving absolutely satisfying outdoor lightining is not easy .If u havnt used them before, then try indoor scene first, then go to outdoor.

Good luck. :)

Thanks :beer:
But now my floor bump mapping doesn't work. Why is this happening? How can i solve it ? Sorry this is the first proper tme i have worked with mental ray and lighting :(

weird!

This is not supposed to happen...I made a sample scene...with the same settings, but my surface don't turn into white?

Try defaulting the maya settings, be deleting the "prefs" folder in the maya folder.

Deleting the preferences wouldn't do anything to cause this. Instead, turn down the intensity of the sky, by going into it's attributes. Also get rid of any material's ambient or incandescence for now.

intensity, ambient or incandescence nothing is capable of making this ground as white as the posted picture.Moreover the shadow of the tree is in a good condition.Problem lies somewhere else.

@monkey99: restart it.