HDRI and shadows
 

Ive been trying to find out alot of info on HDRI's as ive got a plane that ive modeled and what to have a realistic render of it.
ive tried a HDRI a few times and it works great apart from the rather dodgy shadows it produces.

Am i doing this wrong, or is it better to create a directional light aswell just for the shadows? as ive seen a couple of people doing it this way.

im using maya 7 if that helps.

u could render a shadow pass

what do u mean by dodgy
can we see a pic

u might just have to turn up ur samples