[arjun_samar]

ok, here some render test...

same 3d scene
same render settings.

but one is sun & sky illimination
and the other spot light (used to simulate sun)

what are your judgement?

sun? or spot light?

[Noahma]

I think the Sun & Sky is giving a more realistic look. The spotlight is giving a more even light though.

[nocturne00]

Sun and Sky here.
Spotlight will slightly deter the shadows from their right direction, sort of producing light at a radial direction, hence the shadows will be cast in an unnatural direction (as seen in the first render), unless you place it very distant from the model.
im not sure about this but I think there is a way to make the shadows cast by the sun look sharp,like the one cast by the spotlight.ill try to get back on this

[arjun_samar]

ok, thanks for the reply.

standing.
2 points for sun
0 point for spot light

[CadDan]

I'm going for the sun. Reason being is that it looks more realistic
and if I was to walk into a building, that is how it would be portrayed.

[arjun_samar]

standing.

3 points for the sun
0 point for the spot light...


oh my...... spot light is down by 3 points...

[iskalipsi]

hello, this is my first post.i have tried to use sunlight but cant get the result i wanted. may i ask whats the intensity of your spotlight?
thanks.

[arjun_samar]

Originally Posted by iskalipsi

hello, this is my first post.i have tried to use sunlight but cant get the result i wanted. may i ask whats the intensity of your spotlight?
thanks.

I cant remember, the file was deleted a long time ago, but from the top of my head the intinsity of the spot light shouldn't be lower than 30-40, and spot light is more time consuming than the sun, and the sun can give more natural shadows than the spot light, but its your call.. its up to you sun or spot light. and feel free to ask.

[Cad64]

Hmmmm, I'm not sure why your lighting is so blown out in the spotlight render? Something is definitely wrong there. And your Sun & Sky render is blotchy. I think you need more photons.

Below are two quick renders I just did in Studio Max. One using a Directional light with FG & GI enabled, (Never use a spotlight as your main light source/sunlight), and one using a Daylight System, (Similar to Autocad's "Sun & Sky").

As you can see, they look almost identical except for two things.
1. The Daylight System render took 1:25 to finish, but the Directional Light render took only 0:59 to finish.
2. The Daylight System render looks very grey and washed out, but the Directional Light render looks much more lively and vibrant.

I never use the Daylight System because everything is too automatic and I feel like I don't really have much control over the final rendered image. This was just a quick test, but with a good lighting set up and some tweaking of the settings, you can produce renders that look better than the Daylight System/Sun & Sky.