Black render without lights but fine with lights

3dOutlaw

I was trying to use the default render for a scene (no lights) for speed, but some of the materials render black?

Is there a setting on the material or in DS that I am missing on this?

See pics, one is a render with lights, you can see the ground, the other is a render after I delete the lights...ground is black. Other things render fine/fast.

Last pic is the lights used, and removed.

JimmyC_2009

If you don't add lights to a Scene, then DS uses the default 'headlamp' , which is a light positioned exactly in the same place as the camera to give a default light.

So, there will be no light falling directly downwards to illuminate the ground. The only way to do it with the default light, would be to point the camera at the ground plane itself, much better to add a distant light shining downwards.

3dOutlaw

JimmyC_2009 said:

If you don't add lights to a Scene, then DS uses the default 'headlamp' , which is a light positioned exactly in the same place as the camera to give a default light.

I've never known that! Thanks for clearing that up!

If I add the distant light, then the default lamp goes away, then I need two lamps...which is basically what I resorted to while waiting for an answer :) Great minds!

SpottedKitty

I think it's just a glitch with the dummy headlamp light — look at the sharp angle the ground is from the camera viewpoint, the light can't bounce straight back towards the camera, so any surface at or beyond that angle isn't illuminated. It isn't a render problem, it's a flaw in the way the headlamp light works.