Render Tests
Jim has been shaded and now it’s time for the cool test renders again. In Blender Render, you had to activate some features to get a better result, but in Cycles, with its more realistic approach, the render already works well by default. Let’s add a couple of details, though.
1. Create a light setup similar to the one you did for the Blender Render Scene, with two Suns, a primary one and then a secondary one as a rim light with less intensity and a warmer color.
Note
Unfortunately, having a material that only receives shadows is trickier in Cycles (you’d have to do it through compositing, and you’ll learn how to do that in the final chapters). For that reason, we won’t use shadows in these Cycles test renders.
2. Add a sky to the background. Go to the World tab in the Properties Editor and under the Surface panel, you’ll see that in Cycles, the Sky option has features similar to other Materials. By default, it should have a Background shader. Click the Color to select a texture and pick Sky from the list.
3. Now arrange the settings until they look right to you. Click and drag over the sphere to change the Sun’s direction.
The result so far should be something similar to the renders shown in Figure 10.10.
