EEP versus Windlight - Another New Normal

EEP has been in the works for years (yes, really - YEARS). When I first heard about it and all it would do I was very enthused.  I gave it a try when a project viewer was first revealed and my enthusiasm faltered some.  Over the years I have watched the issues arise one after another. Still not all that thrilled from what I saw. On a personal level I was wondering how my photography would change when the new system was forced on us.

Well today is the first day of the "new normal".  Windlight will be disappearing over time.  I am sad really. But wanting to be fair I spent the afternoon testing. While it seems some of the major issues have been fixed (such a good thing), I am really going to miss the Old Windlight Skies. 

Here is a short rundown of what I found and some early thoughts.

My premier test was a simple comparison of the default skies at my new place in Puddlechurch.  I was pretty impressed.  For me, the EEP version looked better than the Windlight. "This may not be so bad after all!," I thought.  Firestorm viewer on the left, new EEP Linden viewer on the right.   Enlarge to inspect up close and personal.

My next comparison was with indoor lighting. I used a recently made Windlight setting called  "Kitely Sandbox" :D.  This is a Windlight with few shadows and low contrast. Easy on the eyes and good for inspecting objects closely.

The differences here were confusing. Sometimes an area had more contrast with the EEP viewer (Lani's black pants and the lighting fixture for example) and in the SAME screenshot other fabrics were more vibrant with the non-EEP Firestorm viewer.  Also note that the texture in the bricks is not showing up in the Linden viewer.

Pondering -- pondering.

My final example of the day (lead photo) underlines my thoughts of the afternoon.   EEP appears to be very inconsistent. There is no way I would suspect that the settings were the same.

I am HOPING that I can take some of my favorite skies and tweak them so that they will resemble what I would "expect" them to look like.  Firestorm users will eventually have EEP in their viewer whether they want it or not due to the retirement policy on older FS versions.  The only choice then would be to switch viewers.

That isn't at that top of my personal list. So I have fingers crossed that I can come up with some settings I am happy with.  I would also be very happy to be surprisingly impressed by some new exciting skies that can only be accomplished  with EEP.

You can upload your favorite Windlight settings within the viewer. Some will likely look similar and some most definitely will not.  Now you know.

Instructions for uploading taken from the EEP wiki under the CC3 share alike designation.

House by Trompe Loeil