How to make IBLs less contrasty in other apps?

[rengsto]

I'm rendering IBL/.hdr images in Terragen 3.4 and using them to light scenes in Daz Studio. In Daz Studio the shadows appear very dark and I wish they were lighter. What can I do in Terragen to reduce the shadow darkness, or create a less contrasty IBL? I tried upping Ambient light from 0 to 1, but no difference. I also tried adjusting the gamma/contrast settings in the Render node...also no difference.  I'm *thinking* what I want to do is to somehow increase the light coming from all over the sky, the ambient light, without losing the deep rich blue sky coloring.

What are some other things I can try?

[digitalguru]

this is just a guess without seeing your renders but is there a linear workflow option in Daz studio? A dark contrasty render suggests this might not be implemented somewhere along the line.

Try exporting  your IBL as both .exr and .tif and see what happens, a lot of 3d renderers will recognise .exr as being a linear format and apply the necessary gamma correction to render IBL lighting correctly.

[Oshyan]

You can also try increasing the angular diameter of your sun visible disc (assuming you have visible disc enabled). This spreads the light intensity out over a larger area and should give you a bit softer light, in a sense.

- Oshyan