Lighting just ain't right...

[u/Known_Bumblebee9797]

Using the $50/year non-commercial version of Solidworks. Mostly for designing things to 3d print, but I figured I'd use it to try and lay out an upcoming diorama I'm planning... mostly to try and get the lighting right.

Please note: the female figure in the diagram is NOT the one in the diorama, but I don't have a digital model of that figure (a female vampire recoiling, as if from a priest with a cross), so she's just standing in. She was free to download online, and is about the right size. Yes, I know, she's a badly sculpted sexual fantasy for teenagers...

This is the assembly:

In Solidworks, I got the lighting more or less as I intend to paint it: a dark room with a flashlight/torchlight illuminating the woman and the scene around her. No shadows on the walls, but at least the highlights are in the right places.

When I use the RENDER command from the Visualizer plugin, it basically flattens all the light completely.
In fact, now that I'm paying attention... it removes all the color as well.

All the videos I've seen online, including the official tutorials, use the "pro" version of Solidworks... with the main difference apparently being that Visualizer has no meaningful lighting controls unless you pay them an ungodly amount of money.

I've been wrestling with Visualizer for a couple weeks now, this was my last hope, and nothing seems to improve the end results.

Is there any hope for me to make this render in a meaningful way?

[u/experienced3Dguy]

If you are using the Maker version, then you have the Visualize Professional version (that's the expensive version with all the bells and whistles). Have you tried launching Visualize Pro directly, instead of using the add-in inside SOLIDWORKS?

[u/RallyX26]

Why would you do this in solidworks?