For years I used to spice up my CG lighting by going away from using plain white rectangular lights to creating softboxes and gradients with a gradient ramp and then later the VraySoftbox map. Its a great tool, if you are using v-ray, to quickly use gradients for automotive and product renderings! I highly recommend using it. I began to combine my custom gradients with a base map, mostly a softbox hdri texture from my HDRI Collection 1 - Studio Lights, Lamps and Softboxes
Gumroad – 50 High Quality Studio HDRI Pack HOT
The difference between a perfect gradient and a real photostudio gradient are the burned spots, the highlights, the imperfections and these make the difference in your lighting and the photorealism in the end! 2ff7e9595c