Reflection does not appear on floor when using a white background

[nievesmiranda0630]

Hello!

I have an issue with the reflections in Arnold when I'm using a white background. So, for my rendering process, I used a Shadow Matte for the flooring because I need my output to have a transparent background. One thing I noticed when using this is that when I use a white background, the reflections don't show compared to when I use a darker background. My settings can be found in the 3rd picture. As for my lighting, I used an Arnold Skydome.

I'm aware that my settings and the environment color will have an effect on the reflections. However, I used to use similar settings back when I used Mental Ray. I used the Shadow/Matte/Reflection flooring and CIE Daylight for lighting however the reflections in Mental Ray were much more pronounced compared to what I have now. See the Mental Ray output below:

I just want to be able to replicate the reflections in Mental Ray in Arnold. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you!

[lee_griggs]

Does it have to be shadow_matte?

You can exaggerate the reflection using IOR and Metalness in the standard_surface.

[nievesmiranda0630]

Thank you for your answer! I use Shadow Matte because you can make the background transparent and leave only the reflection and the item. Can Standard Surface yield the same output?

[nievesmiranda0630]

I tried rendering using standard surface and the reflections turned out the way I wanted it too except the flooring isn't transparent.

How can I make this transparent? I tried using a darker color for opacity and it does make the whole material transparent but it takes out the reflection. Thank you!