HDRI creation

[Tommy L]

Hello All,

My HDRI creation technique is feeling rather antiquated and I was wondering if any one knows of any recent advancement in the field.

I use the silver ball capture (on a Phase 1) and composite in HDR shop route. Its time consuming and clumsy imho, I'd like to hear from anyone else who makes their own and if they've any hot tips on techniques.

Tom.

 

Edit: Oh, and Im also in the market for a new silver ball. Mines a cheap 'dream-catcher' and lacks the clarity I would like. Anyone know of a good source?

Edited August 24, 2010 by Tommy L

[Scott Dombrowski]

That's funny, I'm about to start making my own HDRIs using the silver ball method with a DSLR. I think I may try using the open source sIBL route, but haven't experimented with it yet. My other option was to shoot 360 using the DSLR and a pano head, but that seems like a lot of time in the field and a higher up front cost (I don't have a pano head). What part(s) of the silver ball process do you find time consuming and clumsy?

[Tommy L]

Scott,

Well, all of it really. Seems like every step is an easily replicable one in hardware/software. I dont have a programmable camera, so I have to mannually change settings. This means there is always slight camera movement for one. It would be nice to do multiple brackets the whole gamut of the camera.....

[Devin Johnston]

The do have cameras now that can take HDR images, maybe they make a lens that takes 360 degree images...I don't know but I'd like to find out.

[Tommy L]

like full range? I read some stuff on another thread by the all knowledgable Andy Lynn. He seemed to think they were just bracketing exposures and tampering with the high/low exposures to give range boost. But maybe you are referring to a more specialized solution, not a consumer level gadget?

[Devin Johnston]

I don't know what the specks are I just know that there are several cameras on the market claiming they can take HDR images.

[Tommy L]

Yes I doubt they have the kind of dynamic range we would need as a light capture. Im guessing its an in camera software adjustment rather than the 10 or so exposures that we would use to generate an HDRI.

[Stephen Thomas]

Paul Debevec has written an article in this month's 3d World magazine called '10 Techniques for Perfect HDR Images' if you can get hold of a copy. In it he says he uses a chrome juggling ball from this company - http://www.dube.com/balls/steel-juggling-balls.php

 

The new HDR feature that recent DSLRs are touting is really just a case of taking bracketed exposures then blending them into a single image. I did come across this website recently which compares the autobracketing capabilities of most DSLRs, which might be useful to anyone looking to get kit specifically for the purpose of creating HDRIs. http://www.hdrlabs.com/tools/autobracketing.html

 

I also came across a pretty cheap fisheye lens as well if you wanted to go down the pano route rather than chrome balls, but I don't know how it performs compared to the more expensive models. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opteka-Aspherical-Circular-Fisheye-Digital/dp/B002MR0LB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1282779544&sr=8-1