Another HDRI thread!

[Tim Nelson]

For the first time, I'd actually like to try to use HDRI for my latest rendering. I've never done so on a real job before, so there's a lot to learn. So far I've learned how to set one up using Vray, but still a little in the dark concerning the whole theory behind it, techniques, advantages, etc. I've read through several threads, but they usually jump around a lot and I end up getting lost somewhere along the way. What really drives me crazy is how to set one up to properly represent the actual lighting. There's all this cubical, spherical, mirror dome settings that I honestly don't fully understand yet....

 

Here is a shot using an HDRI and below it is one that is using a single color for the environment light. I tried other HDR's but I got the best results from this one. Also I have a target spot with a slightly orange color. This is a model in progress, so maybe I will update with the final later.

 

I would love it if other people could post their HDR images here and share their thoughts & techniques with using HDRI. All these Maxwell images have really made me want to start using a lot more color in my Vray renderings.

 

HDR version:

 

Standard blue environment version:

[IC]

The HDRI I use most for exterior lighting is Paul Debevec's Beach Probe.

You can download it from his site along with a few others.

It has a real bright spot so it's easy to align this with the theoretical sun position. It gives fantastic reflections.

I create a ball, flip the normals and map the image to the inside with spherical mapping automatically sized.

Scale the ball up to cover the entire scene and that's it.

[Tim Nelson]

Thanks for the tip IC. I'm going to give that a shot. Does creating the 'ball' work better than just sticking the map in the environment slot?

[Eric]

I'm going to say the inverted sphere is the best idea I've heard simply because it allows you to visually align the sun angle if you make the material visible in the viewport. Otherwise it always seems to be a shot in the dark simply using the material editor.I rarely use an HDRI for my images. However, I might give the sphere a try and see if that works any easier with the sun angle. There isn't a whole lot of difference (on my laptop) between the two images you posted, but the HDRI version definitely looks better from where I'm sitting - enough so that it's worth the added trouble of incorporating HDRI environments.

[IC]

I don't know about other renderers but using the environment option in LW means that you have that as your background.

With this method you can make the ball invisible to the camera.

 

A stretched image as the background isn't ideal and you then have to cover it up with a sky-mapped polygon or something like that.

 

Also, you have some flexibility in the lighting/reflections by making the ball larger or smaller.

[Tim Nelson]

Cool guys, thanks for the tips.

[Tim Nelson]

Well I ended up not using HDRI at all for this one. I couldn't find one that had the type of lighting I was looking for, so I just used a heavy blue environment color and added a big vray light facing the front of the building with a low multiplier. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for not doing this type of lighting on an exterior before. This isn't the final version for the client though. I had to get it ready for the competition so I changed a couple design elements & simplified the site a bit to get it entered in time.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Well I ended up not using HDRI at all for this one. I couldn't find one that had the type of lighting I was looking for, so I just used a heavy blue environment color and added a big Vray light facing the front of the building with a low multiplier. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for not doing this type of lighting on an exterior before. This isn't the final version for the client though. I had to get it ready for the competition so I changed a couple design elements & simplified the site a bit to get it entered in time.

 

it was cool to see someone else doing a dusk shot for the competition. i drew inspiration for it after seeing a nice dusk photo in Dwell. it was also fun because it was one of my old projects from school that i only had rapidographs on mylar for.

 

....were you looking at photos for colors and ideas? ...or did the idea just come to you?

 

i have seen nice HDRI images, but my one attempt at it was futile at best. i may have set it aside a little to quickly, but the thing that frustrated me at least from the get go was how little control you actually have over the lighting with HDRI. i know it is supposed to give 'real' life situations, but i enjoy being able to make certain areas lighter and darker through more standardized and even shade lights.

 

i have skimmed tutorials on how to set up your own HDRI lights, and that may be worth looking into, but i think you would have to approach that whole heartedly to get to the point where you could control everything, and know exactly how a HDRI map would respond when you were doing different things to it during the setup.

[Tim Nelson]

Probably what inspired me the most was the first two images in Alex York's post.

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8074&highlight=ARCHI-TECH

 

But I've wanted to do this type of shot for a long time. So often you see great images in magazines like Dwell that use very dramatic lighting & if you want to show any interior at all, its really the best setup.

 

I liked your version too. They always seem to draw more emotion than regular daytime shots. Another one I really liked was Frosty's boat house image. Nice stuff..

[jhaeusle]

Just wanted to add this adress for people interested in spherical panoramas and HDRI:

 

short introdution and explanation about HDRI

 

To see some Render-Examples, go to:

 

Render Gallery

 

or have a look at the following Panorama-gallerys (PDF):

 

Gallery 1

Gallery 2

Gallery 3

Gallery 4

Gallery 5

Gallery 6

 

As main profession, I´m working as a freelance-modelling artist myself (portfolio).

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Jan Häusle