Deep Space HDRI

mpam76895_15961369c9

This kit is on sale. I at least think I'm familiar with hdri's. They are essentially (background) scenes which can be imported. Is this all there is to it? The ones that came with bryce 6.1 are pretty simple and I've not tried to tweak them in any way, if it can be done.

I am not familiar with IBL's if I got that right. There are some tutorials on ibl's on deep space's product page. I perused the first but this is totally novel and there wasn't any intro as what the heck it is.

Feel free to comment on any of the above. I am however asking foremost if I can use this kit in bryce without knowing much of this other stuff. I've bryce 6.1. Might anyone reading have some work incorporating either or both hdri and ibl?

Also, bryce pro 7 is listed at $20. I gather this is just the upgrade?

In any case, I like Bryce and have been using it for many years.

Dave Savage

Hi there.

Firstly, yes, upgrade to the latest version of Bryce, you'll get so much more out of it.
But don't install it over the top of your version 6.1, because it's always advantageous to hang on to good working software.
The £20 Bryce 7.1 Pro is for the full application and it's not just an upgrade patch.

What you'll get for your upgrade is much better lighting control, new lights and a fully functioning IBL/HDRI set up in the sky lab.

Now how can I explain this in easy to understand language?
HDRI Probes for Bryce are not only backdrops but they also contain lighting information that can be used by Bryce to light a scene in a much more natural way because the tone, direction and intensity of the light is based upon the colour and brightness of a seies of points within the HDRI.

IBL is just the name given to this method of lighting a scene (Image Based Lighting) as opposed to direct lighting from a point light source such as a radial light or the Bryce sun for instance.

Setting up the HDRI and IBL can be a bit tricky at first because you're dealing with new setting you need to get used to, but there are a lot of YouTube tutorials covering the subject and we have David Brinnen on hand here to give expert advice on specific problems.

mpam76895_15961369c9

I see. I had the idea, from the jargon phrase, that it was lighting directly connected to the object itself (like it's "area of operation" or something). But you're saying that this brand of lighting is still from ambient surroundings, only more detailed. Ya?

I like that last line. Me neither tho I've been working on a project where I've pushed both bryce and ram to the limits. Maybe someday I'll have enough thematically related scenes to create a 30 minute show. I want to splice in captured video footage... telling or showing a story about inter dimensional travel etc. It would appear Fukushima and other vectors may have something else in store (and I'm in Massachusetts!).

Thanks for the reply and gotta love that avatar. Wish I could relate to you what I saw over the summer!! Had six different sightings and a co worker saw them to so it wasn't a schizo episode.

Dave Savage

kzerial said:

I see. I had the idea, from the jargon phrase, that it was lighting directly connected to the object itself (like it's "area of operation" or something). But you're saying that this brand of lighting is still from ambient surroundings, only more detailed. Ya?

Yes, if you look at the examples I posted above, you can see that the HDRI provides a colour cast to the lighting that matches the backdrop environment as well as providing a 180° dome backdrop to supply reflections on any reflective object. On the top row, I have used a blue sky and clouds HDRI and on the bottom row, A forest trees one. If you have an HDRI with a prominent light source in it, you will get prominent shadows, but you also retain the ambient light meaning that your shadows won't loose detail from what they casting onto.

The HDRI probe loads into the skylab and maps the image onto a virtual dome which is in effect, at the edge of the infinite Bryce world, so you can't actually get closer to it, but you can give the impression of it being closer by using the field of view in the camera settings.

Horo

@kzerial - you've got already good advice from TheSavage64 and I'm a bit late. As far as the Deep Space HDRIs go, you can use them also in Bryce 6.1/6.3 (but not 6.0) because they don't need to be tone-mapped. Only Bryce 7.0/7.1 have a tone-mapper integrated. This option is important for backdrops. IBL is very easy to use though there are always "expert" settings. IBL in Bryce 7.1 is much advanced over 6.1/6.3.

Start experimenting with things and fire away if questions pop up. You can also look at David Brinnen's YouTube channel. He kindly hosts my IBL/HDRI videos, there are several. Links to the videos and transcripts of them can be found on my website (see sig). Go to Bryce Documents > Videos > Horo.

mpam76895_15961369c9

Danke und Yule. Neat stuff. Tho last night I had the thought that the Materials lab settings might be incorporated into the, lets call it, (hdri) algorithm.

"I’ve got nothing of my own to promote, no models, no tutorials, no website, nothin’, nada, nill, nowt."

Sorry, I was distracted - when Projecting onto that line.

Should ask this somewhere else but any of yous know about those Anfy screensavers or similar; employing AI algorithms? I'm interested in these simple AI formulas which have their graphic equivalents. Simple math functions allowing numbers to appear here and there creating patterns until the formula runs itself out. My interest in this is in tandem with the idea of random number generators. That is, the interest lies in the apparent potential of volitional modulation via psi (of said RNG). That is, the co-interest is how to embed something like this into my animation storyline!