HDR Lightning with Iray - HOW?
RCTSpanky
Posts: 850
How did I use all this HRD lightning tools like " iRadiance - HDR Mesh Lights for Iray" in DAZ Studio? That video on the product page is nice, but all other than helpful for newbies.
Does anyone please know helpfiul hints, tutorials, videos? Thanks in advance.
Post edited by RCTSpanky on
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Well... from the README, which says:
My guess is that first, you will have to load a light from this category:
Lights:Iray:iRadiance - HDR Mesh Lights for Iray
and then, you can apply the Light presets from the Studio folders.
but that's just my guess without having worked with the product.
Well I got the "iRadiance - HDR Mesh Lights for Iray" working as said above but I can't seem to get the "iRadiance - Studio HDRIs for Iray" to do a damn thing. They don't even load in the scene. :( Documentation is no help. Help DimensionTheory!
If they are plain HDRI files, it is simple: go to render settings, select Environment and click on the small image (should be blue, i forgot how the slider is called). Then, chose Browse and go to the location where the Hdri are stored. Load the file in question.
That said, i will have to look into the Readme before I can say anying more... Which i can't do very well on the mobile.
You're looking for them in the scene. The HDRI lights are actually Iray render settings. If you apply the light and then go look where lee_lhs mentioned (render tab/environment) you'll see that the light has actually loaded.
Have you got 'Draw Dome' switched to 'On' in the render settings? It defaults to 'Off' which is a bit annoying. That would cause the HDRIs not to show.
Have you got 'Draw Dome' switched to 'On' in the render settings? It defaults to 'Off' which is a bit annoying. That would cause the HDRIs not to show.
The HDRI lights will appear whether the dome is on or not. Having the dome drawn will turn your HDRI image into the sky of your image. The lights work as lights even with the dome not drawn.
The HDRI lights will appear whether the dome is on or not. Having the dome drawn will turn your HDRI image into the sky of your image. The lights work as lights even with the dome not drawn.
They were asking about the HDRIs though, the images, not the lights. They've already got the lights working. If you put an HDRI into the environment map and forget to switch on Draw Dome then it won't appear (or at least it doesn't for me anyway).
The HDRI lights will appear whether the dome is on or not. Having the dome drawn will turn your HDRI image into the sky of your image. The lights work as lights even with the dome not drawn.
They were asking about the HDRIs though, the images, not the lights. They've already got the lights working. If you put an HDRI into the environment map and forget to switch on Draw Dome then it won't appear (or at least it doesn't for me anyway).
You're thinking of the wrong light set. :) This one:
http://www.daz3d.com/iradiance-studio-hdris-for-iray
is what the OP was asking about. It is ONLY lights, not the domes. In fact, if you used these as domes, they'd be very goofy!
http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-iray-hdr-outdoor-environments and
http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-iray-hdr-interiors
have domes that work as environments.
Ah I see. I've only had experience with the last two you mentioned. Ignore me then! ;)
Please don't think I'm being condescending -- you may very well know all this! But I know I was confused by HDR images at first. So, for those who are unaware, allow me to clarify -- HDRIs are "High Dynamic Range Images" They have light data beyond what a single digital photo can capture. They're made by "stitching" together the same photograph taken at different exposures, and hence they have a much broader range of light and dark than you could otherwise get.
They make for very cool pictures, which is why they make good skydomes/environments. (Ex: http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-iray-hdr-outdoor-environments and http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-iray-hdr-interiors)
But they can be used ONLY as lights. 3D programs can take the light data in that photo and use it to create scene lighting. (Ex: http://www.daz3d.com/iradiance-studio-hdris-for-iray)
Uberenvironment used these kinds of images, too, but they appeared as part of the light shader, not as a render setting.
In regards to the iRadiance HDRI lights (not the mesh ones), this is what I mean:
First image is the material ball with the environment that DS4.8 loads with and the sky draw OFF. The second is the same thing, but with the dome ON. See the fuzzy color splotches in the sky? That's the HDRI environment picture being projected as a sky.
The third and 4th images show the same thing with the iRadiance lights. You can see that the lighting is much brighter, and that (image 4), the HDRI makes for a lousy sky because it isn't intended to be anything except light data. :)
Ah I see. I've only had experience with the last two you mentioned. Ignore me then! ;)
But I don't ignore nice people who are being helpful! :)
Don't worry, I don't think that at all. When it comes to 3D rendering and HDRIs I need all the schoolin' I can get.
In fact this has been very helpful to me because I've been sitting here for hours wondering why the hell the default HDRI they gave me in the environment map was creating a blurry background LOL! I didn't realise it was meant for lighting rather than as an environment image.
Thanks for enlightening me (pardon the pun).
Its good when people correct me - its the only way I'll learn ;)
Don't worry, I don't think that at all. When it comes to 3D rendering and HDRIs I need all the schoolin' I can get.
In fact this has been very helpful to me because I've been sitting here for hours wondering why the hell the default HDRI they gave me in the environment map was creating a blurry background LOL! I didn't realise it was meant for lighting rather than as an environment image.
Thanks for enlightening me (pardon the pun).
Tee-hee!!
Oh, and incidentally -- any of the HDRI lights you had for uberenvironment are also useful in Iray. Just replace the environment image with one from the UE light image. (see the image below.) Make sure, if given a choice, to select the "tif" or "exr" or "hdr" file, and not the "jpg." You can put ANY image into the environment channel -- doesn't have to be HDRI. But you'll get bland lighting with a regular photo. Jpg photos can't hold the light data of an HDRI because of how they're compressed. UE only used tif pictures in it's shader. Poser allows tif and hdr. Iray uses both and exr -- and maybe others, for all I know, lol!
Many, many thanks, espeially to Karibou, but to all others who helped here.too .. I didn't expect so detailed explaination and I hope I can now work with the lights too.
I'm still confused - sorry.
I have a folder of HDR images that I used with Reality/Luxrender - I could get them to render but never managed to see them in the viewport so, when it came to rotating them to get the sun in the right place, I had to guess.
Now I might be getting mixed up here between IBL and HDR but I'm pretty sure I used the .hdr image in the IBL settings in Reality.
I'm assuming that the dome in the IRay environment settings expects an HDR image like those I have already. I can get that to render if I switch Draw Dome on. But I still can't see it in the viewport to position the background as I want it. Nor can I scale the image.
By the way - I found some freebies on this site:
http://hdrmaps.com/freebies
The HDR will not show in the viewport, unless you set the viewport to Iray-Preview.
Scaling the image will only work if you set the dome to "Finite Dome", rather than using the "Infinite Dome".
The HDR will not show in the viewport, unless you set the viewport to Iray-Preview.
Scaling the image will only work if you set the dome to "Finite Dome", rather than using the "Infinite Dome".
Ok - thanks. IRay preview mode does show the image in the viewport. However, I've tried all the infinite/finite settings and scaling (dome radius, dome scale multiplier) make absolutely no difference to the image scale.
Was wondering same thing, as I use Reality/Luxrender, thought I'd give IRay a try. Recently posted a question about HDR.
The HDR will not show in the viewport, unless you set the viewport to Iray-Preview.
How is this done ?
Ok - thanks. IRay preview mode does show the image in the viewport. However, I've tried all the infinite/finite settings and scaling (dome radius, dome scale multiplier) make absolutely no difference to the image scale.Try finite dome and dome scale factor of 15% or so. It takes a small scale factor for me to see a change.
15% made hardly any difference. At 5% I started to see a difference but by then I could see the outline of the dome. So the scale of the dome does not seem to relate directly to the scale of the image. I have to say that I now remember having this scaling problem in Reality too.
I think the answer is to use HDR as a lighting option only and use ordinary backdrops for my outdoor landscapes. I mainly only see them through windows anyway as most of my renders are interiors.
One thing that concerns me about that solution though: the backdrop renders with shadows across it. For example, if I have a spotlight inside a room and the light goes out through a window, the backdrop behind has shadows of the window frame across its surface. Not very realistic. Can I avoid this?
It is here (last selection, NVIDIA Iray):
Awesome ! thanks friend. Works perfect !!
It is here (last selection, NVIDIA Iray):
Barbult - In environment, I have dome set to finite sphere w/ground. I changed dome radius from 150 to 1. Work'd perfect.
I was thinking about "reactivating" the good old Woodland Playsets, and consorts. They can be moved as required, and scaled up.
The only problem with tem is that they will work like any solid item, and not let light pass.
I think, this is still something where a skilled vedor can make a fortune! :-)
EDIT: Thinking about it, if I use Flipmode's Skybox emission adjustments on the Woodland Playset (or any other plane where I can put my image on), I should be able to solve the "taking light away from the scene" problem.
I was thinking about "reactivating" the good old Woodland Playsets, and consorts. They can be moved as required, and scaled up.
The only problem with tem is that they will work like any solid item, and not let light pass.
I think, this is still something where a skilled vedor can make a fortune! :-)
EDIT: Thinking about it, if I use Flipmode's Skybox emission adjustments on the Woodland Playset (or any other plane where I can put my image on), I should be able to solve the "taking light away from the scene" problem.
Actually, I used backdrops in Reality (haven't touched it for months - really disappointed with R4) and I am sure I set the backdrop to be slightly light emissive which seemed to cancel out any shadows on the surface.
Having said all that, it is looking to me like 3Delight is quicker and better in 4.8 so, especially since I'm more or less restricted to CPU renders, I think I'll be exploring 3Delight further. I just rendered a scene with 3 AoA Advanced lights, a room and several items of furniture in about a minute. The quality is quite good.
Noticed DS 4.8 3Delight is alot faster then previous version, but vs IRay, I prefer unbiased over biased, much more realistic, with less workflow.
And for me 3Delight just fly's now where in the previous version I felt like I had to wait and wait and wait and I have a pretty darned good system. Now it seems fine and rendering as fast I thought it would when I got this new machine just 6 months ago or so....
I'm kinda pleased with Iray so far - save for one thing, my pictures get so grainy, they look like I scanned an image from a newspaper. Is there anything to do about that?
Actually, I used backdrops in Reality (haven't touched it for months - really disappointed with R4) and I am sure I set the backdrop to be slightly light emissive which seemed to cancel out any shadows on the surface.
Having said all that, it is looking to me like 3Delight is quicker and better in 4.8 so, especially since I'm more or less restricted to CPU renders, I think I'll be exploring 3Delight further. I just rendered a scene with 3 AoA Advanced lights, a room and several items of furniture in about a minute. The quality is quite good.
Yes, 3Delight is quite capable, much more so than most DS users ever realized. The problem was always that there were so few really good quality shaders. I don't mean presets, I mean actual shaders, like the Omnifreaker stuff, the old PW stuff, and the fairly recent AoA stuff. A lot of the potential of the engine was never really unlocked. I don't think Shader Builder was ever used as much as DAZ had probably hoped it would be. So a lot of power just sat there in the engine, mostly untapped.
I keep a foot in both camps, I was an early Reality adopter, but I never stopped using 3Delight, it all depends on what I am going for. I personally do not think that Photo-realism is always the best way to go. Different looks for different subjects. I do like Iray a lot, so it gets added to the toolset, but it really will probably replace Reality, not 3Delight.