HDR Image Based Lighting 3D Scene Setup
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This short video is a follow-up on a comment made by alex_starc in the 10 Free HDRI Spherical Skies Maps post. He had issues with the sky being too dark in the render so I just recorded a short session of how I setup my scene with Image Based Lighting (IBL) using and HDRI map. Hope this helps.
How to setup HDRI lighting in 3dsmax with VRay
In this video I’m showing how I setup scene lighting using a VRayLightDome and the VRayHDRI texture loaded with a HDRI (Viz-People HDRI Vol. 01 Map 03 and My own PureLIGHT No. 11). If you have any questions, please use the comment box below 
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
Here is one of the renders that I made during the testing of the new HDRI maps.
Tweaking the HDRI in Photoshop
Since the 2nd part is taking to long to get done, here is a short video to describe the Photoshop postwork that was done on the original HDRI in order to make the shadows look crisp.
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
If your workflow for setting up Image Based Lighting (IBL) is different, please share it with us by commenting below.
And one more thing…
Get a free PureLIGHT HDRi
You can have my most popular PureLIGHT HDRi 001 – Mid Sun Clouds for free (or rather for your quick like or tweet to be exact). Go ahead and take it for a spin… I would love to know what you think of it and how I can make these better.
Visit the PureLIGHT HDRi Help & Feedback Page for… well… get help & send me feedback
Products featured in this article & more
Checkout these great HDRI collections from VizPeople & yours truly…
Viz-People HDRI Vol. 01 : This pack has 10 High Resolution HDRI Sky maps sized at 12000px X 5800px ready to use for commercial work too.Viz-People HDRI Vol. 02 : This pack has 10 High Resolution HDRI Sky maps sized at 12000px X 5800px ready to use for commercial work too.PureLIGHT HDRi’s are my own personal creation HDRi skydome panorama in .hdr format for use as a spherical environment in 3d scenes. These skydomes were virtually rendered to have a very high dynamic range for great looking realistic shadows from the sun! 208 comments
hello and ty so much for this tutorial/skies.My problem is i cant download the hdris says your bandwith is exceed its limit.
@Wecodeyoupay Yes, that service stopped working smooth - I'll host the file elsewhere. Contact me via the contact page and I'll send you a link via email ;)
Im having the same problem with @LuboNulaAntol .. Dont know how to do the adjustment for the sun..
Hi, i tryed adjust the sun like u shown in tut. but i don t know how. I cannot make new layer even exposure layer adjustments. Any help THX
Dear Sir,
Thank you for this post sir....I am Akshay Sawardekar from india. I used this method in my rendering adding also a vray sun & linked to vray dome for extra dark shadows but i am not getting good results please give me some tips......i also posted my images on your forum in lighting section called "Hdri & vray sun lighting problem" if possible help me out
Thank you.
I know the comment section has exploded on this post so i'll make this quick. I see the benefit of adjusting hdri's in ps so you don't have to use Vray Sun and HDRi, and thus not need to worry about aligning the hotspot... But will this use of HDRi work for lighting and casting shadows with interior scenes as well?
@KyleBeneventi hi, sure it works the same inside as we'll as outside... You will need to set the camera exposure to fit inside but the basic thing is the same.
@ronenbekerman @KyleBeneventi Hi Ronen, thanks for the reply! Would you need to increase the multiplier or just adjust the camera?
1 Like @KyleBeneventi You can do both ways, but I would suggest keeping the changes in the camera much like in real life you control your exposure with the camera.
hi ronen,i have no trouble with lighting the scene but the reflecitons are created by the hdri which i loaded to dome light? is it possible that i control the reflections with another hdri loadede to environment slot?
1 Like @PınarGülpınar Yep, you can. You can set the VRay Dome Light to work only on reflections or diffuse so by using two such domes - one for reflections and the other for diffuse, you can get what you want.
when i light the scene with the vray dome light its very grainy ( with out Gi )how can i get a smooth result with that faking GI.....i mean to save time with out using GI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvBffTQ29LM
in this link they do it very neatly..can u please go through that and give me a help thank you
@3dnuwan Not sure I follow what you are asking here? Not using GI will call for adding more light objects to act as the bonce light... But that than why would you want all this extra work?
I try my best byt can not make sunlight like in tutSo could you tell me , did you use dome vray light + vray sun or lighting like sun ?If like this solution so how can match vray sun with Vray HDRI ?If don`t have any vray sun , so how to make like tut, we have the beauty sunlight on objectThanks and Best regards
@zeclink This was also my thoughts - using just HDRI will not give sharp shadows for me as Ronen was getting.
Visit Viscorbel.com, he has a tutorial explaining EXACTLY how to do what you are asking (it uses Wire Parameters)
@zeclink I am not able to get clear sky with the sun rays falling on the model when i tweak the render mult it still gives me cloudy effect of the environment when i raise the amount then the bg of the sky goes all bright.(White).
@zeclink No need for vray sun, just the HDRI in this example. You can either tweak the HDRI in Photoshop / Lower the GAMMA settings for the HDRI to around 0.75 - 0.9 / Or wait a little bit more - i have something new coming
@zeclink I did the same thing shown in the tut. but didn't put vray sun. But
not able to do the activeshade dont know the setting...Thank you for your reply..Waiting for more....
Sir can you help me with the vray settings of this tutorial???
How to setup the RT setting and all.....
Hi is there a set rule for the vray dome light settings ie the multiplier, should it be a low number then you change the camera settings to lighten and darken the light. Thanks very much keep up the great website
hi and thanks for this useable tutorial.i have a question:how i can make a hdri with pic that i want?
Hey Thank you for your Tutorial. I am making one scene and I was trying this tutorial to make lighting from HDRI Map with V-Ray Dome Light but first of all I dont have place in my Dome light to instance the Map from Materials Editor. Second is that When I am trying to make Instance of HDRI Map from Material Editor to Viewport Background place so it not going there.
I am Using Max 9 and V-Ray 1.5RC3.. Would love to see solution by you about my requests. Thanks.
please help! i'm doing everything step by step, but it just don't work for me!
it always shows the bottom of the image 'n the upper part of the image is pure white.
what am i doing wrong? any idea?
thanks..
I dont have words.............how to thank you for your this tutorial. I am amazed with what you have done, man. Hats off. U become my idol.
Thanks a lot.
Hello,
how can I either offset or rescale my HDRI map?cause in the material editor,the coordinates seems not working.
Also,I can't see the HDRI map in my viewport. I've checked both the Use Environment Background & Display Background but still I can't see anything in the viewport.
Thanks in advance!
Hi,
I have a couple of questions,
What is the Multiplier of VRAYDOME? I usually set it to 1.0
Whenever I increase the render multiplier of the HDRI map and I hit render, the environment/background map becomes brighter as well, unlike on your video, you have set the render multiplier with a huge amount but the environment stays on the same exposure.
How can I resolve this? Thanks!
Hi im having truble on finding in the materials the vrayHDRI slot!, i can't find itin 3ds max 2012, any idea what can i do or if it as other name?!
@MiguelMeneses Hi - vrayHDRI is in maps slot - not in the materials! You can select vrayHDRI map in the Environment and effects and drag it into any material slot like instance - an then select your HDRI - or any other way you can find ;)
Hello ronen I'am not able to get any sun light and shadow in the scene using Vray dome. Did lot of trial an error but still cant get them. Checked the tutorials twice thrice but no luck. :(
My Vray Dome doesn't seem to show the environment in my viewport, are there specific settings I need to adjust in the viewport?
@Shuwei You need to set up the viewport background first, for that to show... Press the ALT+B shortcut and pick how you like to set it up. I usually put the same HDRI for the VRay Sky Dome inside the environment slot and I click on "Use Environment Background"
1 Like @ronenbekerman I followed your instructions, clicked the use environment background... still nothing! But when I browsed the file it showed up, but not in the spherical way that I desired! Are there something wrong with my settings??
@Shuwei I suggest you open a forum thread about this in the lighting section and add a screen capture of your settings... I'll pick this up there ;)
@PaulStein Should be pretty much the same logic I guess... any MR user care to confirm this?
Nice tutorial, but I don't understand what to change.... I did the same as you, but I don't have dropted shadows.
@TeodorMunteanu Feel free to either open a dedicated thread on the forum with some previews and setting screen captures... or/and send me your scene so I can review it.
@TeodorMunteanu You change the intensity of the brightest spot, where the sun is... It usually needs a bit of a boost to allow for the shadow to start and show up nice and crisp.
Hey Ronen, I am testing the free HDRI files and this technique out on a file of my own. I can get the VRayRT working and looking great with the HDRI, but as soon as I try to render out a final image, it turns bright yellow/orange. It only does this AFTER I've adjusted the exposure in PS...the original HDRI works fine in both RT and final rendering.
Any ideas? I'm sure I have something incorrect in the render settings, but I have no idea where to start.
Oh...and thanks for this blog. It's amazing!
@cyates74 Can you send me some image examples so I can better understand what you get?
I have problem editing the HDR in photoshop. Since it's 32bit file it dont let me brush in or adding exposure control layer. Did someone know why is that?
@VasilKirov Actually I fugured out a way to do it in PS. I gues you need to have extended version to brush the sun in or add exposure control layer. My method is to make a selection circle at the place of the sun and then in image/adjustments/exposure I move the exposure slider with 3-4 up. This give tha same effect only in the selected area. It's tested and works for me.
Good luck
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