Faking HDRI

[charleyc]

Here is a tutorial I made showing how to turn a Fake HDRI. It requires a bit of Photoshop (or something similar), but the results are pretty good when an HDRI is unavailable. Anyway, here it is.

see the image for the tutorial
www.charleycarlat.com/Tests/FakeHDRI.jpg

also, here is an example of the method described
www.charleycarlat.com/Tests/FakeHDRI.mov
1.25 MB

[RErender]

Nice idea, Definitely going to give it a try.

[UBIKmh]

Now that is really smart.
I'm going to try it now.

Thanks,

Marc

[percydaman]

yeah that goes in the "why didn't I think of that" column.

[Trapezium]

Good thinking

--Jon

[CCS]

That's a great idea. Are render times the same as with a real HDRI?

[charleyc]

I haven't noticed any major difference in render time. The biggest advantage (to me) is the ability to use any good LDR image (or paint my own) like an HDR image, especialy for reflections.

[CCS]

Yes. Definitely. I had played with something similar, but had not adjusted the levels as much. Have to try this.

[Gijs]

Good one but, as you more or less mentioned, you need a LDR image of good quality with good tonal range and without burnouts.

[charleyc]

Good one but, as you more or less mentioned, you need a LDR image of good quality with good tonal range and without burnouts.

Only if you intend to use only the image itself for the exposure map. I have done a couple of these where I have painted the lighter/darker areas in the map as I needed. For example, adding the sun to a sky without one (a layer with the Lens Flare filter helps for this) or painting dimming layers over things such as white (or bright) objects that would normally look as if they were similar in exposure to the sun. All depends on your familiarity with your paint program.

But it is true that good textures from the start always help.