Which HDRI Collection Is Best.

[gadzooks]

Was wondering if somone could tell me which HDR image collections are best.
Sachform or dosch designs? Im planning on buying a collection and was wondering what you thought of either. Thanks

[percydaman]

we have the dosch skies and they're pretty much crap. dynamic range isn't high enough so it tints everything too blue. cant say about any others though.

[vlado]

I have to agree with Percy... the Dosch skies produce very uniform illumination. They may be good for reflections though.

Best regards,
Vlado

[percydaman]

they are a little bit more useable for reflections ya. I think Im using one now for a current project.

[gadzooks]

Thanks Percy and Vlado. I thought i had read somewhere that sachform were far better than anything out thier. Will see if i can find more information. Thanks

[cpnichols]

Actually, the new Dosch Extreem Hires skies are VERY good. Probably the best ones out there. They were shot with the Sphereon camera and are extreemly high dynamic range. In fact, they are so high, that you may have long rendering times. I have found that I need to create a lower dynamic range version of them if I am using them for diffuse lighting. On some of them, if you measure the sun, it is near 35,000 in value. I also have some Sachform ones, and they are pretty good.

[gadzooks]

cpnichols i have the dvd from gnomon and was wondering what hdr did you use for the overpass tut. Was it the dosch high res? i cant remember.

[cpnichols]

No... the ones I used for that were from the sachform library. Actually, I believe that the key is not what library ytou have, but have as many of them as possible. The more HDRI's you have, the more diverse your lighting can be.

[percydaman]

Actually, the new Dosch Extreem Hires skies are VERY good. Probably the best ones out there. They were shot with the Sphereon camera and are extreemly high dynamic range. In fact, they are so high, that you may have long rendering times. I have found that I need to create a lower dynamic range version of them if I am using them for diffuse lighting. On some of them, if you measure the sun, it is near 35,000 in value. I also have some Sachform ones, and they are pretty good.

thats cool to know, thanks..

[gadzooks]

Thanks guys.... what i needed to know!

[meanadam]

http://www.hdrimaps.com/

[cpnichols]

http://www.hdrimaps.com/

It looks like those HDRIs are only half domes and not full spheres. Not always a good thing.

[meanadam]

As stated cleary on the project page. Each HDRI comes in 4 modes:
formats on CDrom:
- 55 images
- 1500x1500px, 300dpi Spherical
- 1400x700px, 72dpi 180° Polar
- 1400x700px, 300dpi 180° SkyDome
- 90x45px, 72dpi Diffused SkyLight

There is also a folder of misc hdr that are not complete in the 4 modes - about 20 or so different setups.

They aren't the highest res (1mb-8mb) but there is a wide range for cheap.

I am not affiliated with or even know the guy - just passing on a excellent HDRI find.