HDRI & Background Settings

[Donfarese]

I'm sure This has been asked before, but I haven't found a really great answer on it. Why when I add a HDRI or a Background image it always comes in dark, and I always have to adjust it's Overall mult: (for HDRI) or it's Output Amount: (Background) to get it to look right? In all the other renderers I have I just add them and they come in exactly the way they are suppose to look. This way of adjusting just makes it way less accurate when I am guessing it's Exposure or brightness. Plus it's a lot more steps to get it to look right compared to choosing HDRI or background and hitting ok. What am I doing wrong here or missing?

[glorybound]

It's always been a crapshoot. Each HDRI is exposed differently, so you have to adjust accordantly. The ones I use are adjusted to a multiplier of 30.

[Donfarese]

Yeah but in my other render engines they come in exactly how they look if you viewed them, usually perfect with little need to make adjustments. They always come in so dark with vray. Why can't they be set to come in as-is like default, if we then need to adjust something to change it then fine. Some of these photographers have taken them to resemble just what they look like, it's a shame to get them then guess how it was suppose to be. Maybe I'm wrong... but found it much more straight forward with other apps. Especially background, I want it to come in exactly how it looks not have to adjust to hopefully get the correct photographers shot photo to match. I've tried turning of affect background and such but nothing helped.

[Jiri.Matys]

You have to use camera compensation.

[Donfarese]

You have to use camera compensation.

Not sure I'f I'm doing something wrong but that changes EV for entire scene not just the Background or HDRI. Still don't understand why these images can't come in as is.

[Morne]

Not sure I'f I'm doing something wrong but that changes EV for entire scene not just the Background or HDRI. Still don't understand why these images can't come in as is.

What does the HDRI image look like if you open it in photoshop? Dark, bright, or "correct"?

[svetlozar.draganov]

This is an area which definitely needs improvement since now there is no way to render environment maps without applying exposure corrections.
The only possible way now to render the environment maps without exposure correction is the uncheck Affect Background option from Color Mapping rollout, but this will affect only the background directly visible by the camera, background visible through reflection/refraction will be still affected. The other downside of this option is that it is not supported from the Progressive Image Sampler.

I'll add a note about that into our system, hopefully we'll have a way to render the environment without any additional multiplier tweaks.

[Donfarese]

What does the HDRI image look like if you open it in photoshop? Dark, bright, or "correct"?

Sorry didn't get back sooner, been really busy. HDRI looks perfect in photoshop like a blue sky should, but you bring in a background image in vray or same if your using the hdri and it's super dark. You bring the same image into say corona or Octane render it renders and lights the surroundings perfect just like it looked straight from Photoshop.

This is an area which definitely needs improvement since now there is no way to render environment maps without applying exposure corrections.
The only possible way now to render the environment maps without exposure correction is the uncheck Affect Background option from Color Mapping rollout, but this will affect only the background directly visible by the camera, background visible through reflection/refraction will be still affected. The other downside of this option is that it is not supported from the Progressive Image Sampler.

I'll add a note about that into our system, hopefully we'll have a way to render the environment without any additional multiplier tweaks.

That would be great to have this fixed, this is a pretty huge deal to everyone that uses a background or especially a HDRI on a daily basis. I was wondering why even "uncheck Affect Background option" was not working but now I know why, I was always using progressive render.

[werticus]

Thankfully i found this thread - i was using progressive too.

[kosso_olli]

That would be great to have this fixed, this is a pretty huge deal to everyone that uses a background or especially a HDRI on a daily basis. I was wondering why even "uncheck Affect Background option" was not working but now I know why, I was always using progressive render.

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I never had any issues in all the years. However, I am in full control over the process of creating the HDRI's I use, so maybe that is the solution.

[glorybound]

This explains why I lost my reflections in V-Ray NEXT. I use an HDRI and the reflected HDRI is super dark and not reflecting properly.

[kosso_olli]

This explains why I lost my reflections in V-Ray NEXT. I use an HDRI and the reflected HDRI is super dark and not reflecting properly.

NO! As explained in another thread, your reflections are now to be found in the specular render element, just like in any other render engine out there.

[glorybound]

I keep reading this explanation, but I use the software daily and the reflections in my glass are nonexistence now.