Can Not find imapviewer.exe

[guang_ai]

Hello,

I am trying to install the "Irradiance Map Viewer" to view HDR files. According to V-Ray Help, the installation file imapviewer.exe should be found in the folder of C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray for Rhinoceros\tools\, but in my computer I can only see one exe file called 7za.exe there, with another file called VRMatThumbnailHandler.dll in the folder. I have clicked both and nothing happened. Anyone can help? I am using V-Ray v5 for Rhino.

Best regards!

[iva_mancheva]

Hello, guang_ai

From 5.20.05 on, all Standalone Tools ("Irradiance Map Viewer" included) are located in C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray for Rhinoceros\vrayappsdk\bin. However it is not recommended to access the folder manually because of the risk of making changes accidentally. That's why the most commonly used - "GPU Device Selection", "V-Ray Denoiser" and "V-Ray Mesh Viewer" can be accessed from the V-Ray menu.
Thank you for writing us, we will correct the info in the Docs page.

Could you please tell us more about what would you like to use the Irradiance map viewer for?
Thank you!

Kind regards,
Iva

[guang_ai]

Iva,

Thanks for your response! Yes, as you indicated, I have found the "imapviewer.exe" in C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray for Rhinoceros\vrayappsdk\bin. So, can I just click the file to install Irradiance Map Viewer in my computer without causing any issues? The reason I want to install the viewer is to view the HDRI and EXR files, which I have downloaded from a website https://polyhaven.com/hdris/skies, so that I can pick up a right one for the background sky setting. I am pretty new with the V-Ray for Rhino, if this is not a good practice to set up the background, what would be the better way to do it?

Thanks!

Guang

[iva_mancheva]

Hello Guang,

The Irradiance Map viewer can only load Irradiance and Light Cache maps (.vrmap and .vrlmap file formats).
I would advise you to use Light Gen with your custom HDR set to generate you variants, which will give you some initial ideas. You can check out the Docs page - https://docs.chaos.com/display/VRHINO/V-Ray+Light+Gen.
You can also load and change the HDR files in a Dome light or in the Background map slot during IR and rotate the texture to see the results.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Iva

[guang_ai]

Iva,

Thanks!

Guang

[Micha]

I The reason I want to install the viewer is to view the HDRI and EXR...

I use the free image browser XnView and I'm very happy, also for HDR and EXR. Per Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V you can quick copy the image path to the V-Ray texture options.