improvement VrayHdri Map and VRay RT

[ghiom3d]

Hello,

Today i'm playing with Hdri light Studio with VrayRT.
In my mind, the most usefull thing about RT at this time is to setup light materials and Map in very short time and intuitive way.
I really like the way i can modify a map in photoshop and just push the reload button of the Bitmap Map of 3DSMAX to see the changes in the active shade view.

So .. i want to use HDR light Studio to create my Hdri as a map for my VrayDome light.
It's so easy to setup this thing and creating my own Hdri with VrayRT !!

But something is missing ...
We can only use VrayHdri map , and this map haven't any reload button like Bitmap map or BitmapHDR map from Max.
the bad effect of this miss, is that you can't see the update of your HDRI.
Even if browse again and select it again .

I've finally find a way to force the update of this map with VrayHdri Map. i'm changing the Gamma value parameter of the vrayhdri map and the map is updated.
It's only 2 left mouse button work , but it could be better if you add a reload button.
By this way, i modify my map in Hdrlightstudio , i save it ( or replace it ) , and i push reload in the vrayhdri map parameters to see the changes.

best regards

[vlado]

Hm, it should not be too hard to add a "Reload" button; will think about it.

Best regards,
Vlado

[jacksc02]

You could add your own button to your UI and use the Blurscript called "ReloadAllBitmaps"
I cant remember if that script has an interface or not. If it does you could remove it easily enough in the script so its just a 1 click solution.
Im also not sure how it would affect RT. I might give it a go and see

[ghiom3d]

THanks you Vlado , there is enough space to add this reload button in the map parameters

Thanks Chris, a script could be the solution.
And because when i'm changing the Gamma value, the map is reloaded, i've thing about a script like this :

meditMaterials[1] = VRayHDRI ()
meditMaterials[1].gamma = 0
meditMaterials[1] = VRayHDRI ()
meditMaterials[1].gamma = 1

but i know nothing about script.

[ghiom3d]

i've try with Macro script

meditMaterials[1].hdriMapName = "{53C068D0-E3F7-4684-947F-2D5A2784E17B}"
meditMaterials[1].gamma = 0
meditMaterials[1].hdriMapName = "{53C068D0-E3F7-4684-947F-2D5A2784E17B}"
meditMaterials[1].gamma = 1

It's not working :/
When i up then down gamma in the map parameters with the mouse , it's working and the active viewport is refreshing and the map reloaded
With the macro script, the value of the gamma parameter is changing, but the active viewport is not refereshing and the bitmap isn't reload .

[Amplified]

Hi,

I had a similar idea a while back ago and made a script for the same purpose, making a live connection between HDRi Light Studio and VRay RT.

I came to the same conclusion, the only way to force an update of the hdri map was to change the gamma value, however sometimes changing the gamma value messed up the HDRi-map used inside RT, and you needed to restart RT.
So instead to force a update I set the hdri map to a small black temp .hrdi file and then set it back to the original hdri file (then one used inside HDRi Light Studio), that way you can force a update with maxscript. Not very nice, but I think it worked.

Though I went a bit further and used dotNET in the max script which have a function for looking for any updates on the lastwrite of a specific file, so all you need to do in HDRi Light Studio is to hit CTRL+S to save the HDRi, and it updates instantly in Vray RT's active shade window.
Give me a shout if your interested in the script.

Adding a Update button would be welcome, accessing it via MAX Script would be nice as well

[ghiom3d]

Hi thanks for sharing, i would love to try your script . I've just updated my Hdr Light studio to Hdrlight Studio V.2 and Vray Rt would beeing more usefull than Lightstudio.

Can you send me your script at ghiom[AT]ghiom[DOT]com ?

[Amplified]

Hi thanks for sharing, i would love to try your script . I've just updated my Hdr Light studio to Hdrlight Studio V.2 and Vray Rt would beeing more usefull than Lightstudio.

Can you send me your script at ghiom[AT]ghiom[DOT]com ?

Hi,

Sent you a mail...

Removed the need for a intermediate HDRi file, give it a try and please give feedback...
Just press the button again if you want MAX to stop watching for updates on the *.hdr file...

Tested it with RT GPU seems to work fine there as well, it's a handy tool if you need to do lightning with a HDRi using an external program.
Noticed that I was wrong on the shortcut in HDRi Light Studio, it's ctrl + "render button" to render with last settings and filename.

[ghiom3d]

Many thanks, i give it a try tomorrow AND tell you if it's ok.

[ghiom3d]

Very Handy your script !! many thanks.

i use live light to fine ajust all the lights of Hdrlight studio on a mesh that i have imported. ( the main object of my scene )
And i use your script to ajust the Vray light dome, vraymaterials, and many other 3DSMAX thing like camera ... with the help of VrayRT .

Is it very very handy because we cannot see what our HDRI we build is doind with a refractive object ! Live Light can't do refractive material.

just for illustrate about what i'm speacking :