HDRIs for photo-real results

As you know, HDR Light Studio let's you put the lights where you want them in a HDRI map. This has been used to great effect with this render of a SLR camera. A small amount of blue was added to the light coming from the right which has given the image a much more 3D feel.

The reason why using a HDRI makes your renders look so real is that the light and reflections are in a perfect ‘union’ as they are being provided by the HDRI environment image. This is just like the real-world where a bright light can also be seen reflected by surfaces, and this is what we call a ‘high-light’.

If your CG materials have been set up with a photo-real approach, so without fake specular highlights, then the high-lights are generated from the reflectivity and roughness values for the shader. This will make your renders much more realistic when using HDRI environment maps, with sharp crisp highlights for glossy smooth surfaces and much more spread out high-lights being created by rougher surfaces.

The Power of HDR Light Studio - Basic

Yes, Basic is the baby of the family... but it is still a very useful part of the toolkit, especially with HyperShot.

For example, take the 6 renders above. It's the same data, materials and camera angle for all 6 shots. All that's in the scene is the car. Everything else comes from HDRI maps made with HDR Light Studio Basic Edition. There isn’t even a floor, just a ground shadow turned on in HyperShot.

No Photoshop was needed at all, just HyperShot and HDR Light Studio Basic.

TIP1: To get the glows behind the car, simply place a weak soft light in to the HDRI design in this visible part of the HDRI. It makes it more dynamic.

TIP2: The advantages of having no floor geometry are: 1) It renders faster not having to think about it and 2) You can place lights in the HDRI that are below floor level so you can then add light anywhere to make the car look good. So you can get a nice reflection in the side of the car with a light placed below the horizon, even if this were impossible in reality. The HyperShot ground shadow beds the car down, so it still looks real.

TIP3: Colour your lights whilst setting up your lighting so you know what light is coming from where. These can be quickly changed back to the colour you wanted once you are happy with light and reflection positions.

Product Design Renders with HDRI

Piotr Kosinski (PK3D.com) used HyperShot to bring his beautiful shaver model to life. Using HDR Light Studio (Standard) to make his own HDRI map, he was able to precisely place and adjust studio lighting around his product, just like a Pro photo shoot.

HDR Light Studio is being adopted by design studios around the world to bring out the best in their product design renderings. Off the shelf static HDRIs are hit and miss, and are not a professional way to approach controlling lighting and reflections in your product design renders. Every product form is different (and every camera angle too) and therefore needs lights and reflections with unique positions, sizes and brightness etc for that shot to bring out the best in the photo-real rendering.

HDR Light Studio let's you start thinking like a photographer and gives you the power to pick your view and then build up the lights where ‘you’ want them in a HDRI map. This HDRI map will represent all your lights and reflections around your design.

Modo workflow video

Boston based Industrial Designer, Adam OHern, has released a short video showing the workflow between HDR Light Studio (Basic) and Luxology Modo. It also includes some great tips on getting useful alpha channels and a shadow layer out of your render setup.

It's great for those learning Modo for product design renders and is a useful little taster of HDR Light Studio.

Check it out on his web site: http://adam.theoherns.com/2010/01/10/hdr-light-studio-basic/

Or on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UamU3FLRWjM

Brendan McCaffrey - amazing HDRI lighting!

Brendan McCaffrey has produced a stunning range of photo real renders of this Trek bicycle model. All lighting and reflections have come from HDRI maps made in HDR Light Studio. We interviewed Brendan to talk about his career and his use of HDR Light Studio, and how it has slashed his render times on hi-res images with V-Ray.

Click here for our interview and see his awesome hi-res images...

Click here for his project posting on cgtalk.com, and see the response he's getting to this amazing showpiece...