Smart Image Based Lighting

[Halestorm]

http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/index.html
I have used this software before on cinema4d and was wondering if it can work with C3D. It works really well and the renders look fantastic. Basically it is a way to easily load HDRI setups optimized for production. I don't know all the ins and outs but there is a developers section dedicated to integrating sIBL into a 3D program. It would be really cool to have this integrated with Cheetah3D.

[smeier_ch]

Originally Posted by Halestorm

http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/index.html
I have used this software before on cinema4d and was wondering if it can work with C3D. It works really well and the renders look fantastic. Basically it is a way to easily load HDRI setups optimized for production. I don't know all the ins and outs but there is a developers section dedicated to integrating sIBL into a 3D program. It would be really cool to have this integrated with Cheetah3D.

Really interesting concept, thanks for the link!
I would love to have an interface into Cheetah. +1

[podperson]

Really good idea and should work very nicely in C3D. (It's one of those ideas that's so brilliant it seems completely obvious in hindsight.)

The basic concept is to use three panoramas:

• Super-high-resolution for backdrop
• High-resolution for reflections
• Blurred-low-resolution for lighting

In general, the kinds of folks using C3D don't have access to the insanely high resolution panoramas needed for decent backgrounds, but there's nothing to stop you using the highest resolution you've got for the background (or rendering with a transparent background and compositing — which is what a lot of pros will be doing anyway).

[SurfingAlien]

+1 for the excellent website (I was already aware of it) and

+1 for embedding its features in cheetah if possible (script?)

on a side note, previous version of Cheetah had problems with very large HDRI files (>100Mb) but Martin fixed the issue and you can render with very high res HDRIs flawlessly now (I did it several times with HDR images from different sources... BTW, a very good one for free HDRIs is www.openfootage.net)

[podperson]

I.don't think we can script hdris using different images for lighting vs. reflection vs. background. Martin would need to implement it in the HDRI tag?

Open footage is awesome!

[Halestorm]

I believe that only the low res hdri is used to render the scene. The medium res is for the reflections and the hi res is used for the background only. I guess your right that Martin needs to allow the rendering hdri and reflections to come from different sources. Also it seems the script creates a direct light to mimmic the sun in which the position and intensity is all stored on the sIBL file. I guess it could be linked to the sky light in C3D for better illumination. I believe the site has several free sets along with paid sIBL sets as well. This would be a great example of leveraging existing resources instead of reinventing the wheel. I think it also comes with a content browser for the sIBL sets. I tried it on Cinema4D a year ago and it worked flawlessly, really saves time. Oh yeah, and throw in network rendering solution while you're at it Martin. Thanks for the great software man. Danke!

[podperson]

Adding a directional light to simulate the sun is a neat trick since getting proper shadows is a common problem with IBL. That said, C3D really needs angular directional lights (I.e. directional lights that cast soft shadows) to support this properly.

[GardenSpider]

+1

-- GS.

[SurfingAlien]

Originally Posted by podperson

Adding a directional light to simulate the sun is a neat trick since getting proper shadows is a common problem with IBL. That said, C3D really needs angular directional lights (I.e. directional lights that cast soft shadows) to support this properly.

I've been using an HDRI and a distant point light as "fake sun" as I found it easier to set up and control (but it might be just me...)

[podperson]

Originally Posted by SurfingAlien

I've been using an HDRI and a distant point light as "fake sun" as I found it easier to set up and control (but it might be just me...)

Yes, I've done the same (even calculating the point light's radius to be correct for the scale).