hdri probe

[mikeab7925]

im using 3ds max 2009 sp1 w/ mental ray. i'm a beginner and want to try hdri. every time i try loading the hdri into my environment sphere it doesn't seem like it fits right. i've applyed uvw mapping and it still doesn't seam right.

what am i doing wrong?

[mikeab7925]

change to spherical environment mapping and still no changes.

[shashanks18]

hey Mike, ye're loadin HDRI in the environment rite??? if so, den ye dnt need to do nething, it must gv proper results wen ye render it....did ye try doin dat???

[mikeab7925]

im rendering now i'll post my update in a couple minutes.

[mikeab7925]

this is with the hdri loaded into the scene environment. it still is out of proportion.

[shashanks18]

hey tell me, r ye usin a sphere as a "pseudo-environment"????

if so, den fr a min, hide it, n try by loadin the HDRI in the environment dat ye get from pressin '8'

i ws actually writin dat same thing fr ye, but suddenly figurd out dat ye mite hv tried dat itself...

[mikeab7925]

no i deleted the sphere. this is all that's in the scene and where i applied the hdri.

[shashanks18]

okk....n it still gvs ye dat result???

damn...

hey check tis out....i loaded n HDRI in the environment, n den draggd n Instanced it in the material editor.....the 3rd material dat ye cn see is the instance ov the environment....n the middle picture, is wat i got....this is exactly hw the image will look while rendering...its a bit awry lookin though

[mikeab7925]

that's where my question begins. i tried to apply to a sphere with no luck and to the environment with no luck. both ways it looks distorted.

[shashanks18]

oh hey, check tis out....i experimentd anothr thing here...

i first put the HDRI in the material, n den dragged n instanced it on the environment. nw tis wid 1X1 tiling will gv ye n insane render, whr ye'll c countless tiles ov the HDRI renderd as BG. so wat ye do is, decrease the tiling. the more ye decrease, the more it gets zoomed(sort ov) in the HDRI. so by offset ye cn evn choose a particular place in HDRI to render...fr eg. tiling 0.001X0.001 will gv a nicely zoomed BG, whereas tiling 0.01X0.01 gives slightly fair render....

here's the screen grab n the render on 0.01X0.01 tiling...

[mikeab7925]

see i think a hdri is supposed to wrap around the scene when done properly. if i wanted just a background i wouldn't go through all this when there are easier ways for that.

[shashanks18]

hey Mike, gimme sumtym, Vray has a special VrayHDRImap material....will experiment on dat in sumtym aftr ma lunch n gv ye the answer....

[shashanks18]

Mike...well i tried a few things, searchd the internet fr sum tutorials n all........HDRI's r mainly used in reflection purposes, dats the reason most HDRIs r nt evn straight in shapes, if yer render is nt proper, den try changin the HDRI, use the common 1's in the 3Ds Max library......check out tis tutorial below....in tis, ye dnt evn hv to render it using HDRI in the background.

CG Files - Vray Basic HDRI

For backgrnd, ye cn use any normal jpg image.

[mikeab7925]

im using mental ray though. i can't afford to get Vray. i'm gonna give up on HDRI and just setup a studio on my own. i'm missing something all those tutorials are saying. i don't think HDRI works well with Mental Ray.

if anyone has any advice on HDRI using Mental Ray in 3ds please advise.

[mikeab7925]

i was using the wrong maps. i got the right ones now. this probe is i think for light and there also is another map that i was missing. a spherical map. here is what i have tested in low quality.