# 2 questions (5)
**URL:** https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652
**Category:** Xsi
**Tags:** general
**Created:** [July 12, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652 "2001-07-12T20:46:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@monkeydonkey](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/monkeydonkey)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/1 "2001-07-12T20:46:52Z")
1. Does XSI have an image based lighting feature like the one in Lightwave? It produces very cool effects and I'm just wondering if XSI(or Mental Ray) can do this.
2. Has anyone successfully grown realistic looking grass in XSI? I haven't seen it but would like to do it. I've exhausted every idea short of making a whole bunch of grass blades and planting them one by one.
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### Author:  [@keirebu-niiru](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/keirebu-niiru)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/2 "2001-07-13T14:34:05Z")
to question 1:
There is a way, it ist called final gathering.
You only have to take a light with no intensity, and a grid or anything else and give it a constant material. everything in your scene is than lit by our object. You can drive the constant color with a texture.
A nice and quite fast2render effect.
PS: I think you meant this HighDynamicRange Thing. But until now i found now way to use this imageformat.
Sanostol
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### Author:  [@richard-sher](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/richard-sher)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/3 "2001-07-13T15:40:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> In reply to:
>
> PS: I think you meant this HighDynamicRange Thing. But until now i found now way to use this imageformat.
>
> Sanostol
There is a way to use High Dynamic Range images with XSI. Go to [http://www.debevec.org](http://www.debevec.org)[http://www.debevec.org](http://www.debevec.org) and download the HDR images. Luc-Eric Rousseau from Softimage has written a program (HDR2XSI ) which you can use to convert the HDR images to mental image map files for use in XSI. [http://pages.infinit.net/lucer/hdrtoxsi.exe](http://pages.infinit.net/lucer/hdrtoxsi.exe)[http://pages.infinit.net/lucer/hdrtoxsi.exe](http://pages.infinit.net/lucer/hdrtoxsi.exe)
Once converted, use those images on your "FG sphere" to create an HDR like effect.
I've got a section on setting this up and using HDR2XSI on my next set of XSI tapes: [http://www.edharriss.com/tape/rendering\_lighting.htm](http://www.edharriss.com/tape/rendering_lighting.htm)[http://www.edharriss.com/tape/rendering\_lighting.htm](http://www.edharriss.com/tape/rendering%5C_lighting.htm)
Hope this helps.
Ed
[http://www.EdHarriss.com](http://www.EdHarriss.com)[http://www.EdHarriss.com](http://www.EdHarriss.com)
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### Author:  [@keirebu-niiru](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/keirebu-niiru)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/4 "2001-07-13T18:26:48Z")
Thanx a lot Ed,
I go and check it out right now
Sanostol
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### Author:  [@richard-sher](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/richard-sher)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/5 "2001-07-13T23:28:35Z")
Glad I could help.
Ed
[http://www.EdHarriss.com](http://www.EdHarriss.com)[http://www.EdHarriss.com](http://www.EdHarriss.com)
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### Author:  [@monkeydonkey](https://forum.highend3d.com/u/monkeydonkey)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://forum.highend3d.com/t/2-questions-5/62652/6 "2001-07-14T00:10:53Z")
Thanks for the answers! I'm curious to try this out.