HDRI Plugin.

[noar]

Sky (rendering&shading plugins section).
it is still a "beta" version...

copy Sky.mll to bin/plug-ins/
copy AESkyTemplate.mel to scripts/startup/

Create a Sky node (color utilities).
Connect a 2D texture to the lightColor attr (or leave it as a flat color).
Connect Sky output to the incandescence of a lambert, phong, blinn ... or to the outColor attr of a surfaceShader.
Turn raytracing on in the renderGlobals.
Set maxShading to 1 (if possible) to let Sky control the sampling rate.

Try some sampling parameters...
shadowRays 32
maxIterations 3
convergenceTreshold .031
sr 16 mi 1 ct .031
sr 64 mi 4 ct .01
sr 32 mi 8 ct .01

I will post a tutorial soon...

Have fun!...

[egor]

this is very very cool, more speed is always a good thing, but very cool all the same!

[noar]

Thanks for ur reply!

I tried to make it as fast as possible...
a little comparison with rayDiffuse:

cu.

[joel]

Very nice!
Havent had much time to try it, but does it
really work with hdr images yet?
Otherwise its not really hdri is it?
/J

[noar]

You're right !

There is still no HDR image loader for Maya (someone?).

I should have said image (8 or 16 bits) based lighting to be more precise... shame on me!
I must change the plugin description...

bi!

[xgc]

thats cool, takes less time than Ray diffuse, but is not as grainy!! nice!!

[noar]

another little test

[jtk77]

well, honestly not sure if I used it right
but this is what i got..

not overly impressive..but i'm still playing so maybe I'll get somthing more awe inspring.
I seem to get the same kinda stuff out of the old GI_JOE script at a fraction of the time.
Well, look forward to a little tutorial.
thanks

[jtk77]

plus i can't figure out wha that werid shadow is on south america ..the top of it?
perhas thats the top of the ramp I used as a 2d texture? not sure...

[noar]

hi jtk77!

you're right about the tutorial... i'll make one next week.

for your problem:
- you have a light in your scene, in this case you should connect the outColor attr to the ambient attr of your material (incandescence is preferable when you have no other lights because it makes the effect more visible).
Try to deactivate all lights (and maya default light), and connect outColor to the incandescence, just to see.

• if the scale of your scene is big (50 or more units), try to decrease the shadowAttenuation attr (try 0, you'll adjust later)

• the "weird thing" on S.A. (bottom) seems to be the reflection of the ground on your blinn material.

hope this will help... c.u.!

[jtk77]

ah..ok
werid that the refection is on the side of the S America top.
but cool. I will play with it and ditch all lights.
What do you suppose is the banding on the contrys themselves?

[egor]

heres a test iv been playing with today..
its the inside of the honda S2000, 5mins50 to render.
somthing else iv been i tryed was to create a light that only casts shadows, this i found will keep the hdri as in this image but also gives you direct shadows. Also you can get som nice effects if you turn off raytracing.

[noar]

Thanx for the pic! (its on my HD for the archives... if its no problem)
what is the bitmap u used for lightColor?
You give me an idea for the next time: separate output for specular component and the possibility to have soft/hard shadows in the same pass...

c.u.!

[egor]

cool, glad you like it, and np, keep it for your archives.

the image i used was called hongkong, found it on the net, not sure where so if you want it i can email it or post it.

[noar]

yes... u can send it to noar@labalabaprod.com
thanx!

keep the pix coming!

[jtk77]

ok changes some settings and ditched any extranious lights.

[joojaa]

Any chance you could make the code public... Well i guess not.

[noar]

I don't see any problem in posting the code, but i need to finish it first...

bi!

[firas-ershead]

HDRI is piece of art,
i have a project to light a living room, and i use sky.mll on the Walls.. i may use it also to light furneture.

its a little bit slow, but i hope version 1 is will be faster.
firas77.8k.com/hdritest.jpg

[noar]

Thanx Firas... I keep the image if its ok for u.

After reading ur post i tried some "indoor" lighting with an old scene...

no additional lights.

c.u.!