360 cameras for HDRI
Dkgoose
Posts: 1,451
I’ve been debating on getting a 360 camera for a while and I’m going on vacation soon. The main reason I want the camera is to try making hdri’s to use in studio and I the place I go camping on vacation could make for some nice scenery. I’m guessing the quality of the pics will have to be insanely high to produce decent hdri’s so I’m not sure I want one of the cheaper models that clip on your phone. I’m kinda on the fence about the Insta360 One or the Ricoh Theta V, both are definitely going to be an investment but the other cheaper models I’m not sure would be good enough quality, but then these may not be either lol. Any one have either of these or recommendations?
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Comments
HDRI is about more than resolution. For true HDRI, one should have perhaps 12 (indoor) to 22 (outdoor) stops (ev) of exposure.
A high resolution image with a limited range of lighting is just a billboard.
fastbike1 speaks truth. The important part of HDRI is the high dynamic range. You need to capture everything from bright sky to shadoew.
Pro quality HDRI like you find in the store is work. I shoot my 360 HRDIs with a Nikon full frame DSLR, 14-24mm ultrawide, Manfrottl VR bracket, typically 6 positions, 6 exposures with bracketing in 1 or 2 EV steps depending on the lighting. 36 shots reassembled in PT GUI or Hugin.
You can get by with a nice P&S with an ultrawide lens or adapter. The bracket and tripod are still a good idea, but there are servicable $100 brackets for lightweight cameras, and plenty of DIY instructions. Hugin is free.
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I’ve no interest in selling in the store, I just want some for my personal renders :)
You need frames for each of the 12 EV stops for each of the views to will be used to make the 360 degrees . With just about any modern camera or even smart phone I think a tripod that is made for HRDIs and is stable and of high quality is the 1st thing to consider since you aren't spending the sort of money to buy a full-frame Sony alpha 7 camera or nothing of the like.
Usage or intent isn't the point. If the image doesn't have dynamic range lighting, it's not a HDRI, it's just a background/billboard.
Ok, thanks for the responses, I’m thinking I’ll eventually just get the Ricoh theta, it has a setting to create an hdr and I’ll use dreamlight’s tutorial to use it with Daz Studio and see how the results turn out
ok, so i got some 360 cameras, and trying out hdrs, i know they won't be the best but it does allow different exposures to be taken, the first two images i tested with a Xiaomi Mi Sphere, but only 3 exposures, so gonna try to figure out how to do a lot more next time, the 3rd and 4th one is with the Ricoh Theta V, the 3rd is with an app I downloaded with 12 exposure shots and the 4th is with the 3 exposures the Ricoh Theta V takes itself with the built in setting and combines the images. Definitely need to figure out the cameras as I'm not sure the lighting is even effecting the characters though and there is definitely no shadows casting from them yet so need to try that out.
The first 2 look pretty good for only having 3 exposure levels. The important thing is that your background and characters are lit the same. Having the character lit from the top while the background is lit from the left or something is really distracting, I see people do it all the time. I think adding more exposure levels will give you better defined shadows, plus adjusting the environment level and tone mapping will improve things too.
If you're not sure if the lighting is working, try getting rid of ALL the lights in the scene. Once you can produce a render that comes out totally black, then you can start adding the lights you want one at a time. That way you have control over everything.
I didn’t add lights to any of the renders, so the lights are from the actual image, here is another one, this image has 24 different shots, still not thrilled but at least there’s a slight shadow this time, again no other lighting added
There are hardly any shadows in the actual HDRI so I wouldn't expect any to be cast by a figure in the image. With any HDRI that is like that and I want shadows I use a distant light for the sun. To get deep shadows from an HDRI you need a bright spot in the image whether the sun or a light. A cloudy sky will give ambient light, as in your image, with flat shadows. I would also set the render camera to the settings for the middle image of the sequence used for the HDRI as that is the optimum setting to get the lighting in the render to match. I do that when using one of my pictures as a background setting the camera Tone Mapping to match the Exif data and the Environment to match the Lat/Longitude and time of day of the place the picture was taken, then I face the camera as close to the direction I was facing when it was taken, N,S,E,W and anywhere in between. I will then put a Distant Light in to match where the sun is which should then match the lighting on the figure with the picture and give shadows in the right direction.
I did that in this render.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3269661/#Comment_3269661
and this one and the three posts below it.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2637826/#Comment_2637826