Realistic Backdrops with Iray
I have a bunch of interior sets that have a window, and I'd like there to be stuff outside of the window. Can anybody point me to a good tutorial on how to make a nice backdrop that will look like a yard or a street outside the window?
Post edited by twalling on

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Use an HDRI file, that way with a dome and a scene light you can have a real background from the HDRI image and still light the interior.
Here is a list of sites with free HDRIs: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/57531/
You can probably find some that would provide the scene you want
Not sure if this is what you're looking for- but if you want to use your own 3d products to make a background-
Render a scene (be aware of your size, make it comparable to the plane you want to put it on.) You create a primitive plane, (I did mine 20 feet) select the plane in Scene and Surfaces, then in Surface- Diffuse, browse to the image file and put it on the plane. Then it's a backdrop.
I threw two things together, an old downtown render for the background plane, on that one I was checking out changing white points (hence the blue tones) and then I just changed the mediterranean arches (which is the actual set) to blue/purple quickly to match it. LOL, have to laugh, I wasn't trying to match the pattern on the marble with the street of the backdrop, but they go together pretty well. I just grabbed the first architecture set I found!
To make it appear like DOF (Depth of Field) blur your image before you put it on the plane.
Easy smeezy. One other tip- make sure the sunlight/lighting matches both the render on the plane, and the render of the actual set. These don't show up as mismatched that much, because it's overcast. But sunny renders will!
And with the render blurred before it was added to the plane.
Thank you Novica. This is really helpful.