Backdrops with HDRIs
2busy4render
Posts: 81
Is it possible to use a backdrop and an HDRI? I'm guessing "no" but maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I have a backdrop that is based on a render, but when I load it into the scene I also have to select a background color. It seems that there is now way to not have a background color, and that the background color overrides the HDRI (?).
My workaround is to create a primitive and add the background to its surface, but this still throws shadows off the plane that make the scene look weird.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2026 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
The HDRI will still light the scene.
Perhaps I don't understand your issue, but the background color, if set to white, will not affect the backdrop's background image. Change that color from white to anything else, and it will color the image accordingly. Black basically blots it out with black.
Adding an HDRI at this point merely adds lighting -- that given by the HDRI. It does not change the background image. So yes, in effect, the background image (or color) overrides the image of the HDRI (though not the lighting).
At that point, you may as well set the Environment Map (i.e. the HDRI in the Render Settings tab) to none. This will give you a purer lighting setup based on sunlight, which offers you a number of new parameters which you can adjust.
If you want to have both the background image and the image of the HDRI visible, you could combine the two in Photoshop (or whatever). You'll lose the HDRI's lighting, but again, you can use the sunlight (or scene lighting, of course) instead.
HTH
Adding a picture as a Background in the Environment Tab overrides any VISIBLE HDRI scene, but only the HDRI will show as a reflection. In the attached (quick) render you can see the Background through the windows (orange sky) if you look at the side mirror the reflection is of parked cars from the HDRI which is the only light source in this Dome only render. Hope this helps
Interesting about the HDRI showing as a reflection....
What were you hoping to have as your resut? In other words, how is the image you attached different from what you want to achieve?
The HDRI shows as the reflection because there's nothing else behind the car to reflect in the mirror.
Think of the Backdrop in the Environment tab like the backdrop on a theater stage. It is behind everything that is on the stage, but it doesn't surround the whole theater. If you put a mirror on the stage, facing out toward the theater, it will reflect the seats / audience, not the backdrop.
If you load an HDRI image in Iray for lighting and you have the "draw dome" turned on, but then you also load a backdrop in the Environment tab, you'll get the effect you see in your sample image. If you have Draw Dome turned off, there won't be anything to reflect in the mirrors and they will be black. If you want a specific reflection in the mirrors, you may have to play with a primative plane loaded with the desired reflection image. It will probably take a lot of trial and error to get it placed exactly right, though.