Light direction when using outdoor HDRi
RenderPretender
Posts: 1,041
Hello -
When using an outdoor HDRi setup, such as one from Cake and Bob, is it possible to change the direction of the "sun" without rotating the dome/scenery? I'd like to retain the physical scene while still being able to change the light to suit camera angle. Or do I have to use, say, a spotlight to get the extra light I need if the camera is "in shadow"?
Thank you.
Post edited by RenderPretender on
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Comments
Technically yes, aesthetically probably not. As a dodge you could combine two different renders, one of the foreground objects lit with the dome turned to the location you want the light coming from and the dome hidden and then a second of just the background image turned to the point where the background elements are visible. Alternatively, you could just use the dome image as a background and then lgiht everything using meshlights. Either way, however, unless it's an extremely cloudy backgound or a nighttime render, it's going to immediately look visually wrong because the shadows on the background would be in the wrong place and/or at the wrong angle to what your eyes know is correct.
Thank you kindly, and indeed, I think your last point, especially, is quite right. I think I'm just better off accepting the reality of how shadows would impact the image in real life, and leaving the lighting alone. It may even create more visual interest. Thanks again.
Cake and Bob stuff is wonderful and even comes with the ability to tone down the shadows. As hinted to above, you don't really want to mess with HDRI lighting because that's the way it's supposed to be. You can always turn off the HDRI image and/or use a background prop. You will need a big image for the prop and give it a low imissive value to make it look realistic, or use DOF to disguise it.
Thank you. I actually did turn down the shadow intensity and it helped immensely.
After more trials, what I seem to be struggling with is that, once I get my figures/props oriented in the environment as I want them to be (for instance, a girl with her back to the ocean, facing the sun), then if I want to observe the realities of actual lighting, I'm relegated to camera angles that permit proper lighting only because there is only one light source (the sun). What if one wishes to use other camera angles, such as shooting into less well lit perspectives? How does one deal with this issue if one wants to respect physics to the extent possible without having grossly underlit images? Trying to supplement HDRi outdoor lighting seems to compromise the realism of the result.
In filming and photoshoots they use reflectors to light the areas in shadow. To do that in Iray I would use a plane primitive set to Emissive angled in front of the subject and adjust the Lumen to just cast enough light on the subject that the features can be seen.
Can I accompish that with a plane-based ghost light? I do have those, I recall. And how many lumens might I be starting with in Iray? Have the ghost light set to 100k but can't really tell to start.
Edit: Oh... definitely having a nice effect. Thank you. Trying to decide between 100 and 200k. I'm thinking 200 might be better and I can darken in postwork if needed.