What is HDRi Maker?
HDRi Maker allows you to create in 2 Clicks super realistic lighting and an environment where to place your models to be able to render or animate them freely without having to add other objects. This is a big time saver!
480 HDR/EXR backgrounds with different environments are included!
An example of a tiger model, rendered in an HDRi Maker environment with 2 different HDR:
Tip: Press “HD” in the player below to increase the video quality
Keep Your Feet On the ground!
A strong point of HDRi Make is the real projection of the backgrounds even on the ground, it also captures the shadows, this also allows you to animate your model inside the dome.
In this example, the robot is inside an HDRi Maker dome:
New and customizable domes with the new Hook system!
In this new version of HDRi Maker Studio I have introduced 2 new types of dome, one in the shape of a Cube and one in the shape of a Cylinder, these can be modified in their perimeter thanks to the new “Hooks” functionality, this allows you to match the geometries present in the images, in order to have a wall in the point and simulate the environment where the HDR was taken.
The hook system in action:
Have you ever thought of animating a vehicle inside an HDRI without inserting any other 3D model?
In this example I have mounted a series of 6 different backgrounds on the same dome. The Wrap system makes the ground really walkable. Pickup animation was made with “Launch Control // Auto Car Rig” addon (Pickup not included)
Difference between a projected HDR with Dome and not
In the first case, classic HDR applied to the Background. No Zoom, No ground.
With just 1 click you can have the dome and the ground, with shadows and zoom.
Preview with Eevee:
Render with Cycles into HDRi Maker Dome:
The new Light Studio Tools
This fantastic feature allows you to create with one click a solid color backdrop and the lights to illuminate your model to the best, Taking advantage of the soft shapes of the dome, you will have a smoothed lighting, great for rendering 3D objects.
Example with Cycles render preview:
Black Honey – Robotic Arm Free model | By re1monsen CC-BY license on sketchfab
In action with Eevee render preview:
Edit the ground to make it more realistic
With the HDRi Maker Wrap system you can deform the ground of the Domes using any object, you can create hills mountains or simply an uneven ground matching the original image. As always, you can also import your HDR / EXR images and use them as backgrounds.
Volumetric Fog animatable
A new section dedicated to the management of the volumetric fog has been introduced, this is located in the “Volumetric” section and allows you to manage the animatable volumetric fog in a simple and fast way, with a click you add it and you can modify it as you like.
Shadow Catcher works in Cycles and Eevee
The shadow catcher normally works only in Cycles, with the help of HDRi Maker you can use it also in Eevee, in addition you can also add reflections on it. This is useful if you want transparency using the lighting of an HDR / EXR
(This fantastic free model “Lightning Mage” was created by “Adipriatna” under CC-BY license and you can find it here)
Blur on the dome
At the request of many users, I have inserted the possibility of simulating the Blur directly on the Dome and also on the Background. It works according to the point of view even in Preview mode, without having to use the camera.
This render shows the Blur on the dome, rendered with Cycles:
Here is the new HDRi Maker interface
This new interface was built on the basis of the previous one because it was much appreciated, now it has been improved making the sections independent, you can move them where you like and you can also hide them if you don’t need them.
Create HDR from your scene
With this feature you can create HDR directly from your scene, you can choose the resolution and the number of samples and save in the USER library to reuse them in the future.
Example of two types of Domes external view
In this example 2 types of Domes, in order the first is an hemisphere, the second is a Cube, adapted with the Hooks system:
Almost 500 Backgrounds included
All backgrounds are well categorized in Libraries / Categories with tags and an easy to use search system.
Import and use your HDR / EXR images
There are many sites out there where you might have downloaded HDR or EXR images, The nice thing is that you can import your HDR or EXR images on the fly and use them as if they were those of the HDRi Maker Studio library. This allows you to use them in the dome or simply as a background for your scene, taking advantage of all the features of HDRi Maker Studio!
Note: You can also import in Batch your HDR and save them in a category of HDRi Maker, this allows you to create a library in one go by selecting all your HDR / EXR files contained in your folder. Previews will be created automatically!
