Luca Deriu Blog

Imagine if you could procedurally create infinite Animated HDRI Sky. This was my idea some time ago while watching a trailer we made to present the SkyLight module, and since then I started working on a keyframe tool. I spent part of my summer vacations collecting some timelapse and hyper-lapse videos to evaluate the atmosphere and cloud speed during the transition of time. The big part, however, is the flow of the data, since Real HDR 1.5 was not capable to store extra values…obviously since it was not meant to.

So here is the first version of our Real HDR SkyLight Animator to generate Animated HDRI Sky

There are a timeline and two keys, one on the left and one on the right. The animation process is not so different from any other 3D or video software: set the values of time, sun, atmosphere and clouds as you like and press on of the keys; set again the values as you like for the destination of the transition and click on the other key.
Every time you click on a key, its data is overwritten (so think twice before doing so – I mean – there are no hundreds of parameters, but still…).

The timeline is defining the interpolation between the two states and if while sliding you find a more appropriate sky condition for your creations, just press one of the keys to trim the transition.
There is also an editable timeline range and this may be used to refine the “resolution of time”, meaning you can have a higher or lower frame rate.

The EXR exporter does its job as usual, so this new timeline can be used to find a proper mix between two SkyLight states. Anyway, I suppose most of the artists are going to use this new feature for animations so I added two more buttons inside the animator that will manage the exported sequence’s format: PNG or EXR (both are linear, so PNG should be gamma converted later to see the appropriate colors). The sequence exporter exports the frames from the selected one so if you have, let’s say, an animation of 30 frames total and you are on frame 15, it will export only the remaining 15 frames to reach the end. This is cool to resume the process later on.

Lastly, I extended the RHD file format, adding new chunks for the animator values.

So now it is your time: This is the first integration of the animator and I really need your feedback on how you perceive it, the usefulness, what you don’t like and what you want to see next in it. Have fun!

The post Animated HDRI Sky appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Imagine if you could procedurally create infinite Animated HDRI Sky. This was my idea some time ago while watching a trailer we made to present the SkyLight module, and since then I started working on a keyframe tool. I spent part of my summer vacations collecting some timelapse and hyper-lapse videos to evaluate the atmosphere and cloud speed during the transition of time. The big part, however, is the flow of the data, since Real HDR 1.5 was not capable to store extra values…obviously since it was not meant to.

So here is the first version of our Real HDR SkyLight Animator to generate Animated HDRI Sky

There are a timeline and two keys, one on the left and one on the right. The animation process is not so different from any other 3D or video software: set the values of time, sun, atmosphere and clouds as you like and press on of the keys; set again the values as you like for the destination of the transition and click on the other key.
Every time you click on a key, its data is overwritten (so think twice before doing so – I mean – there are no hundreds of parameters, but still…).

The timeline is defining the interpolation between the two states and if while sliding you find a more appropriate sky condition for your creations, just press one of the keys to trim the transition.
There is also an editable timeline range and this may be used to refine the “resolution of time”, meaning you can have a higher or lower frame rate.

The EXR exporter does its job as usual, so this new timeline can be used to find a proper mix between two SkyLight states. Anyway, I suppose most of the artists are going to use this new feature for animations so I added two more buttons inside the animator that will manage the exported sequence’s format: PNG or EXR (both are linear, so PNG should be gamma converted later to see the appropriate colors). The sequence exporter exports the frames from the selected one so if you have, let’s say, an animation of 30 frames total and you are on frame 15, it will export only the remaining 15 frames to reach the end. This is cool to resume the process later on.

Lastly, I extended the RHD file format, adding new chunks for the animator values.

So now it is your time: This is the first integration of the animator and I really need your feedback on how you perceive it, the usefulness, what you don’t like and what you want to see next in it. Have fun!

The post Animated HDRI Sky appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

In few weeks from now, we should release HDR Sky, a lite version of Real HDR featuring the sole SkyLight Module. The tool will offer the same set of features of the SkyLight mode with the exclusion of the entire PhotoBooth module and it is made for all the 3D Artists involved in architectural pre-viz who maybe do not need the toolset designed for the product lighting.

Anyway, there will be also a new animator tool both for Real HDR and HDR Sky and I’ll write a separate article about that soon. Here some Pictures of HDR Sky.

The post HDR Sky appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

These new Keyboard Inputs of Real HDR 1.6 will add the possibility to insert and edit values using the keyboard. This feature will improve precision and speed when editing the various parameters of the lights…better later than never, I know.

I am also changing the drag&drop loop for the SpriteLights and DarkMarks removing excessive code and math inside the functions of the PhotoBooth module. This won’t bring any visual improvement beside a few milliseconds boost, but knowing that the gears are better oiled makes me feel and work better.

Thanks to some feedback I also patched an annoying “bright stripe” appearing sometime in the key points of the background gradients, and they are now smoother than ever.

The post Keyboard Input appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

3D rendering with real HDR is not completely possible at the moment, but it may be a possibility in the future. The tool has been designed as a fast and reliable utility to create HDRI environments and HDRI skies for 3D rendering.

So even if we are talking about 3D rendering business, Real HDR’s role is for the moment strictly related to the creation of 360° HDR images both in panorama and cubemap layouts.

BUT

there is something new starting from the upcoming release: a 3D mesh importer for the PhotoBooth Module to be used with custom meshes.

• Which 3D file format is supported? at the moment Real HDR will be able to import OBJ files.
• Does the mesh need to be only one? No, there can be multiple meshes in your OBJ file, real HDR will compact them in one block.
• Can I import materials? Not yet, but this can be done in the future.
• Can I edit the materials then? Not in this first preview, but it will be a possibility later.
• How can I scale my mesh in Real HDR? This will be possible for sure in the future but for the moment, the tool expects your meshes to fit in a cube of 1 x 1 x 1 meter
• Is there a limit in the polygons amount? Well, this is difficult since it may vary according to the hardware. There must be a reasonable amount of polygons in your mesh and my suggestion is to import a very simplified version of your mesh.
• When will it be ready? This experimental new feature will be part of the 1.6 release. We have plenty of work to do before releasing it, but the estimated date is between August and mid-September
• Can I share this amazing feature with my friends and colleagues?

I recorded a short video showing this using the famous Stanford Bunny PLY mesh. Please note that it needs to be trimmed and converted before being used in Real HDR.

The post 3D Rendering in Real HDR appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

We are expanding Real HDR to new possibilities and a lot has to come in the upcoming months.
In this blog post, I want to unveil one new feature that kept us awake for some nights: HDRI Cubemaps with Real HDR!

As of today, Real HDR is a fast and quick tool to create HDRI images to be used as background for 3D renderings. These images are used to wrap the scene in a spherical way, giving the illusion of having a real 360° backdrop. Also, being the files in .EXR 32-bit, the brightness described by the pixels goes beyond white and can literally be used to emit light on 3D objects, having a consistent relationship between environment and illumination. Fascinating, but nothing new so far.

Starting from Real HDR 1.6 users will find a new way to define this panorama with the Cubemap Options.
What is a cubemap? well, imagine that the environment surrounding your 3D meshes is not anymore a sphere but a cube and that the texture applied on it is like a six faces UV for a cube.
Which are the benefits? a cubemap has no distortion on the poles and a small increase of quality per mapped surface – or if you prefer – smaller size for the same quality.

/* tech notes
Think about an equirectangular map of 2048×1024 pixels (since we have 360° horizontal and 180° vertical our ration is always 2:1). The total area of the useful pixels, including the distorted ones at the poles, is of ~2 Megapixels. Not much but enough for an HDRI. Considering that in a cubemap we have six faces we can divide 2Mpx by six and have ~350k square pixels. Let’s square root this value and we have 591pixel per side. So we can say that an equirectangular of 2048×1024 pixels is the same as a cubemap with 591×591 pixels per face. Rounding these numbers, just for sake of simplicity, we can say that 2k panorama = 512×512 cubemap with six faces. Basing our development on this, we come out with a faster cubemap exporter that can push the resolution of Real HDR beyond the actual limits.
*/

About the UX we moved the Options Window inside the modules so it is not necessary anymore to keep saving and loading .RHD files, every time you want to change a setting in the main screen.
The Options Window is being expanded with new features (there is one I can’t wait to disclose when ready) and in Real HDR 1.6 users will find the “Export additional Cubemap”. This will enable the .EXR exporter to output a second file.

The layout of the cubemap is defined on the dropdown menu and we have “vertical cross”, “horizontal cross” and “6x layout”. Pick the one you want to use further (eg. V-Ray uses the vertical cross) and go on with your creation.
As last, there is also a “preview overlay” for the cubemap on the working screen. Use this to have a hint of how the layout is going to pack your HDRI Cubemaps with Real HDR.

The post HDRI Cubemaps with Real HDR appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Real HDR 1.5 preview: read more about some of the new features that we have planned for this release.

Real HDR 1.4 defined a huge new step in PhotoBooth module, while this new 1.5 version will now complete the main roadmap of what has been designed in 2018 for Real HDR in general. The idea behind this tool was to create a quick and reliable utility to generate .EXR maps/textures to be used in any 3D software and render engine. The first releases were thin in features and very experimental while now we are defining more and more where Real HDR is going.

The release date of this new version is defined for the first half of May. As always any upgrade of the tool will be free for the existing users who will be notified by an “upgrade” button in the login screen. Besides the completion of the SkyLight core and the polishing of PhotoBooth module, there are some new experimental features such as gradients, a GPU softening tool, an important fix on the .RHD parser (that will break compatibility with previous .RHD files – my fault, sorry, but had to be done), and other minor bug fixes here and there.

• PhotoBooth Background Gradients (user requested feature) – read more about HDR Gradient Background

• PhotoBooth GPU Blur for SpriteLight stencils (user suggested feature)

• SkyLight Fast Clouds (new feature for any hardware)

• SkyLight Voxel Clouds (new feature for high-end GPU) – read more about SkyLight soft shadows.

Real HDR 1.5 will be available from ~May 10, 2019 for 149€ for a permanent portable license (all existing users will have a right to a free upgrade, as always). In the meanwhile, we started the R&D for next releases and we are open to any suggestion. You can write in the comment here below and if you want to share your renders created with Real HDR we are always happy to see your works!

The post Real HDR 1.5 new features preview appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Real HDR 1.5 will feature the first implementation of a new Gradient Background system. This feature has been requested by many users and it is now capable to simulate outdoor skies or any other kind of gradient shades directly in the PhotoBooth mode. The gradient is 100% GPU made and includes five colors for the tropical, subtropicals and polar zones.

The intensity is dimmed compared to the SpriteLights and DarkMarks emitters since the area defined by these gradients is massive and so it can be the intensity generated.
As always the users’ feedback will define new possibilities and tweaks for this new tool.

The post HDR Gradient Background appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

One of my favorite features of nowadays CGI is how light and shadows behave. When I started doing digital images, way back with 3D Studio Max 2, I was experimenting a lot to obtain soft shadows (or any kind of soft “anything” like reflections, caustics, refractions…) I remember the excitement playing with raytraced shadows and/or shadow maps followed by the “magic” of the Radiosity.

In this period, I am trying to add some deep controls in the SkyLight modules of the upcoming Real HDR 1.5, that can let the artists manage how the shadows behave. Obviously, the direct sunlight in a clear sky situation produces much sharper shadows than in a foggy, cloudy, polluted and humid day condition. This is why I am spending more time than I expected for this new release. I want it to be capable to automatically adjust the shadow settings and HDR color intensity in function of the overcast percentage to guarantee consistency.

I think that during this month I reached a new point and it is time to share with you the state of the development. This will bring Real HDR’s SkyLight module to a totally new level also thanks to the precious feedback I got from all of you.

PS: I uploaded here a rar archive with some sample .exr files that I used to test my development. They are very low-res but can be used for any purpose…feedback, comments, and critics would be super appreciated.

The post SkyLight Soft Shadows appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)