Mainstage Talks – Nov 2012 – Andy Gilbert – Shooting HDRIs & Lighting in 3dsmax with Vray

This Evenings Talk:

• Making a HDR, including what equipment required
• Composition
• Lighting an Interior
• Shading
• Rendering
• Basic Compositing

Shooting HDRIs

My recommendations

For full frame the 8mm is a good compromise between speed and resolution. Only need 3 positions.

For crop sensor 10mm is the best option, 4.5mm fisheye will lead to a much smaller resolution.

Choosing a Panoramic Head

Options for under $400

Nodal Ninja: $200 | Rated highly for price

King Pano: $150 | Good reviews but 6-8 week delay at time of talk

Panosaurus: $99 | Great value for money, good construction

Shooting

It’s important to find the no parallax point of your lens. You want to mount the camera so that you rotate it round the axis of the lens. It will make stitching easier, preventing ghosting issues etc. If you have the panosaurus, the maker has a guide on his website here: http://gregwired.com/Panosaurus2offset.pdf

Attach camera and find no parallax point

Level

Set your focus, switch to manual

Rotate every 120 degrees, taking multiple exposures per shot

Expose for correct exposure then take multiple exposures in each direction

Expose for correct exposure then take multiple exposures in each direction

Import photos into Adobe Bridge

Export and Import into PTGUI

Create panorama from 1 set of exposures then create and apply template for subsequent exposures

Import and merge to HDR in Photoshop