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Hi

I´m on MacPro , OSx 10.8.4, HDR LightStudio , newest release, working with Maxwell Studio 2.7.20 and Cinema4D. I´ve some problems concerning the orientation of the renderings of the HDR out of HDRLS. Let me explain. http://www.hdrlightstudio.com

1. Setup the scene in C4D R14. Export it as DAE via your plugin Start HDRLS , import the DAE file. Setup the lightning in LiveLight , export the HDR in the renderer:
HDRLS Settings by export: Host: Cinema4D Renderer: Cinema4D . Render the scene in C4D. Everything is OK. Besides the HDR is too bright in C4D, but that's another question.

2. Same procedure , but now i want to render in FIRE in C4D.
HDRLS Settings by export out of HDRLS : Host: Cinema4D Renderer: Maxwell. Start FIRE -> wrong

3. Same procedure, but now i want to start Maxwell Studio directly out of C4D with the quoted HDR.
HDRLS Settings by export out of HDRLS: Host: Maxwell Studio Render: FIRE -> wrong positions of the lights ?!

4. Same procedure as step 3, but now i set custom settings by export in HDRLS. Rotation : 270 Flip Longitude: Now correct positions of the lights, but wrong colors ?!


Also all the HDR out of HDRLS don´t match in point of Brightness in C4D or Maxwell Studio. The render is always much too bright in C4D/Maxwell Studio ? Should i adjust Gamma in HDRLS ? Or what is the right way ?

Tom

hi tom,

yes, there's a lot of flipping going on - depending on which system is being used.
workflow-wise i tend to use c4d as a starting point, then use livelight for placing the hdrls-lights and calibrate the settings for the diverse renderengines from this point on.

1. setup the camera-pov in c4d, so that the cam looks towards positive z. place some kind of test object in the center.
2. push that scene to hdrls
3. create hdr in hdrls - for example: blue light at longitude 90, white light at longitude 180, red light at longitude 270. with this setup livelight shows a white light in the center of the scene (the background, that is), the red light illuminates the left side of a test-object that is placed in the center and the blue light illuminates the right side of the test-object.
4. export the scene to an exr by using host: c4d, renderer: c4d.
5. now this exr can be used in the c4d's renderers and in vray as is. the rendering will look the same as in livelight.
6. if you want to use maxwell (valid for both fire and renderer) as rendering-system and want it to look the same as in c4d's engines and vray, you'll need to get into the env.tab of the maxwell scene-object and set "scale u" to -1 and "offset u" to 90°.

using this workflow, you'll get the livelight-results in c4d-ar, c4d-phys., vray, maxwell-fire, maxwell-studio, maxwell-renderer.

concering the brightness/intensity, this is very dependent on the camera-settings, exposure etc.

hope, it helps.

Hi Mesut

Thank you for your detailed answer, it works now. Fine . I stored now the environment settings in the preferences of the "Scene Object" in C4D. Now it makes fun to work with HDRLS .

Concerning the brightness, i was only thinking of the background HDR in HDRLS, not the image in total, so exposure etc. couldn´t solve it. Because i want only to influence the background. I reduced the energy in the settings for the gradient in the background, its better now.

All in all, its solved . Hope HDRLS will fix in the next patch.

Have a nice evening,
Tom

Hi Tom

You know that when you are in the HDRLS render window, there is a dropdown (I think it's bottom left) where you can select the renderer that you are exporting for? If you're only intending to use Maxwell, just select the Maxwell Fire option and then you don't have to do any flipping or rotating of the HDRI back in Studio. I missed that too for a long time!

EDIT: Actually scratch that, just tested and I'm completely wrong! That's the theory but it doesn't work as described and Mesut's answer is the way to go. Shows how little use I've had from HDRLS. It's a great tool but as you can only use it on one workstation (rather than the usual work/home allowance) I tend to avoid using it for live work.

EDIT 2: They have revised their license so that you can use it at work/home. It's officially a must have app now!