- Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:36 pm
#401605
Polyhaven has published some excellent HDRI's in the last three months, and there are some good ones about to be published in this coming week. By "excellent HDRI's," I mean images for lighting that are exceptionally versatile - as well as being of high quality.
Easily the best strong light direction image I've seen in years is their Mpumalanga Veld (Pure Sky). This image is great for scenes where you need a good clear lighti coming from a distinct angle, and you need good, hearty shadows. I've put this one in a central place in my personal library of HDRI images. Already have used it in about seven professional pieces - is great for outdoor lighting, and I've used it once for an interior architecture shot. This image is excetionally "adjustable" in terms of both light power and light angle.
There are four more new images at Polyhaven that are similar - maybe toned down a bit, but Mpumalanga Veld (Pure Sky) is outstanding. You might alsow want to look at Drakensberg Solitary Mountain (Pure Sky), Rustig Koppie (Pure Sky), Syferfontein 0d Clear (Pure Sky) and Pizzo Pernice (Pure Sky) - in that order (strong to subdued). And Qwantani (Pure Sky) is similar, but gives a significanty more diffuse lighting effect.
Another notable new image is Belfast Sunset (Pure Sky)
This one is relatively "moody", but also has a little bit of controllable light direction to it, and a strong pink-grey colored effect.
A third one I've found useful is the more diffuse, but clear light of Industrial Sunset 02 (Pure Sky). This is a good one when you want the opposite of a strong directional light.
One notable image that will be published later this coming week is Lake Pier. (If you are a Patreon subscriber to the site amd help support Polyhaven, you get early access to the images.) This one has a distinct watery feel to it - very useful if your scene includes a fountain or water feature of some type. It does a great job of lighting a water feature.
This one puts a nice moody royal blue look on your objects.
If you need strong mid-day images, I recommend Alps Field and Clarens Night 02. Both are quite adjustable but don't burn up your scene with harsh lighting.
If you need what appears to be an overcast sky ( that is, lighting from an overcast sky), Aristea Wreck (Pure Sky) is a great - versatile HDRI to use. Unlike the HDRI's that give a directionless diffuse lighting, this one gives a diffuse lighting, but it is quite "steerable." Recommended!
By the way, all of Polyhaven's HDRI's now have backplates (called "tone-mapped" versions) of the images. One new HDRI that may be more useful for its backplate, than the actual excellent image itself is Kloppenheim 05 (Pure Sky). I confess to having used this for a bunch of outdoor scenes. Very handy.
Easily the best strong light direction image I've seen in years is their Mpumalanga Veld (Pure Sky). This image is great for scenes where you need a good clear lighti coming from a distinct angle, and you need good, hearty shadows. I've put this one in a central place in my personal library of HDRI images. Already have used it in about seven professional pieces - is great for outdoor lighting, and I've used it once for an interior architecture shot. This image is excetionally "adjustable" in terms of both light power and light angle.
There are four more new images at Polyhaven that are similar - maybe toned down a bit, but Mpumalanga Veld (Pure Sky) is outstanding. You might alsow want to look at Drakensberg Solitary Mountain (Pure Sky), Rustig Koppie (Pure Sky), Syferfontein 0d Clear (Pure Sky) and Pizzo Pernice (Pure Sky) - in that order (strong to subdued). And Qwantani (Pure Sky) is similar, but gives a significanty more diffuse lighting effect.
Another notable new image is Belfast Sunset (Pure Sky)
This one is relatively "moody", but also has a little bit of controllable light direction to it, and a strong pink-grey colored effect.
A third one I've found useful is the more diffuse, but clear light of Industrial Sunset 02 (Pure Sky). This is a good one when you want the opposite of a strong directional light.
One notable image that will be published later this coming week is Lake Pier. (If you are a Patreon subscriber to the site amd help support Polyhaven, you get early access to the images.) This one has a distinct watery feel to it - very useful if your scene includes a fountain or water feature of some type. It does a great job of lighting a water feature.
This one puts a nice moody royal blue look on your objects.
If you need strong mid-day images, I recommend Alps Field and Clarens Night 02. Both are quite adjustable but don't burn up your scene with harsh lighting.
If you need what appears to be an overcast sky ( that is, lighting from an overcast sky), Aristea Wreck (Pure Sky) is a great - versatile HDRI to use. Unlike the HDRI's that give a directionless diffuse lighting, this one gives a diffuse lighting, but it is quite "steerable." Recommended!
By the way, all of Polyhaven's HDRI's now have backplates (called "tone-mapped" versions) of the images. One new HDRI that may be more useful for its backplate, than the actual excellent image itself is Kloppenheim 05 (Pure Sky). I confess to having used this for a bunch of outdoor scenes. Very handy.
- By CDRDA