Custom HDRi/EXR backgrounds?

[coldacid]

I noticed that I can use Windows Bitmap, PNG, JPEG files as backgrounds, but I'd really like to use some HDRi and EXR files instead. Will support for that be coming down the pipeline any time soon, considering that FaceRig already has a number of such backgrounds already baked in?

[Holotech Studios]

That is in already in a way, but you just need to convert the HDRi/EXR environment to floating point DDS cubemap first

Then go to Custom 3D background (instead of Custom 2D background) and pick the dds ( instead of jpg or similar).

[Holotech Studios]

If you also want hdr reflections for that environment to occur on the 3d avatars, you should use a program that knows to do specular convolution, and build the two small reflection cubemaps that we use for reflections : the small HDR Sharp reflection cube, and the small HDR blurry refection cube, and load them in the background customization settings.

If you want just a static 2d image as a back-drop and not a panorama/cubemap that you can rotate around and have the camera adapt to the light intensity as you do so, then simply pre-apply the desired exposure level and save it as a regular jpeg/PNG, there is currently little need for HDR for static 2d backdrops.

[coldacid]

Any suggestions for apps that can do this work? Preferably free?

[Holotech Studios]

We use a purchased version of HDRShop to transform the HDR environment to a vertical cross cubemap ( or 6 images - the sides of the cube) via panoramic transformation, and sometimes to compute convolution, but that is not free.

For free I assume you can use a Picturenaut (or maybe gimp if it supports floating point images) with AMD's Cube Gen http://developer.amd.com/tools-and-sdks/archive/legacy-cpu-gpu-tools/cubemapgen/

[coldacid]

Since I'm going to use the HDR/EXR images for now with Live2D models, I'm mostly just interested in getting cubemaps out of them. Good to have the additional details though. I'm going to give Picturenaut a try, though, see if I can't do the work with that and CubeGen.

[coldacid]

Seems the hardest part is going from the lat/long image to the cubemap. I ended up finding a Blender file that with a bit of modification let me get the faces, which I passed into CubeGen (well, an updated version of it).

I'd describe the whole process but I think it might be better to do it as a YouTube video down the road.

[coldacid]

I generated both cross and DDS cubemap versions of some panoramas I wanted to use; seems that the cubemap version is what I want. Using the cross version ended up looking very odd :p

[coldacid]

So, I ended up taking some of the stuff you guys told me with what I learned doing the work myself, and crafted this handy guide for creating cube maps from panoramic images for FaceRig.

[SAYOD KZ0N]

Originally posted by Holotech Studios:

That is in already in a way, but you just need to convert the HDRi/EXR environment to floating point DDS cubemap first

Then go to Custom 3D background (instead of Custom 2D background) and pick the dds ( instead of jpg or similar).

how to go to Custom 3D background ?

[76561198257355317]

Once in FaceRig, switch to Advanced Ui- Environments - Background Custom Cube (you can also use the search function)