How to do lightbounce using HDRI

In this guide I will make a quick tutorial on how to do a lightbounce using HDRI

What you need to do lightbounce with HDRI

To make this lightbounce you will need domes with an hdri image, they are in the SFM workshop, so you will need to install them from this site: {LINK ENTFERNT}https://steamworkshopdownloader.io

just paste these 3 links below on this site and it will install the content on your computer, then you'll just need to put it in the respective folders on your garrysmod.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2186004306

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2265864810

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492236277

The Basics of HDRI

In the game you will find the hdri domes by searching the spawn list bar or looking in the archives (I prefer to look up the name).

When you put them in gmod, you may need to increase them in size with the effect resizer or change the dome image with the Easy bodygroup tool.



to do the lightbounce, choose a scene (i pick something very simple just for the guide).



as the scene i want to do would be on a sunny day, i will choose a hdri that is on a sunny day.



Put your HDRI on the scene, now we can finally start preparing the lightbounce.

Lightbounce settings using HDRI

Before making the render we need to put some commands in the console.
poster_aa 1
poster_darken 0.05
r_flashlightdepthres 1024
r_projectedtexture_filter 0

Now put mat_fullbright 0 in your scene and turn off all the lamps, only the hdri dome will be visible.


Now take the lightsprayer and scan the dome from the top and sides.

The light points should be something similar to this.


Delete the hdri dome from your scene, go to your camera and open the console, put this command in the console:

poster_lightbounce 1500 1 1 1


you can make some changes to the command if you think the image has become too light or too dark

poster_lightbounce 2500 1 1 1



In the end, the settings can vary from scene to scene, just a few tips, be careful not to make the dome too big, don't make the first number too high, it can cause color burning and in general try not to let the number of light points pass of 3000.

End of guide

I would like to apologize if the guide has not worked out well, I have no experience with this type of thing and I have not had help to do it, so in case it got a little confused i'm sorry.

if the english of the guide has wrong parts the reason is that I am using the translator, my english is not good, so to make this guide I used the translator.

In the end that's basically it, I hope I can help someone with this guide, I hope you can improve your render with it.

advanced lightbounce settings

This is an additional section that PAZ helped me to do.

You will need the ruler tool, which is a tool to measure distances.

Place a dome in your scene and measure its diameter with the ruler tool.

(in this image I already scanned with the lightsprayer and deletes the dome from the scene)

For the lightbounce settings you will put:

poster_lightbounce_nearz_override 50

and

poster_lightbounce_depthres_override 4096

After that, go to your camera and do the lightbounce, however in the first number of the command, you will substitute it by the distance or an approximation of it (for example, if the distance was 1500u, you can put 1500 or 1600)


In this scene the distance (dome diameter) is approximately 1300 units.

So in the command you could use in this case something around 1300 to 1500.


Now I'm going to show the difference of two renders

poster_lightbounce 1500 10 1 1 1
poster_lightbounce_depthres_override 1024 (default)
poster_lightbounce_nearz_override (default, I'm not sure what the number is)




poster_lightbounce 1500 10 1 1 1
poster_lightbounce_depthres_override 4096
poster_lightbounce_nearz_override 50



Maybe because of the size of the images it's a little hard to see, but with a little zoom it's easy to see how the shadows have improved.

Before.




After.




These settings are not mandatory, you can test and make changes to see which one fits best, I've done many renders myself without these commands because I don't even know them (I understood these commands a few minutes ago) but it can improve the quality of your work because of that I recommend you try this out to improve your arts.

Once again to thank PAZ, this section of the guide would not be possible without him.

[Punished "Venom" Snake]

The link for the download thingy is removed, can someone tell me what the website is/was ?

[Sheila]

well thats up to i mean i hope fully there will be more guides on soft lamps renders in the future

[Japonês da Federal]

Maybe, this guide is probably not very good and maybe i will make corrections in the future, but if i discover more interesting things that i can add to other peoples art i will be happy to share

[Sheila]

are you gonna make mroe guides

[Silly guy!]

COOL

[Dat_boi]

w

[John Peace]

WHY SO SERIOUS

[Japonês da Federal]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/880165403681255454/922843992331280414/Captura_de_tela_2021-12-21_103209.jpg

[Operator #7191]

https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/gallery/thumb/2012/05/RAW_989_Photo_047.jpg