bootcamp: hdr light studio

If you need to create bespoke image-based lighting solutions, HDR Light Studio is in a class of its own

Discover how to improve your lighting workflow with this IBL creator tool

I mage-based lighting (IBL) has become one of the most popular techniques for lighting CG scenes over the past few years, as it offers a realistic lighting and reflection model that is quick both in terms of artist and render time.

For many occasions an IBL or high dynamic range (HDR) image is usually sourced from an online library, of which there are many high-quality options available. However, when it comes to an artist needing to create a bespoke lighting solution, there are only a few choices on offer.

Thankfully though one of those options is HDR Light Studio, which is a fully featured IBL creator. HDR Light Studio has been around for a while and in its latest ‘Carbon’ iteration it has added some important new features, including the ability to preview third-party render engine solutions such as Octane, V-ray, Redshift and Arnold directly within HDR Light Studio, without having to roundtrip to the creation application such as Maya or 3ds Max.

HDR Light Studio offers connections for a wide range of content applications from CAD to 3D, allowing the power of the tool’s light painting techniques, interactively placing a light according to where the artist specifies from directly within the host application.

HDR Light Studio can create IBL solutions from its wide range of presets, which include a vast array of studio lighting imagery that can be used to create new IBLS. Or there’s the toolset, which can be used to augment existing HDR images to better suit the needs of the scene.

Available as a trial, HDR Light Studio has the potential to improve your lighting workflow, and because it works seamlessly with so many applications it allows for a consistency of light that would be hard to manage with any other solution.