HDRI rendering - Project GEM

Here's another sequential shot of the HDRI render I did. The first shot is without HDRI lighting, the second is with HDRI enabled, and the third is with both HDRI and simulated bloom.

For those of you not familiar, High Dynamic Range Imaging or HDRI for short, is the technique that allows an image to have a higher range of exposures compared to normal imaging techniques.

Essentially what it does is it allows one to see a wide range of lighting conditions for a particular scene, such as direct sunlight, shaded sunlight or even things like flourescent or incandescent lighting. This HDRI image can then be brought into a 3d program such as 3ds max and used as an 'environment map' to be used for reflections and lighting, giving a rendered object a much more realistic look.

The software actually analyzes the image in the HDRI set and uses the varying intensity as light sources to light the scene. For example, a blue sky or white sun would be counted as high points (in terms of luminosity/brightness) and then be used almost as area or point lights to be projected onto the object, which if reflective, would show up as an image.

The ending effect is that the rendered object would be lighted just as if it were a real object in the captured HDRI image/environment. This technique is widely used in movies, such as when they blend both real shots and CG characters into one scene. =]