HDRI environment maps question

[tdennist]

I just now (this is studio max 7, by the way, with the default scanline renderer) figured out how to use HDR Shop to manipulate the light probes into a Lat-Lon map that I can apply to the environment to have good looking reflections. However, I have a quick question.

'box.jpg' is the culprit scene. I have applied the "kitchen probe" HDRI map to the environment, then made a chamfered box and gave it a shiny metal type material. It looks fine from far away...but when you zoom in on the outlined corner you arrive at 'closeup.jpg'. It looks like the background is being rendered in 8 bit color or something of that sort. Can anyone explain to me what's happening? (A sort of side question...if you look in 'closeup.jpg' right below and to the left of the light, there's a little twist in the reflection. That's actually a twist in the environment map...is there a trick to eliminate that?)

Thanks muchly for any help.

[Henry_B]

"In the HDRi map, change the "Blur:" value from 1.0 (default) to 0.1"

this is quoted from a hdri tutorial from splutterfish's page, this is the link "LINK"

check step #5 i think thats the problem you are having.

let me know if that helped, and show us your results to compare

Peace

[tdennist]

Ahhh! Thank you so much! That fixed it right up. 'closeup2.jpg' is the fixed result.

Any ideas on the pinched-ness of the map? Or is that just some funny thing with wrapping rectangular maps around a sphere that I have to deal with?

Thanks again!

the pinching is a result of how your displaying your map.....spherical-angular....those settings......just change that setting.....

[Henry_B]

try changing your settings to spherical enviroment in the material editor ( drag and drop your hdri from the enviroment slot to a un used slot in the material editor mode= instance to make the changes)

[tdennist]

It's already set to spherical environment.

[Henry_B]

have you tried with other display different than enviroment??

[Freek]

I think it might have more to do withthe shape of the mesh rather then the envirotment. The pinching happens on a cruved part of the box. It looks a bitt odd becuase it might not be smoothing correctly with the rest of the box, that might be why there such a hard line between the corner and the main shape. But that hard to judge without seeing a clay render.

[tdennist]

Well, it's not the mesh. I know this because when you look at that spot in the environment map directly, it's still pinched. I've attached both a clay/wireframe render as well as a render of looking directly at that spot in the environment map.

Thanks.

[Freek]

Yeah, the mesh looks fine. Since all the settings are good and the mesh is good it could be the HDRI map itself. Did you prepare it properly in HDRI shop? There's a tutorial with the settings in the 3D Total tutorial section.